Satisfaction – and nostalgia – guaranteed

Who knows why we hold some of the sensations of our childhoods so dear? Maybe it’s that first teddy bear or the logo on your favourite shirt when you were five. There’s an argument that a large part of the reason why Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup series became such a huge moment in pop art was because of familiarity and nostalgia.

Familiarity and nostalgia just might be the exact same reasons why I love Satisfaction Guaranteed, the new exhibit of old stuff that just got dusted off at the MusĂ©e HĂ©ritage Museum. It’s practically the scenery from the basement of your grandparents’ house, complete with all of the classic, vintage, retro and antique signs, banners, knick-knacks, and other relics of the past to make those dream bubbles pop up and take you back to thoughts of yesteryear.

Yes, Satisfaction Guaranteed is indeed a trip down Memory Lane, if you’re of a certain age. Curator Joanne White said that she didn’t actually raid your grandparents’ basement to get this assortment of delights on the walls and in the display cases even if it really seems like she did.

“Some of it’s from our regular collection and some of it’s from our programming collection. We just found some things that were interesting from both parts of those collections.”

This includes a modest but important selection of St. Albert hi the sign from the Bruin Inn and the big bear statue itself. Many people still have fond memories of the heydays of the inn and rue its end 16 years ago.

“The Bruin Inn sign – when we’ve had it up before – it always starts conversations and people start reminiscing about their time there and all their memories.”

Even that massive Grandin Theatres sign, the last vestige of the city’s last functioning movie theatre that was torn down two years ago to make way for the redevelopment of the site, can be seen in all of its ‘larger than life’ glory. Honestly, when that thing was sitting in place overlooking Sir Winston Churchill Avenue, it didn’t seem that big.

“It’s eight-feet by 12 feet!” White exclaimed, noting that museum staff had some amount of trouble even getting the piece through the doors for the exhibit. “Two people could lift it. Three or four’s better…”

The exhibit essentially looks at how some local businesses advertised in the past and demonstrates various consumer products from decades long since gone. Among the signs and mascots are newspaper ads, posters, calendars, articles of clothing, and packaging. Look for Gusto Burger and Perron’s Store to make appearances here too.

There’s even acclaimed late St. Albert photographer Victor Post’s promotional shot of Wayne Gretzky that was used for the hockey phenomenon’s cereal Pro-Stars.

Apart from the odd assortment of other items there’s also a photo of what Grandin mall used to look like in 1966. The times have changed indeed. There’s a tinge of sadness that comes with displays like this too. Nostalgia, after all, means ‘the pain of returning home’.