True and Fascinating Canadian History
The Mystery of A Mountie:
His Suitcase & Its Contents
by Ric Hall,
Vets Vancouver, BC
A mysterious suitcase which once belonged to an old soul who lived many years ago had been found, but what's inside it? The mysterious contents of the suitcase had more appeal to wise, curious and 'ole police officers than a box of freshly baked and jelly filled donuts from Tim Hortons.
I was recently contacted by a retired member who was downsizing. He had some old RCMP kit and clothing and he asked if I would like the items and to take care of them. "Of course I would", I said. He delivered the mystery suitcase, a box with unknown contents and an old Stetson.
Now in custody of the suitcase, I felt like Geraldo Rivera when he aired a TV special in 1986 which centered on the opening of a secret vault reputed to have been once owned by Chicago's gangster Al Capone. Poor Geraldo. His bank fault was as empty as a Bernie Madoff investment promise. Just some dust and debris. Would my mystery suitcase also be empty?
It turned out that the items in the mysterious suitcase had once belonged to long ago deceased Reg.#3045, North West Mounted Police (NWMP) Staff Sergeant Geoffrey Beeston Joy. Joy was born in England and like so many old timers, he came to Canada seeking new adventures. He was born in September 1873, just at the time when the NWMP was in its infancy.
Geoffrey Beeston Joy joined the NWMP in April of 1894. He served until December 17, 1928, and over the years, he had been posted to “Depot”, “K”, “M”, and “E” Divisions. Joy retired as a Staff Sergeant and a good portion of his career had been in the Yukon.
Joy had had one brush with Service Court. On March 19, 1901, while posted in the Yukon, he experienced the displeasure of his Officer Commanding, Inspector Cortlandt Starnes (later to be Commissioner Starnes), who fined Joy $2.00 for, “being late on departure to his detachment.”
Mount Joy, Yukon, was named after Staff Sergeant Geoffrey Beeston Joy in 1909 by Joseph Keele, a geological surveyor for Canada.
The opening of the suitcase was a much more interesting experience than TV's Geraldos. Included in the contents was S/Sgt Joy’s blue serge tunic. It has to be at a minimum of 88 years old. Although it was wrinkled and somewhat dirty, it was in very good condition for its age. Also included were two pairs of riding gauntlets, two kit bags, some very worn, and rotting blue felt ankle boots and a pair of gaiters with leather straps for snowshoeing.
Several metal cigarette containers were also inside the mysterious suitcase. It would appear that once the contents were used up the metal containers were used to store such things as pins and safety pins. “American Pickers” was printed on the tin containers.
A small “Premotte” camera was also found. Checking the Historic Camera’s History Librarium the following describes the “Premotte”; “The Premoette camera was manufactured by the Eastman Kodak Company from 1906 to 1912. Designed as a compact camera that would be able to fit in a boy's pocket with a practical size of 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 inch exposures. Daylight loading with Premo film packs. Fitted with a meniscus lens with universal focus and an automatic shutter with three speeds. A rapid rectilinear or Anastigmat lens were optionally available. Additional features include a tripod socket, a reversible finder and seal grain covering. This camera measures 1 7/8 x 3 3/16 x 4 1/2 inches when closed and weighs 11 ounces.”
There were also forty contact sheets of photographs taken during the early 1900s of day to day life in the Yukon. Amazing photographs!
And the most unusual item was the sealed small box. It contained tintype photographs mounted on small wood blocks. Although well worn, the photographs can still be made out, there were pictures of officers of the Force, ships in ice and snaps of the vessel St. Roch. There were also larger, what appear to be metal plates, used for printing. As they are reversed for printing purposes, when held up to a mirror they can be recognized as cartoons depicting the Force. Where were these used? Perhaps, thinking out loud, they may have been used in the old Vancouver Veterans’ Association magazine the Scarlet and Gold.
Lastly, Joy’s Stetson, his name has been punched into the inside band. It is an original “John B. Stetson” Stetson.
It's a mystery that the contents of Staff Sergeant Joy's suitcase survived in such good overall condition over all these years. They had been packed away for a long. long time. And it's also a mystery that no one seems to know the exact travel route of Joy's suitcase from the time that he died until it found its home with the doner who recently gave the suitcase to me.
Now Staff Sergeant Joy's suitcase and his NWMP contents are safe wtih me. It's a rare collection of NWMP artifacts which take us back to the earliest day of the Force. We have Staff Sergeant Geoffrey Beeston Joy to thank for leaving us with a troop of memories.
Geoffrey Joy passed away in October of 1946 while living in West Vancouver, BC. He was buried in Ocean View Cemetery in Burnaby, BC.
Reporting from the Fort,
J. J. Healy
November 15, 2016
From his days in the Yukon
Ric Hall collection. 2016
