Red Fire-Hat has a yellow stripe across the crown of the hat. And a hoop in front to hang hat. Soiled cotton liner. Has #11 on hat. Brand name "Safe-T Helmet".
Red Fire-Hat has a yellow stripe across the crown of the hat. And a hoop in front to hang hat. Soiled cotton liner. Has #11 on hat. Brand name "Safe-T Helmet".
In 1987, Max Patzelt donated his photograph and negative collection - over 10,000 images - to the Museum. This talented and prolific photographer and businessman operated Kitimat Photo Supply and Max's Photo Studio for over 25 years.
Max took portraits of Kitimat citizens - babies, wedding parties, school classes, sports teams, local government - and recorded events for the Northern Sentinel and Alcan's ingot. School District No. 80 published many of Max's photos in promotional materials to attract teachers to Kitimat. Max photographed for Alcan and processed prints for the ingot.
Max became a resident of Kitimat in 1956 when he hired on at Alcan as a stud puller. He arrived in Kitimat with a camera around his neck. After a year in the lines, he had had enough. He resigned from Alcan, packed his bags and headed for the CN station to head to Vancouver.
Fred Ryan had recently established his photo studio, Kitimat Photo, retail photo processing and the town's only industrial photographers located in the Smeltersite recreation hall. Fred had heard of Max's photographic knowledge and rushed to the train station to offer Max a job running the new processing machine.
Max joined Kitimat Photo and was quickly "up to his ears in negatives" (ingot, May 22, 1987). They couldn't keep photographic equipment in stock - everyone who came for work in Kitimat purchased a camera. Max recalled that during the July 1 parade in 1957, he processed approximately 3,000 rolls of black and white film. It took days to process them all. With a new town and smelter, and surrounded by innovation, photography was just booming in Kitimat. Alcan wanted to document its construction events for both town and smelter, and workers wanted to document their time here.
Max and partner, Hazel Hatton, opened Kitimat Photo Supply Ltd. in City Centre in 1960. Max and Hazel operated the business until 1967 when Max moved the portrait studio, Max's Photo Studio Ltd., to Service Centre, and operated until 1987. Hazel kept the retail business Kitimat Photo in City Centre and operated until 1985.
Scope and Content
Three green binders containing the Max Patzelt Photo Collection Directory.
Photocopied page from a scrapbook/album, containing four photographs of Kitimat youth, c. late 1950s. Clockwise from top left: teenagers line-dancing at Sadie Hawkins dance; three people with shovels in a snowy driveway; another shot of line dancers in gym; two boys posing for camera, dated Jan. 1958.
Donated to the Kitimat Museum & Archives by Arvid Hardin on May 10th 2022.
Scope and Content
Photocopied page from a scrapbook/album, containing four photographs of Kitimat youth, c. late 1950s. Clockwise from top left: teenagers line-dancing at Sadie Hawkins dance; three people with shovels in a snowy driveway; another shot of line dancers in gym; two boys posing for camera, dated Jan. 1958.
Notes
Names on margin of top photo: [Dowe & Gillian?], Gilda Dean, Arv. Hardin, Mel Seebvau?
