The Fisher family was on hand at the Fred Light Museum for Friday's exhibit opening. Pictured L-R: Ian Fisher, Shelley Fisher, Bob Fisher, Thom Fisher, Marjory Fisher, Elizabeth Richardson, Louisa Richardson, Laura Richardson, Jordan Richardson, Vivian Richardson. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

History of Medicine

Fred Light Museum opens Fisher’s Drug Store exhibit

Jul 22, 2023 | 8:00 AM

The Fred Light Museum in Battleford held the grand opening for its new exhibit on the Fisher’s Drug Store, Friday.

The exhibit not only showcases a family legacy, but the history of medical advancements over the better part of the last century through a local lens dating back to the earliest days of the Fisher’s Drug store back in the early 1950s and before, with items and equipment passed down from as far back as the 1880s on display.

Ian Fisher, the son of John and Shirly Fisher who bought the pharmacy back in 1951, and donated the items for the display, said from old weigh scales, a large mortar and pestle and old bottles of ingredients used to make the medicines back in the day, there’s no shortage of medical artifacts to see.

“Dad had, and we donated, two cargo vans worth of fixtures: old glass bottles and things that kind of harken back to the days where you weighed everything out, for liquids would measure everything out, and every pharmacist had their own formulary,” he said.

“It wasn’t until the 1950s they really started developing all the [modern] pills and things like that, so this kind of harkens back to that time and there’s really a wide range of things there.”

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Ian was joined at the exhibit opening by his brothers Thom and Bob Fisher, and his sister Marjory Fisher and her family, and called it something special to see the exhibit now on display for all in the community to come visit and explore.

“It’s super cool,” he said. “A sense of history was always really important in our family and dad was really into genealogy and European and western Canadian history, and I think for me and our family, these are kind of our family’s roots. Theses are dad’s bottles and his collection, so it’s super cool we’re able to come back to Battleford where it started.”

A look in at some of the artifacts on display at the Fisher’s Drug Store exhibit. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Fred Light Museum Manager Bernadette Leslie said the exhibit offers a glimpse back in time to just how far medicine and pharmaceuticals have come over the decades.

“We have some of the old mortars where they mixed their own medicine, and even some [things] we didn’t know were made by the pharmacy they had to make from scratch, so it’s interesting to see the different articles they used to make them,” she said.

“It’ll tell people the story of how the drug stores started developing and what they went through, so people are welcome to come see the new exhibit.”

The exhibit will remain at the Fred Light Museum for the next two years.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1