
Michael Stockford’s candy wrappers at the Imperial War Museum, London.
Michael Stockford shown middle right.
(P. Ferguson image, November 2022)
Museums…Stories
Such fun to have been on the road, at long last, taking the tube from Embankment to Lambeth North (London) for the walk to the Imperial War Museum. With each stride I am closer to their new exhibitions, eager to see new design, new content. I was not disappointed.
As I wandered the open space and took in one to the other…artifacts selection and mix, layout, fabrication and materials, fonts, mounts, and colour…one aspect stood out for me. Captions!

Gum wrappers collected by Michael Stockford.
(P. Ferguson image, November 2022)
Here were the stories of the people and their artifacts rather than artifacts and their people. Though I studied all the personal stories I especially enjoyed one about Michael Stockford, a lad who collected candy wrappers during the Second World War. Associated material spoke of the number of American air force personnel stationed in Britain, some 450,000 in 1945. Amongst the wrappers a pamphlet for overseas personnel, This is Britain, A Souvenir for Overseas Forces.

This is Britain pamphlet and more Michael Stockford candy wrappers.
(P. Ferguson image, November 2022)
Of the wrappers themselves there are familiar brands Dentyne, Life Savers, Wrigley’s Doublemint. The gathering of wrappers was also a reminder of my early days in Zweibrücken where at the base’s movie theatre my Dad suggested I should paste my confectioner’s wrappers into a scrapbook…I never did…that story remains with me, reborn by Michael Stockford’s collection at the museum. This is what museums do…this is what story does…they find connection.
Tags: American Air Force, Candy Wrappers, Captions, Dentyne, Imperial War Museum, Life Savers, Wrigley's
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on Sunday, January 29th, 2023 at 7:15 pm and is filed under Odds & Ends.
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About The Author
Paul has worked with the Paradigm Motion Picture Company since 2009 as producer, historian and research specialist. Paul first met Casey and Ian WIlliams of Paradigm in April 2007 at Ieper (Ypres), Belgium when ceremonies were being held for the re-dedication of the Vimy Memorial, France.
Paul's sensitivity to film was developed at an early age seeing his first films at RCAF Zweibrucken, Germany and in Sardinia. Paul returned to Canada in 1967 and was further amazed by David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Bridge on the River Kwai". Film captivated Paul and with time he became increasingly interested in storytelling, content development, character, direction, cinematography and soundtracks.
At the University of Victoria, Paul studied and compared Japanese and Australian film and became interested in Australian film maker Peter Weir and his film "Gallipoli" (1981). Paul was entranced when he learned Weir had visited the beaches, ridges and ravines of the peninsula. The film "Gallipoli" alone led Paul on many journeys to sites of conflict in England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Malta, Hawaii and Gallipoli.
It was, however, when Paul watched documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, "The Civil War", that Paul understood how his own experience and insight could be effective and perhaps influential in film-making. Combining his knowledge of Museums and Archives, exhibitions and idea strategies with his film interests would be a natural progression.
Paul thinks like a film-maker. His passion for history and storytelling brings to Paradigm an eye (and ear) to the keen and sensitive interests of; content development, the understanding of successful and relational use of collections, imagery and voice. Like Paul's favorite actor, Peter O'Toole, he believes in the adage “To deepen not broaden.”
While on this path Paul always remembers his grandmother whose father did not return from the Great War and how his loss shaped her life and how her experience continues to guide him.
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