You’ve heard of thrift store shoppers stumbling upon something with actual value while digging through piles of junk, but imagine finding a real part of Canadian history? That’s what happened to Dr. Julielynn Wong, when she was browsing Toronto’s Queen West thrift store, Public Butter.
Hidden amongst second hand clothing was Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield’s old flight suit. The same one he is wearing in the photo on the back cover of his book, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth. His name is stitched right into the arm, so how no one noticed the suit before Wong was lucky enough to snatch it up for $40 is a miracle.
Wong has worked with Hadfield in the past, and had him as a friend on Facebook, so she decided to ask him personally whether the suit was his or not. He was surprised as she was to find out where it had been. “Maybe it inadvertently got put in a donation bag or something,” he told her. “Glad you ended up with it — especially on sale.” Wong said the suit was priced at 50% off, down from $80.
According to Hadfield’s son, Evan, who answered a few questions on Reddit about the mixup, they had intended to “loan it to a science centre, with all the other memorabilia of his.” The Hadfield’s recently moved from Texas back up to Canada, which is when the suit must have been accidentally donated.
Luckily, Wong is involved in the space exploration field and is able to bring the suit along with her on speaking engagements, where it will be used as intended - to inspire future generations of Canadian astronauts.
