Supplied photo/News Archives A workman in England prepares three copper gas lamps that are to be installed in Medicine Hat in July 1987 to commemorate the visit by the Duke and Duchess of York. In the inset is Kyle Franz, who has been researching the history of the lamps recently.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Kyle Franz walked into the Esplanade archives this summer looking for a volunteer project to keep busy, and decided to learn more about one of the most-asked-about facets of the city’s history.
Visitors to the city’s historical repository often had questions about the gas lamps that line downtown streets and occupy large amount of real estate in the city’s mythology.
But little information was certified, and answers depended on urban legends.
He set out to answer basic questions, and research found the current use of the gas lamp symbol is a more recent phenomenon, and most of the romance surrounding the lamps is, well, not entirely true.
“There wasn’t very much information on them at all,” said Franz, who holds a doctorate in history and plans to present his ongoing project to the public early in 2020 as well as publish an academic article.
After combing through records, old newspapers and conducting interviews, he says the subject is much deeper than many might think.
“One thing that became evident is these aren’t just lamp posts,” said Franz, who is originally from Brooks.
“When you’re not from Medicine Hat and you come through, they’re everywhere; on overpasses and manhole covers, and buildings and buses and recycling bins, and private businesses.
“The bigger question is what’s the connection between the gas lamps and Hatters’ identity.”
The academic study will explore “natural resources and civic identity” but a public lecture or exhibit will also be presented for the general public.
Many Hatters have an inkling of the lamps’ legend and mystique that grew in early 20th century promotion of the city, and natural gas in general.
There’s the oft-repeated story about gas being so cheap it wasn’t worth hiring men to turn the lamps on and off each day.
That earned city mention in the 1930s’ edition of “Ripley’s Believe it or Not,” and is “true, kind of,” said Franz, who believes the lights were restricted during daylight well before then.
He’s found evidence that as early as 1913 there was discussion by city engineers of the need to conserve gas. And the early 20th century operations of the street lights by the utility was utilitarian and limited.
Originally, only 14 lamps lined N. and S. Railway streets, then the immediate area. By 1924 the city’s electric department offered to pay a portion of homeowners’ power bills if they operated front porch lights.
That “veranda lights” program avoided the need to extend gas lines for lights on side streets and was in place for decades.
In 1948, as automobiles became more available, the gas lamps were removed to make way for wider streets, traffic lights and parking meters. It was greeted as a sign of post-war progress, said Franz.
Forty years later, another civic promotion campaign in the 1980s revived the legend. Led by then-mayor Ted Grimm, it saw downtown businesses and the city pay $1.5 million to convert lighting downtown back to burning gas. In 1988, the city officially adopted the lamp as its logo.
Brighter electric lights were returned after 2012, but the lamp casings remained, as did the symbol of city letterhead and facilities.
“It really took hold,” said Franz, citing not only utility bills and public notices, but everything “from recycling bins to roller derby teams.”
Franz hopes to interview Grimm and others for their recollections, which will be preserved by the archives, as well as combed the city archives and newspaper editions.
He is still seeking public input until the Thanksgiving weekend.
Contact information can be obtained through the city’s shape your city program, found online at shapeyourcity.medicinehat.ca, or by phoning the Esplanade archives.
