Canadian Heritage

Historical Vignettes

The Ingenious: From Miniature to "Larger Than Life"

When he approached the age of seventy-five, Lord began spending his winters by sculpting and mechanizing characters and scenes of the olden days, mainly using wood and metal. "He made a plan of his mock-up and then designed everything from A to Z; he sculpted miniature wooden men and created mechanisms to make them move while 'Mom' made them costumes. A wooden model took about 300 hours of work. He took a liking to this art form and would create a new one every winter."9

These wooden models have been his pride and joy ever since he created the very first one called Horsepower. He also made wooden models paying tribute to the 'courageous founders of our beautiful country', the 'pioneers of 1700 to 1800', the 'CPR train', as well as reproductions of his sawmill, his 'drag saw', as well as his summer and winter carriages.

Having celebrated his 99th birthday on December 19th, 2006, Albert Lord remains proud of his wooden models or 'his amusements' as he calls them. He truly enjoys explaining their workings to visitors, young and old. It always brings a sparkle to his eye, which is contagious for anyone who listens.