Damage from Woody Point Fire 1922 #FolklorePhoto

These photos show the damage that was caused by the devastating fire that took place in Woody Point in 1922. At the height of the area's population and commercial success, a fire destroyed roughly 58 buildings. The town never fully recovered to its former commerce level after this event. Images were collected from residents of Woody Point and donated to HFNL by Charlie Payne.

-Katie Harvey

Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Horse and Cart, Marysvale (Turk's Gut)

This week's folklore photo is of a horse and cart, taken in Marysvale, Conception Bay (formerly Turk's Gut). The photo comes from Mrs. Bride Power, who has been running the Turk's Gut Heritage House for many years. The date is unknown.

Does this spark a memory for you? Send us a note! ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Do you remember the Mount Pearl Curl? - Tuesday's #FolklorePhoto

You may remember Kerri Rodden-Kemp from Kilbride who appeared
on The Ellen Degeneres show with her big hair from 1989.
Photo courtesy of CBC Newfoundland and Labrador.

This week I did some follow up interviews from our Mount Pearl Memory Mug Up events which took place at the local library. Debbie O'Rielly who grew up in Mount Pearl in the 1970s and early 1980s described her memories of playing games, going to school, and visiting the local shops. She also explained the system of trails she would play on as a child and later as a teenager used as a hangout spot. Debbie also mentioned some of the major changes and the growth she has seen in the community over the years.

Aside from childhood memories there was one particular thing I had to ask Debbie about and that was the origin of the Mount Pearl Curl. Debbie explained that the phenomenon started a couple of years after she graduated high school but she explained the process of creating the famous Mount Pearl Curl. In the clip below you can learn how to recreate the style with the help of a lot of hairspray and a textbook.



Do you remember the Mount Pearl Curl?
Do you know how this hair trend started or how it spread?
Better yet, do you have photographs?
Let us know in the comments or email terra@heritagefoundation.ca!

~Terra Barrett

#FolklorePhoto: Windsor Taxis and Buses

97-243 GFWHS.
Goodyear Taxi Service, circa 1909, located at the Grand Falls Station (Windsor), was operated by Josiah Goodyear.
It boasted of 8-10 horse drawn “Victorias”, with upholstered seats for passengers.

This weeks Folklore Photo comes from the Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society and is circa 1909.  The photo is of Goodyear Taxi Service located at the Grand Falls Station (Windsor).  This Taxi Service was operated by Josiah Goodyear and boasted 8-10 horse drawn “Victorias” with upholstered seats for passengers.  Roy Oldford of Grand Falls-Windsor remembered similar horse and carts being used by Stewart's to deliver groceries to the community in the 1950s.

This photo is one of the images from the Heritage Society which will be featured in an upcoming booklet on the merchants of Main Street based on oral history interviews completed in Windsor in September.  Tomorrow afternoon we are meeting with the Heritage Society to discuss a pop up exhibit to go along with launch of the booklet in the coming new year.

The booklet will focus on the merchants from the bigger well known stores such as Cohen's, Riff's, and Stewart's to the buses (or taxis) which lined Main Street and provided transportation between the towns of Windsor and Grand Falls. Several people described the buses which would run between Main Street in Windsor and High Street in Grand Falls and even delivered lunches to the mill workers.

Included below is a short audio clip from Roy Oldford who grew up in Windsor. In this clip Roy talks about the popularity of the buses and also tells a humorous story about using his friend's father's bus to earn a bit of pocket change when they were teenagers.


~Terra Barrett

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Harbour Grace, circa 1949-1951.

We have a gem of a historic photograph for Tuesday's Folklore Photo this week!

The Heritage Foundation of NL has been working with a committee in Harbour Grace to find a new life for the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (read about that here) and it has unearthed this great photo of the building, taken sometime between 1949 and 1951.

The photo comes from Bill Brooks, and was taken by his father, William Brooks (who was at the time a Captain in the US Air Force). I asked Bill what his father had been doing in Harbour Grace, and this is his response:

I’m guessing that he played some role in decommissioning the signal intelligence facility that was located at Harbour Grace – perhaps for reinstallation at Ft McAndrews, but it’s pure speculation. He was stationed at Ft McAndrew AFB in Argentia from 1949 through 1951 (where I was born). He was a Signal Officer. From his orders: “Commanding Officer of Signal Company Aviation responsible for training, administration, supply, personnel.” Responsibilities included “supervising installation, maintenance, operation of telephone, telegraph, and radio equipment.” I don’t think he was in Harbour Grace on vacation – not to dismiss it as a cold war period USAF personnel vacation destination, but his service record shows he had 58 days of unused vacation when he concluded service in Newfoundland, so he probably wasn’t taking much time off.

If you have any old photos of the Cathedral (or a memory of Captain William Brooks) email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

Read more about the Cathedral itself here. 

Please share and help solve this Newfoundland family photo mystery!

Last week, we were emailed three vintage photos, and the following intriguing note:

I am trying to research some aspects of my wife's family history. Her name is Jeanette Wareham and she was born in St. John's in 1968. Her birth father's name was Berkley Wareham and he was born in Salmon Cove about 1934 (he passed away in Toronto in 1989). We know that he was a teacher and that he taught in several places around Newfoundland including Twillingate. The attached pictures would have been taken in the mid to late 1950's and we think they may have been taken during his time in Twillingate, but we are not sure. He is the gentleman in the light sports jacket. Can I ask you if you recognize the school building that he is standing in front of in these pictures, or can give us any more information. The building appears to say "Prince Arthur" above the door.

The community of Charlottetown in Bonavista Bay has a Prince Arthur Orange Lodge, and we are curious if this is the same building.

If you  know anything about these photos, the people in them, or the buildings, send us a note at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Tuesday's Folklore Photos - Graveyard Mapping, Recording, and Rubbing

UPDATE 4 July 2024 - Heritage NL no longer recommends doing headstone rubbings - over time it can damage the stone. 

Measuring and mapping the graves.

Today’s Folklore Photos comes from a Heritage Foundation field trip to the General Protestant Cemetery on Topsail Rd, in St. John’s. Yesterday afternoon July 4th, 2016, Dale, Michael, Pei, Celeste, Sarah, and I took a trip to the cemetery to map the cemetery, record the information on the gravestones, and rub some of the stones.

Recording the information.

Pei, an international folklore graduate student, is working with the Heritage Foundation this summer to digitize files. Another project that he is working on is documenting and researching the Chinese graves in the General Protestant Cemetery. Pei is looking for more information on the people buried in the cemetery and is interested in the impact they’ve left on the community.

Plotting the graves.

Yesterday was the first step in finding out more information about the Chinese graves. We measured the location of the 27 graves in relation to one another and the concrete kerbs that are keeping the graves together. Michael plotted this information on a map with each of the graves numbered.

Recording the size, location, symbols, and writing on the gravestones.

Celeste and Sarah mainly focused on recording the information about the graves they could gather leaving the Chinese characters for Pei to decipher. Pei and I reviewed the stones and decided which stones needed to be rubbed in order to gather more information. We used masking tape and put a thick paper over the gravestones. We made sure to keep the paper as taunt as possible in order to have a clearer rubbing of the grave. We then used charcoal to outline the gravestone, and moved across the gravestone horizontally keeping a steady pressure. Once we finished the rubbings we photographed them and rolled the rubbings up for storage. Although rubbings are not always the answer for gravestones they can often allow you to record different information such as the size and shape of the gravestones and can allow you to better see the lettering engraved on the stones.

Sample gravestone rubbing from Cupids.

Demonstrating gravestone rubbing.

If you would like to learn more about mapping cemeteries join the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and Youth Heritage NL on July 16, 2016 for a cemetery mapping workshop, and a cleanup of one of the older cemeteries in Heart’s Content. If you would like more information or would like to register for this free workshop click here!

~Terra Barrett

Tuesday's Folklore Photos - The Trefoil Guild

Participants of the last presentation of the day.

Today’s Tuesday Folklore photos come from the Girl Guides of Canada’s 2016 National Trefoil Guild Gathering. The gathering took place at Memorial University from June 15th-19th. The opening ceremonies were held on Wednesday and there were workshops, and lectures on Thursday.

The Trefoil Guilds are found across Canada and are groups for active or retired Guiders aged 30 years and older who want to stay in involved with Girl Guides. If you would like to learn more about the Trefoil Guild listen to Dale’s interview with Pat Burton as part of the Living Heritage Podcast.

On Tuesday morning Dale emailed me to ask if I would be able to give 4 presentations of an hour and fifteen minutes at the Trefoil Guild’s gathering. Due to the weather on the coast of Labrador he was stuck in Makkovik at the Nunatsiavut Heritage Forum for longer than anticipated and he wouldn’t make it back in time.

My kind of event - folklore, basket making, and rug hooking all on one floor!

I spent most of Tuesday pulling together a presentation on Newfoundland and Labrador History and Folklore and Thursday morning I headed to the university to present to the Guiders. There were workshops on rug hooking and pillow tops, square dancing and basket making, as well as healthy habits and computer techniques.

I gave a brief overview of Newfoundland and Labrador history and then moved into the basics of folklore, forms of folklore practised in the province, who the Heritage Foundation is as well as some of the programs the Foundation offers. As a long-time (19 years!) Guider myself I finished the talk by discusses how forms of folklore can be found in guiding through ghost stories, camping tales, adapting songs to fit the guiding program, and spontaneously making up new verses for songs. It was a long day of presentations but the lovely women I met made it most enjoyable!

~Terra Barrett

Tuesday's Folklore Photos - Intangible Cultural Heritage Conference

Architecture or built heritage in Old Quebec.

Today’s Folklore Photos come from the International Conference on Intangible Cultural Heritage in Quebec City, QC. The conference was held at Laval University and brought together the Folklore Studies Association of Canada, the Canadian Network for Intangible Cultural Heritage, Canadian Society for Traditional Music, the Canada research Chair in Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Institute for Cultural Heritage of Laval University, and the Centre for Culture, Art and Society.

On Wednesday evening after a day of completing tape logs and metadata descriptions at the office I flew to Toronto and then on to Quebec City for the conference where a number of folklorists and heritage professionals were meeting and presenting papers on their work. Thursday was focused on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and there were presenters from across the country and beyond. There was a lot of discussion on UNESCO's 2003 Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention and what has happened in the ten years since the conference was ratified in 2006. Presenters from Belgium, Denmark and Norway described how their countries were working on ICH since ratifying the convention while presenters from Scotland, and Canada discussed their interest in ratifying the convention and moving forward with preserving ICH in their countries. Dale gave a presentation on the work of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office since 2008 and focused on the Grey Sock project as an example of the work from the Heritage Foundation which celebrates, records, disseminates, and promotes ICH or the living heritage of the province.

The Huron-Wendat Museum in Wendake, QC.  Participants were treated to a tour of the museum and a banquet meal on Friday evening.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday there were presentations from folklorists, ethnomusicologists, anthologists, and many other heritage professionals. Some presentations focused on what their institutions were working on while others presented a paper or specific concept or concern in heritage. On Saturday morning I presented a paper I had written on the Mummers Festival. It was called “Shagging with the Tradition: The St. John’s Mummers Festival” and looked at how the Mummers Festival has used Intangible Cultural Heritage to create community and increase tourism. It also traced mummering as a cultural symbol for the province since the 1960s until today.

Presenting the paper Shagging with the Tradition: The St John's Mummers Festival.  Photo by Ryan Davis.

It was a beautiful weekend in Quebec City which finished with a declaration of interest in ICH in Canada and a wish for the country to ratify UNESCO’s convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage in order to preserve and promote the ICH of the country as a whole.

Laurier Turgeon and Dale Jarvis reading the declaration on ICH.

~Terra Barrett

Folklore Photo: #YHF2016 3 Days Left to Register!!

Photo credit: Jeremy Harnum

Look at these young, inspiring youth from last year's forum! You may have seen this photo floating around as we promote the 2nd Annual Youth Heritage Forum! We had a great turn out last year and we know we'll have the same again this year. Time is running out! There is three days left to register.

If you are a youth passionate about heritage, or are a heritage organization or community group, you do not want to miss this year's Youth Heritage Forum!

Visit www.youthheritagenl.wordpress.com for more information or register right now!

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Folklore Photo: Non-youth attend #YHF2016 this Year!

Photo credit: Jeremy Harnum

Today's photo is a great shot of participants listening to the youth heritage panel from last year's Youth Heritage Forum! This year's forum, on March 19th, is a little different. There will be a panel of mentors that the Public Folklore program at Memorial University are interviewing before the forum. At the forum, they will be having an open discussion with the mentors for participants to learn about what they do and how they started in the heritage field.

There will be the opportunity to ask questions and get involved with the mentors who are all established in different fields. Stay tuned for some sneak peeks of who the mentors are!

Visit www.youthheritagenl.wordpress.com for more information and updates or

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Last Year's Youth Heritage Forum

Today's photo was taken at last year's Youth Heritage Forum by Jeremy Harnum. This is a member of the First Nations Eastern Owl Women's Drum Circle. The group was part of last year's opening ceremony and are back again this year!

Saturday March 19th is the 2nd Annual Youth Heritage Forum in St. John's. This year, the forum is focusing on heritage skills, networking, and mentorship. There will be mentors established in different fields such as archaeology, folklore, archives, and much more!

Youth will have the opportunity to ask the mentors questions, network with fellow youth in the heritage field, and take part in exciting events like the heritage skills competition.

Visit www.youthheritagenl.wordpress.com for more information and updates about the forum and register today!

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Eggs and mushrooms

In the spirit of darning, here are two darning tools sent to us from Karlie King and Eileen Murphy!

Karlie King's darning mushroom

Eileen Murphy's darning egg

Eileen writes, "This was passed on to me from my mother' s cousin. Many feet continued to be warm and snug because this was used to mend the wear and tear."

Thank you Karlie and Eileen for these great photos!

We are still looking for photos and stories about darning tools! Do not hesitate to e-mail me stephanie@heritagefoundation.ca

By the way, did I mention the traditional darning workshop is tonight? You still have time to register!



Join instructor Christine LeGrow tonight, Tuesday, February 16 between 6:15 pm-8:15 pm, at the A.C. Hunter Children's Library at the Arts & Culture Centre, 125 Allandale Road to learn traditional darning techniques.

Participants will be required to bring:

• Socks that need darning
• Scraps of equivalent yarn
• Darning needle
• Scissors
• Optional: Darning egg

Hope to see you there!

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Buttons!

Today's photo is of the lovely buttons we ordered for the Grey Sock Project! Next week, February 16th, is the traditional darning workshop we are offering for FREE at the A.C. Hunter Children's Library with instructor Christine LeGrow. We will be giving these buttons to everyone who comes!

Didn't know about the workshop?


We hope to see you there!

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: A darning what?

Today's Folklore Photo comes to us from Lloyd Kane! These darning tools are family heirlooms from his wife, Linda's, grandmother’s sewing box.

Both seem to be commercially manufactured. The darning tool on the right has a removable handle which may be used to store darning needle(s). There are markings that say “Made in Germany”. The other one has embossed ‘FOOT FOR’ ‘PATENDED’.

These darning tools were called the "darner" or "darning mushroom" writes Lloyd. I have heard people call them darning eggs as well. There are also stories of people using door handles or just their fist to mend socks. 

Do you have any stories about darning eggs/mushrooms/darners or any photos? Please share them with us. Contact stephanie@heritagefoundation.ca!

Thank you Lloyd for sending this photo in!

Want to learn to darn? We are offering a free traditional darning workshop February 16th. 

Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Ladies in the Drawing Room

"Thursday's Working Bee in the Drawing Room"
1915

Happy Tuesday to all! As you may be aware, I have been researching the Women's Patriotic Association as part of the Grey Sock Project. I came across this photo last week and wanted to share it with you.

This photo comes from the Walter Edward Davidson fonds at The Rooms. The women of the WPA would meet at the Government House for meetings, to work on knitting, sewing, sterilizing dressings and other tasks. The ladies in this picture are part of the Working Committee. Their purpose was to prepare workrooms, materials and to arrange work parties. Some of the women are knitting (far left - could those be grey socks!?) while others are using sewing machines.

I loved this photo the moment I saw it because you can see the ladies hard at work. I then discovered that the woman on the far left is Blanche Eleanor Bartlett, sister of Captain Robert "Bob" Bartlett which made me love it even more. Hope you enjoy this photo!

Rare photos of the Forest Road Cemetery Lych Gate and Mortuary Chapel #nlheritage

Followers of the ICH Blog may remember that I have been interested in lych gates, a very specific type of gate that was found at the entrance of Anglican churchyards and cemeteries. You can read more about the history of lych gates in the Occasional Paper #004.

In it, I talk about one of the province's vanished lych gates, the one which once stood in the Forest Road Cemetery.  I knew it had existed, and it is clearly shown on aerial photos and insurance maps, but I had never seen the building before.

Thanks to some detective work by Professor Frederick R. Smith, and the kindness of Mr. Arthur King, we now have this photographic gem - a photo of the gate before its demolition, likely taken sometime circa 1950-1952.

The lych gate is very similar to English examples, and has some similarities to the rebuilt lych gate at Bonavista. It features a sharply gabled roof, with slight bellcurved eaves, Maltese cross motifs, and at least two painted inscriptions, though the photo is just out of focus enough to make it difficult to identify the scripture being quoted (the word "resurrection" seems to be the second word). The woman in the photo is a Mrs. Butt, of the nearby Collier's Lane.

Mr King writes:

Here are some old Forest Road Cemetery photos I scanned from originals supplied by Mrs. Barbara Fry (Heale), a daughter of Victor Heale, caretaker circa 1948-59 . The family lived in the caretaker house on the cemetery. Photos of the entrance gate and old chapel are included. A daughter Elizabeth Heale, shown in the photo, was born in 1942---the photo with her was probably taken between 1950-52. The age of the old chapel photo is uncertain, but probably much before that time---it probably was taken by a commercial photographer such as Holloway as there is an inscription which was his style.

The Church of England Mortuary Chapel photo was said to have come from "The Archives" -- we are uncertain which one. If you have any information on these photos, if you have a theory on the most likely scripture being used on the lych gate, or have any other old photos of the Forest Road Cemetery, please comment below, or contact me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

- Dale Jarvis

Tuesday's Folklore Photo - A Trinity Potato Garden

Happy Tuesday! For this week's Folklore Photo, a lovely view of a potato garden in flower in Trinity, Trinity Bay.

I have been assisting the Agricultural History Society of NL with some of their files, soon to be uploaded to the Digital Archives Initiative, under the "Knowledge and Practices Concerning Nature and the Universe" section of the ICH Inventory. This is one of the photos in their collection that will be included.

The photo was undated and unnamed, but that is the Hiscock House there in the background, now a provincial historic site.  I love the wood stacked up behind the garden, as well.  The photo was used in a panel prepared by the Agricultural History Society circa 2008, but the photo might be older. If you recognize it, email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or leave a comment below!

- Dale Jarvis

Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Booklet Launch

Participants of the Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove booklet There Was No Pavement Then with editor Terra Barrett.
Left to right: Betty Cheeseman, Ann Payne, Mary Heffernan, Mary Kieley, Jimmy Kieley, Mike Hearn, Terra Barrett, Gordy Doyle, Ron Doyle, Yvonne Collinson, Marguerite Weir, and Phyllis Weir.

Today's folklore photos come from the launch of There Was No Pavement Then from last Thursday evening. The booklet launch took place in the Watershed Cafe on the waterfront of Petty Harbour. Watershed is a new cafe which opened in June 2015 and it was the perfect place to hold the launch. During last summer's Arts and Heritage Festival in Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove Dale and I set up a Memory Store in the Watershed cafe (although it was little more than a disused shed at the time). It was fitting to be back in the cafe for the launch of the booklet.

Inside the Watershed Cafe

Jack and Gertrude Walsh with Terra Barrett

Roughly 50 people turned out to celebrate the launch of the booklet, to hear some speeches, listen to a reading from the booklet, and celebrate with free tea, coffee, and cake. Copies went quickly and due to its popularity we did a reprint with a limited number of copies available so if you were interested in a copy and didn’t manage to grab one at the launch you can send me an email at terra@heritagefoundation.ca or check out the full pdf of the booklet online.

Left to right: Dale Jarvis, Terra Barrett, Jillian Gould and Frank Crews

It was a great turnout and a fantastic way to end a great project! I’d like to send out another huge thank you to everyone who came out to the launch and in particular the participants of the project whose stories make up the booklet.

-Terra

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Birch Brooms In Our Midst

Today’s Tuesday Folklore photos are of Mr. Joshua Young demonstrating how to “run” a birch broom. Last Thursday afternoon after a successful first interview for the radio show/podcast Living Heritage with Christine Legrow, Dale and I took a trip to Mount Pearl to talk with a gentleman who grew up in Grey River on the South-West Coast of Newfoundland near Burgeo. Mr. Young learned how to make birch brooms from his family members and continues to teach his grandchildren how to make the brooms today.

Mr. Young explained the different between white and red birch trees and how to find the right piece of wood to carve into a broom. While explaining and discussing broom making Mr. Young made a small birch broom in under an hour as a simple example of how to make a birch broom. He sent us back to the office with the sample he made as well as one of his larger brooms which he wasn’t completely satisfied with due to the crook in the handle. The broom now hangs on the wall in our office and is the first thing you see when you step inside.

Mr. Young also makes model wooden boats and explained his process of crafting and painting these as well. It was an excellent afternoon and I hope I am able to join Dale when he goes back in August for a more hands on demonstration of broom making.

-Terra