[BCMA] CMA Clip Serv: $20K to keep Douglas medals in family

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

First, these are not "war medals", they're mainly commemorative. Given how largely anti-military if not pacifist CCF/NDP members historically have been, its likely that Tommy himself would've been discomfited to have had them referred to as such.

Second, how did they get out of the family's hands in the first place? Did poor old Tom sell them just to get by once he started collecting a pension? (probably not since he was an MP). This is an intriguing mystery from the past, one that the curator of the museum that eventually acquires them ought to research, at least for the record. What if the finding is scandalous? In these tight budgetary times, it would be a big draw and attendance surge for, say, the Weyburn Museum, eh?

Dan Gallacher


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv. 
  To: bcma at lists.vvv.com 
  Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2012 9:53 AM
  Subject: [BCMA] CMA Clip Serv: $20K to keep Douglas medals in family


  Shirley Douglas pays $20K to keep medals in family 
  Emma Grainey, Regina Leader-Post, Thursday, February 9, 2012 


  As the seconds ticked by, the bids on Tommy Douglas's war medals kept rising. 


  Easily surpassing the $500 they had sold for in the mid-1990s, they soon rocketed past $1,000, $5,000, even $15,000. 


  On the phone with Jeffrey Hoare Auctions Inc. of London, Ont., was Douglas's daughter, well-known Canadian actress and activist Shirley Douglas. 


  She was bidding on the pieces of family history and, in the end, won the auction with a bid of $20,000. 


  It was a hefty hit to the hip pocket, but that's the price you pay for a piece of Canadiana. 


  The collection which once belonged to Douglas - known as the father of medicare - included his Coronation Medal from the 1937 coronation of King George VI, a similar medal from Queen Elizabeth's coronation 16 years later, plus Canadian Centennial and Jubilee medals, and miniature versions of awards such as Douglas's 
  Order of Canada. 


  After the Jan. 29 auction, Shirley Douglas told media outlets that the medals would likely be in the hands of family for a while before being given to a museum. 


  Regina military history buff Gord Goddard is pleased that the medals will be staying together and, for the time being, with the family. 


  "It's excellent news," he said. "Although it would be nice to eventually see them in a museum, they should be kept in the family. 
  "It was an opportunity to bring all these pieces back together." 


  He said one place it would be nice to see the medals is the Tommy Douglas museum in Weyburn, adding he was "very much" surprised at how high the bidding went on the Tommy Douglas lot. 


  "The kinds of medals they are, well, usually those type of medals don't have a really high asking price," he said. 


  "The coffee table talk was that the medals would probably go for around $2,000." 


  As for why the price climbed so high, president of Jeffrey Hoare Auctions Inc., Wendy Hoare, said it all boiled down to fierce competition. 


  "You never know until the day of the sale what the interest will be like," Hoare said. 


  ---   30   --- 



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