Collection search - Thistle, Mel, W. - Interview

Record information – Brief

1

Thistle, Mel, W. - Interview

Item number (ISN):

440120

Series title:

[National Research Council Oral History Project]

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

1975-06-20

Item number (ISN):

440120

Type of material:

Sound recordings

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

Link to this record

Add to My Research

Link to this record

This link identifies the web page describing this particular record. Unlike the temporary link in your browser, this link will allow you to access, and reference, this page in the future. To link to this descriptive record, copy and paste the URL where ever needed (wiki, blog, document).

Sign in

Sign in to start saving records using My Research

Sign in
Record information – Details

Fonds/collection:

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA / CONSEIL NATIONAL DE RECHERCHES DU CANADA

Accession:

1975-0157

Media:

Sound

Part:

1 of 1

Production date:

1975-06-20

Release date:

1975-06-20

Production company:

National Research Council

Production credit:

interviewer, Don Phillipson

Description:

Show detail Hide detail

Interview of Mel W. Thistle by Don Phillipson. Subjects discussed include: R. W. Boyle; J.G. Malloch; Bradley Pett worked with vitamins added to flour that made petrified bread; Kath Densmore became the Chemistry Division's Administrative Assistant, which made her one of the most powerful women in the NRC; she had Class I priority with Ethel Wheaton; Frank Underhill; McTaggart-Cowan anecdote on joint action to train meteorologists; J.D. Babbitt now custodian of the Inner Ring raw material, saved from loss by J.B. Marshall; C.J. Mackenzie persuaded NRC to fund prairie research on alkali cement damage; Glassco Commmission - Thistle edited science study under Bissel; J.R. Whitehead; W.H. Cook; B.G. Ballard; Thistle's history at NRC: 1938, employed to assist calculations by J. Hopkins; Thistle applied to Biology Division; Thistle attempted to join RCAF but was refused due to issue with health; war research included: human blood storage temperature; Food research (bacon, dried eggs) - W.H. Cook predicted convoy shipping creating a need for longer storage of food; problem was egg quality indicator; Jess Pearce; process totally reformed in six months primarily by cooling output; Wally Yesno; NRC role was to teach CDA scientific quality control - Thistle was the export egg controller; U.S. copied the Canadian system; by 1941, all Biology Division research was war-oriented; weekly biology division seminars continued into war period; later on during the war, Thistle was head of Food Engineering regarding storage and transport; in post-war, he was general editor of Biology Division's papers for C.J.R.; later during post-war, Thistle worked in Food Engineering Branch on: Railway refrigeration cars and truck refrigeration cars; F. Rosser; F.E. Lathe; NRC food preservation results were published for U.S. and Canadian industry; dangerous chemical warfare research was transferred to Suffield early on; many NRC staff served as guinea pigs for gas tests; Thistle was scanned in tests; later on soldiers were used and paid one dollar extra; E.A. Flood; NRC staff were happy to volunteer and provided pints of blood for Thistle's research; desalination of sea water (for survival of sunken ship crews) by precipitation of Na and Cl separately; project achieved low productivity and was deemed impractical; Dr. Norman Gibbons functioned as NRC physiologist during wartime; Jimmy Manson; bacon project; Johnny Marier; Mac Kuhring; Jack Hopps; M-58 opened in 1963; F. Rosser; and dried egg peak - when peacetime came shell egg was looked on as symbol of peace therefore dried egg technology was relegated to bakery mass production. <2h 9mn>

Language:

English

Notes:

Show detail Hide detail

1. Subject description taken from partial transcript in binder, National Research Council Oral History Project, Index R-Z.~2. Part of track 1 and 2 of PAC tape 555 (poor quality recording).~3. Thistle, Mel, "The Inner Ring: The Early History of the National Research Council of Canada", University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1966.

Detailed holdings information:

Show detail Hide detail

Vault ISN:

674832

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

C00555

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

R/R

Technical description:

POLY

Made from:

FROM LOANED MATERIAL

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

1117979

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

440120-C00555.WAV

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

BWF

Duration:

128:15

Made from:

C00555

Status:

MASTER
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

Open

GENCAT identity number:

GAD 0FD645

Restrictions on consultation:

open

Copyright status:

under copyright.

Reproduction access:

With written permission of copyright owner : No donor restrictions. Copyright belongs to the Crown. Credit Library and Archives Canada.

You can order materials in advance to be ready for you when you visit. You will need a user card to do this.

Cannot visit us on site? You can purchase a copy to be sent to you. Some restrictions may apply.

Report a problem on this page

Date modified:: 2024-05-10