The Fort St. John Museum took to social media last week to share a Northern B.C. souvenir originally created by the ‘research division’ of the Alaska Highway News.
The item, is a chunk of ‘Instant Mud’ - collected from the mighty Peace River.
Musuem curator Heather Sjoblom says the artifact is from the 1960s, and was likely created by Dan Murray and Georgina Keddell , the children of Alaska Highway News founder Margaret ‘Ma’ Murray.
“With the unfortunate close of the Alaska Highway News after 79 years of serving the North Peace, this seems like a timely artifact to share,” reads the museum’s post.
“It’s one of my two favourites from the last lot of items to be donated to the museum this fall. I adore the creativity that northern companies come up with to make the best of our challenging geography,” they added.
The package of mud comes with a note attached, explaining best uses for the piece of earth.
“Just mix with water and you have the very finest gumbo. Sticks to your feet and grows good wheat. With our special slinging device* can be used in any political campaign,” it reads. “Can liven up any cocktail party with a practical demonstration of ‘Here’s mud in your eye!’ Babies love it.”
