Updated exhibit offers glimpse back in time at Dartmouth Heritage Museum

Local exhibit ‘Functional to Fancy’ explores the multifunctional uses of accessories.

A recently updated exhibited called “Functional to Fancy,” which looks at the accessories and stories of three Nova Scotia families, is open to the public at the Dartmouth Heritage Museum.

Accessories, toiletries and more from or inspired by the Fairbanks, Prescotts and Motts – all historic Dartmouth estate families – are on display at the exhibit.

“The original ‘Functional to Fancy’ exhibition was created in 2023. I actually got to work on it when I was a heritage interpreter,” says Amanda Furniss, Dartmouth Heritage executive director. “Making it meet its full potential in terms of showing off a lot of the beautiful accessories that we have in our collection.”

Furniss says the exhibit gives a sense of what mattered to these families.

“It’s important to understand a little bit more about what these early communities looked like back in the early days of Dartmouth, like, which industries were excelling and who were those people, what was their daily life like? And part of daily life is how you present yourself and how you accessorize yourself and there is actually a lot you can learn about people, based on how someone might present themselves , the kind of things they wear. Whether its religious affiliations, clubs they might have been involved in,” says Furniss.

Jennifer Weagle, the museum administrative officer, says the exhibit showcases the history of people from the community hundreds of years ago.

“It’s pretty significant because it gives people a glimpse back in time of what Dartmouth would have been like hundreds of years ago, what people would have worn, and what they would have been interested in in terms of fashion,” says Weagle.

These items date from the early 1800s to the early 1900s.

“We have purses and handbags on display, eyewear and pocket watches, clocks, necklaces, bracelets, hats, really everything,” says Furniss.

The upgrades were completed at the end of January.

“We redid all of our labels and our panels, a lot of it was to bring it up to accessibility standards so it’s better for more folks to be able to read. We also brought in a number of new artifacts that were part of the estate collection of these families, but they are just so beautiful, some of my favourites,” says Furniss.

The team says the exhibit has received positive feedback from the community and many are fascinated by the artifacts.

“I think people really like it, there’s a lot of really pretty things in the exhibit that people have been interested in,” says Weagle.

The Dartmouth Heritage Museum has two locations: the Quaker House and Evergreen House. Both are free to the public.

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