Many hopes for personal fulfilment and a shared life of happiness form the basis of the traditional ideal of marriage in Canada. In 1906, the year of this wedding, the standard roles for men and women within a marriage situation were, for the majority, clearly defined. Women were the bearers of children and housekeepers, while men worked outside the home for a wage in order to support themselves and their families. It is only within recent years that the validity of these roles has begun to be seriously questioned.
Depicted in this photo is the wedding of Harry McKowan and Evah Cartwright (seated center), married in Cranbrooke, B.C. Evahand her three sisters (standing to her left) were all schoolteachers prior to their marriage and, true to form, retired to the confines of the home after taking their wedding vows.
Evah was somewhat of an exception as she pursued her natural writing ability. For years she contributed articles to MacLeans Magazine, and published two novels: Janet of the Kootenay (1919) and Graydon of the Windermere (1920). She was close friends with Nellie McClung, but never took up the public banner of the suffragette cause. She and her husband produced four girls and it was a source of sadness to Harry that none of the girls would be able to take over the Cranbrooke Sash and Door Company that he had established very soon after their marriage. Perhaps such a view would not be held today.
