Hall of fame case has Winnipeg origins

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This article was published 25/08/2022 (1171 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

David Hamilton has always had an affinity for old treasures.

A self-proclaimed antique hound, the 65-year-old would walk to the now-shuttered Toronto Antique Market every Sunday, sniffing around for his next prized relic.

During one trip about 15 years ago, Hamilton met a woman selling a silverware case. The wooden box had nothing in it but had a distinct feature that caught his eye.

“I was reading the emblem on the box and I knew it had to do with hockey, so I bought it from them,” Hamilton, a life-long hockey fan from London, Ont., said Thursday.

The badge read: “To A. Code with compliments of Victoria Hockey Club.”

Unsure of whether the emblem referred to the Winnipeg Victorias or the Montreal Victorias — both well-recognized historical clubs — Hamilton decided to do the deal and handed over $50.

“It was just a cool thing. I knew I would have to do some research on it, but I thought if it was of interest to me then it was going to be of interest to someone else,” he said.

This spring, after more than a decade had passed since finding the box, Hamilton reached out to the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF) in Toronto to help him learn more about the origin of the artifact. Turns out the box belonged to Abram Code, who was gifted the silverware case (with silverware in it at the time) along with a silver tea set.

Code is something of a historical figure in the Manitoba capital.

After moving from Ontario to Winnipeg at 18, Code took over as vice-president of the Winnipeg Victorias (Victoria Hockey Club of Winnipeg) in 1896. The Victorias, members of the Manitoba Hockey Association (MHA), had existed for just seven seasons and were fresh off a Stanley Cup victory, then awarded in recognition of amateur supremacy.

In his lone year as VP, Code helped lead the team back to the championship game before falling to the Montreal Victorias of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC).

HHOF archives manager Craig Campbell helped Hamilton uncover the box’s history through an old article he found in the Winnipeg Tribune.

Campbell, who has worked at the hallowed hall for three decades, said it’s the second-oldest item he’s seen donated to the organization.

“The item is over 125 years old and it relates to hockey. We don’t see that every day,” he said. “To have something that isn’t a piece of equipment, but is a piece of the history, is significant.”

Campbell isn’t sure when the wooden box will be on display. He encouraged anyone who has something they think would be of interest to the HHOF to call them.

“Our collection is only as strong as what’s donated to us,” he said.

Hamilton said the thought of selling the artifact never crossed his mind.

“I figured the box is empty, the silverware is gone… even if I could get a couple of hundred bucks for it, it’s better off in the hands of the Hockey Hall of Fame because it’s something they want and I’m more than happy to give it to them.

“It just struck me that it was something really interesting, that I would never find something like this again. I thought I’d grab it and try to preserve it.”

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jfreysam