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Title: Frequency Clock (1924)
Institution: SaskPower
Description: This clock was used to calibrate steam turbines at the Estevan Generating Station. It contains two clocks; an accurate mechanical pendulum clock that provides real time, and a synchronous motor clock that relies on the system frequency. In 1911, Estevan’s municipality owned and operated a power station which was sold to Dominion Electric in 1928. In 1930, Dominion Electric turned it into a coal burning facility. In 1946, SaskPower purchased the facility and added expansions throughout the 1950s.
Call Number: 218

Title: 1961 Estimating Slide Rule
Institution: SaskPower
Description: This is an estimating slide rule from 1961. It was used at SaskPower to determine construction costs for distribution systems, prior to the use of Construction Estimating Information software, installed in 1988. Before the use of estimating software, it took 2 to 4 hours to calculate costs of distribution construction. Estimating software required only 10 to 15 minutes to complete.
Call Number: 22

Title: Regina Power House, 1931
Institution: SaskPower
Description: Image of the Regina Power House which was constructed in 1914 by Regina City Light and Power to meet the growing electrical demands of the expanding city. At the time, the location for the power station was well beyond the limits of the city. Throughout the years, it used oil, natural gas and coal to generate electricity and utilized the water of Wascana Lake for its cooling system. By the 1960s, however, the city had been integrated into the provincial power system and the power house acted as a peaking station (supplied power when demand was at its highest). In 1965, the municipality of Regina sold the station to SaskPower and it was phased out of operation by 1979.
Date Created: 1931

Title: 1952 Hard Hat
Institution: SaskPower
Description: This is a yellow hard hat with an IBEW crest/logo on the right side and a "Shockgard" sticker on the front. It was used by a SaskPower employee in the 1950's and 1960's and then donated to SaskPower's Corporate History Collection in 2002. The 'Shockgard' helmet, introduced in 1952, was one of the first hard hats designed for the electrical industry. It was specifically designed for linemen and protected workers from an electrical shock of 10 000 volts.
Call Number: 30

Title: Saskatoon Power Plant, 1929
Institution: SaskPower
Description: Image of the exterior of the A.L. Cole Power Station, Saskatoon, taken in 1929. The Saskatoon Power Station was renamed in 1954 in honour of Albert L. Cole who was the superintendent from 1937 to 1946. The station was built in 1910 to supply electricity for Saskatoon’s lighting demands and trolley system. In 1928, the Saskatchewan Power Commission (now SaskPower) purchased the power station and installed a series of expansions to meet growing power demands. However, in 1957 with the opening of the Queen Elizabeth Power Station, A.L. Cole was relegated to meeting peak power demands. The A.L. Cole Power Station was closed in 1983 and decommissioned in 1995.
Date Created: 1929-10-15

Title: 1949 Sight Meter
Institution: SaskPower
Description: This sight meter evaluates light strength for exterior and interior lighting. It indicates if light strength is appropriate for reading, sewing, driving, etc. It was used by Penny Powers for home lighting demonstrations in the 1950s. As more of rural Saskatchewan was electrified following the 1949 Rural Electrification Act, SaskPower’s Home Economist Division educated the public on the benefits, precautions and uses of electricity in the home. Penny Powers was one of SaskPower’s most popular public programs from 1956 to the 1970s.
Call Number: 251

Title: 1960 Commissioning Candy Dish (Boundary Dam Power Station)
Institution: SaskPower
Description: This candy dish is an example of the promotional material that SaskPower produced to market the commissioning ceremonies of its power stations. This particular dish pertains to the official commissioning of the Boundary Dam on May 14th, 1960.
Call Number: 245

Title: Light Bulb, Westinghouse (1893 - 1905)
Institution: SaskPower
Description: This is a Westinghouse light bulb. It would have contained either a cellulose filament (introduced in 1893) or a metallized filament (introduced in 1905), both of which were obsolete by 1914 with the widespread use of tungsten lighting.
Call Number: 138

Title: Stringing Transmission Line, 1928
Institution: SaskPower
Description: Image shows a team of horses stringing transmission line near Qu'Appelle in 1928. At the time, horses were more reliable for transportation and construction than vehicles.
Date Created: 1928

Title: Penny Powers (Lillian McConnell) 1969
Institution: SaskPower
Description: This is a photograph of the most iconic ‘Penny’, Lillian McConnell, who worked as a home economist for SaskPower from 1956 to the 1970s. The program was retired in the 1970s when emphasis was placed on electrical conservation. Lillian McConnell demonstrates the use of a natural gas oven during a SaskPower home cooking demonstration in 1969. SaskPower’s office in Prince Albert still has the demonstration kitchen in the basement.
Date Created: 1969

Title: Hot Stick, 1920s
Institution: SaskPower
Description: This is a handmade, 1920's hot stick consisting of a long wooden pole with its top end shaped like a bird's head and rope along its length (which, if pulled' would open the clamp). Modern hot sticks are insulated poles used by electric utility workers when working on live, energized high-voltage electric power lines, to protect themselves from electric shock. While modern hot sticks are typically made from fiberglass, early hot sticks, such as this, were made from wood and treated with shellac. This 1920's hot stick was most likely used on transmission lines that were de-energized. This meant that customers had to experience an outage in order for construction to occur on local power lines.
Call Number: 2

Title: 1960s Illuminated Sign
Institution: SaskPower
Description: This is a circular illuminated sign which reads "Saskatchewan Power Corporation." The sign is made of aluminum and plastic, and it has been retrofitted with modern light bulbs. In the 1960's, it adorned the outside of one of SaskPower’s former customer service offices. It depicts what was SaskPower’s logo from 1949 to the 1970's.
Call Number: 20

Title: Regina, 1957, Natural Gas Crew
Institution: SaskPower
Description: In the 1950s, SaskPower was developing a natural gas distribution system and a natural gas technician fleet was required to deliver services to new customers. Pictured is the natural gas fleet in front of the former Head Office and show room in Regina. The show room was where the public could pay bills, apply for natural gas service or browse the latest natural gas appliances.

Title: Estevan Generating Station, 1975
Institution: SaskPower
Description: This is an image of the Estevan Generating Station which formerly sat on the bank of the Souris River before being decommissioned in 1992. Constructed in 1930 and owned by Dominion Electric, SaskPower purchased the facility in 1946 and installed a series of upgrades throughout the 1950s. The power station was decommissioned in 1992 when the Shand Power Station was opened in Estevan.
Date Created: 1975

Title: Kenotometer (Early 20th century)
Institution: SaskPower
Description: A kenotometer, such as this, is a device used in steam turbines which are operated at pressures below atmospheric pressure (in a vacuum condition). It measures pressures approaching a perfect vacuum. The absolute pressure is indicated by a mercury column, usually expressed in inches of mercury. This device was most likely salvaged from a small municipal or private diesel power station. Following the Electrification Act of 1949, SaskPower began to integrate communities to the expanding provincial power grid. Once a community was incorporated, SaskPower would acquire and subsequently decommission the local power station.
Call Number: 216

Title: Qu'Appelle Substation, 1930
Institution: SaskPower
Description: Horses were used extensively throughout SaskPower's early operations. The image shows a team of horses hitched to a jumper, which patrolled power lines and substations.
Date Created: 1930

Title: Saskatchewan Power Corporation Truck with Lignite Louie Sign
Institution: SaskPower
Description: A black and white photograph of the side of a truck carrying a promotional sign. ‘Lignite Louie’ was a cartoon caricature of a miner and was used mainly in Estevan to promote SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Power Station.
Date Created: 1980