Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Album, Record |
Object Number |
2025.030.001a-b |
Description |
Record Album Record cover and vinyl record; a) record cover: cardboard; colour image of a group of children holding flags, surmounted by the text "CANADA", is located in the centre; a handwritten signature reading "Paul Gimby" is located in the bottom right corner; underneath the signature is a round, gold coloured sticker reading SOUVENIR / CHILLIWACK / 100th ANNIVERSARY / Proceeds To / CHWK / MILK BOTTLE / FUND" in black lettering; underneath the sticker is the date "15/6/73" in blue pen and the price "$4.95" in black lettering; blue border with thin inner red stripe and thin outer gold stripe; backside of cover: a black and white image of Bobby Gimby holding a trumpet is located at the centre left edge, surmounted by the text "BOBBY GIMBY"; the track list is located underneath the image; the text "THE PIED PIPER / & THE KIDS" in pink lettering is located at the top right corner, with black and white images of children marching and Bobby Gimby underneath; b) vinyl record: black; round; white paper labels, containing manufacturing and track lists, are located in the centre of each side; top of the label on each side reads "ER RECORDS / CANADA / BOBBY GIMBY / THE PIED PIPER AND THE KIDS"; the copyright information "Bobby Gimby Productions Limited 1973" is located at the bottom of the label. a)Record Cover b)Vinyl Record |
Provenance |
Signed Bobby Gimby "Canada" record. The donor collected the record at a fundraising event for the Chilliwack Milk Bottle Fund, held at the Chilliwack Secondary School gymnasium on June 15, 1973. The donor attended the fundraiser with her parents and grandparents when she was 12 and remembered the song "CA-NA-DA" being very catchy. Robert Stead (Bobby) Gimby (b. October 25, 1918, Cabri, Saskatchewan - d. June 20, 1998, North Bay, Ontario) was an orchestra leader, trumpeter, and singer-songwriter. The Gimby family moved from Saskatchewan to Chilliwack in the 1930s, after their family hardware store burned down. In Chilliwack, Bobby worked at a gas station, attended Chilliwack High School, and joined the Chilliwack Town Band. At age 17-18, he joined the touring orchestra of Mart Kenney and His Western Gentlemen, and was making a living as a professional musician. In 1939, he was drafted into the Canadian Army but was unable to serve due to his poor eyesight. Bobby followed Mart Kenny and His Western Gentlemen to Toronto in 1941 but left shortly after to form his own band. In 1945, Bobby joined The Happy Gang on the CBC and became such an audience favourite that he was offered his own show, in addition to many other projects and roles in the years to follow. In 1962, Bobby was asked to write and perform a song to commemorate the newly-independent Malaysia. He wrote "Malaysia Forever" and performed the song through the streets of Singapore, leading a parade of more than 100 schoolchildren with his trumpet. Bobby wrote the popular song "CA-NA-DA" for the 1967 Canadian Centennial and toured the country on the Centennial Train, performing it with local schoolchildren at each stop. Queen Elizabeth II was even presented with a copy of the song during her visit to Ottawa on July 1, 1967. He later performed for the children of military personnel at bases across the world and wrote a number of a children's music albums. For his contributions to the country, Bobby received the Medal of Service and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (https://www.bobbygimby.com). Bobby married Grace Katherine Semple in Vancouver on May 12, 1941 (The Chilliwack Progress, May 21, 1941, pg. 10). They had a daughter, Lynne, born in 1943. |
Date |
June 15, 1973 |