100-year-old message found beneath Queen Victoria statue

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/11/2022 (507 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Workers digging up the plinth on which the since toppled Queen Victoria statue once stood in front of the Manitoba legislature recently uncovered a surprise: a message in a bottle.

The note was left by those who helped erect the Winnipeg monument more than 100 years ago.

“On account of the Prohibition we are unable to adhere to the custom of depositing a bottle of brandy under the stone for which we are extremely sorry,” according to the note dated July 30, 1921.

It was signed by J.B. Graham “stone cutter,” with the names of the workers involved and the deputy minister of public works at the time.

Government Services Minister Reg Helwer told reporters after question period Wednesday about the find.

“To me, it’s a very neat story — especially with the age of the building. It’s not really a time capsule but it certainly shows us a different time,” he said.

“You couldn’t buy brandy because of Prohibition.”

The Manitoba Temperance Act was in effect from 1916 to 1923. Liquor could only be purchased through government dispensaries and only for industrial, scientific, mechanical, artistic, sacramental or medicinal uses.

All legal drinking establishments were closed.

Distillers and brewers could be licensed to manufacture alcohol, but sales were permitted only outside of the province.

Manitobans quickly found ways to skirt the law, according to the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba. Illegal speakeasies and bootleggers flourished, while doctor’s prescriptions for “medicinal purposes” were widely abused with “long lineups at pharmacies during the December holiday season,” says an LGCA timeline of the province’s liquor laws.

On July 1, 2021, the statue was pulled off its plinth by demonstrators and has since been removed from the grounds. This past month, crews demolished its massive base.

When the stone plinth was being removed, the bottle was broken but the note survived.

“We’re trying to determine how to preserve it and what should be done with it,” said Helwer.

The bronze monument of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) was made by British sculptor George Frampton and stood on the grounds of the former Manitoba Legislative Building. It was unveiled by then-premier Rodmond Roblin at a public ceremony on Oct. 1, 1904, according to the Manitoba Historical Society.

The larger-than-life statue was later moved in front of the present-day legislative building after it officially opened on July 15, 1920.

No plans have been announced about what to do with the remnants of the damaged statue the government has said is too costly to repair.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca