Morden Dam in the Park, 1937
Place
Nick travelled back and forth between Morden and Winnipeg to see his family, on the CPR rail line or by car with his cousins. He photographed individuals in homes and stores in Morden, in Winnipeg’s North End, on rivers, and on south-western Manitoba farms. Nick’s images of himself often include a painting of a distant place within an interior, suggesting that the dreaming or reading figure in it might imagine a larger world. He wanted to capture the magic and characters of his region.
Milhausen Old Meat Shop Fire, December 23, 1938
Stephen Street, Morden, December 23, 1938
Starland Theatre, Morden, February 1939
Milhausen Meat Shop Fire Rear view, December 23, 1938
Vic Burgess with his dog, Pag, August 1932
Morden Experimental Farm
Above: Two Figures, Dominion Experimental Farm, Morden, 1939
Advocating for advances in agriculture, a visionary Morden area farmer, A.P. Stevenson, convinced the government to establish an experimental farm to develop fruit trees. The Dominion of Canada set up the Morden Experimental Farm in 1916 as the only one in Canada to deal with horticulture rather than grain -- through innovative agriculture to create new kinds of plants and crops for the world. The government chose land at the eastern edge of town, with access to the railway. Local nurseries and seed houses contributed to horticultural research. The Morden Experimental Farm had Percheron horses, poultry, and cattle – some of which we see in photographs from the 1920’s. W. R. Leslie (1891-1985) served as the first Superintendent from 1921-1956. The farm was a destination for visitors from Winnipeg and elsewhere to sample the fruit and observe the work being done.
At the right, Dr. William Godfrey, one of the original horticulturists and head gardener at Morden Experimental Station, is seen tying vines up along the rose arbor trellis. (Photograph courtesy of University of Winnipeg Archives: Western Canada Pictorial Index)
Research Station workers arriving on bicycles provided by the Experimental Farm to assist them to work over the noon and off-hours, c. 1938 Morden Historical Society
The Depression & the Dirty Thirties
After the stock market crash of 1929, the Dust Bowl withered the prairies. The town of Morden created campaigns to “keep your soil at home” by planting trees and Caragana shrubs. Nick worked with his cousin Milton in the Rabinovitch Brothers store from 1933 to ‘39. Milton volunteered at the Dominion Experimental Farm to develop plants to sustain the world — rust-resistant wheat, triticale, and apples that grow in the north. Nick often photographed at the Farm.
Milton Rabinovitch in front of the store, double exposure, c. 1933