I spent Monday morning attending the Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives' annual general meeting and today's folklore photo was one I snapped quickly during yesterday's meeting. I was invited as a representative from the ICH Office as ANLA and the Heritage Foundation are partners and sister heritage organizations.
It was interesting to learn a little more about the organization and to hear some of the triumphs and challenges the organization has achieved and overcome in the past year and where they want to take the organization in the coming year. One thing which ANLA has been promoting recently are their online webinars so be sure to check out their website for upcoming workshops!
The picture above is from the presentation which occurred during the lunchbreak. Jenny Higgins from the Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Website introduced a series of short films which she has been working on recently. The videos were on difficult subjects and were incredibly moving. One touched on the 1914 sealing disaster, another on the great fire of 1892 and the last on the battle of Beaumont Hamel. Check out some of the videos on their website and stay tuned for more.
-Terra
Showing posts with label Tuesday's Folklore Photo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tuesday's Folklore Photo. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Folklore Photo - The Hole In the Floor and Adolphus's Wake
This week's folklore photo might not look like much, but it comes with a great story, and is a very good example of how intangible cultural heritage and our built heritage are intertwined.
We've been working on an oral history of the Jenkins House in Durrell, Twillingate, which was owned for a portion of its history by Adolphus and Lucretia Jenkins.
According to oral history, Lucretia contracted tuberculosis and suffered in the home for many years with the disease. She was confined to her bedroom while her daughter Leah Jenkins cared for her, surprisingly Leah never contracted the disease herself. While Lucretia was sick her husband Adolphus passed away. Adolphus was waked in the home, which was tradition at the time. Bedridden and unable to leave the upstairs of the house, Lucretia still wanted to see her husband one last time. The family decided, instead of trying to bring her downstairs they would saw a hole in the floor by the side of her bed so she could rest and still be able to see her husband, so that is what they did. Today, the cut in the floor is still recognizable by the newer boards that fill where the hole once was.
Corey Sharpe remembers his Grandmother Leah recounting the story;
- Dale Jarvis
“Well, I tell you about that now. I never told anybody about it before. When father passed away, they waked him downstairs. So Lucretia was bed ridden upstairs with TB and separated from the family. She wanted to see her husband while they had him waked. So what they did, instead of bring her downstairs, they cut a hole in the floor so she could look down from her bed and see him. So the floors are to stay like that.”You can download the full oral history report on the Jenkins House in PDF format here.
- Dale Jarvis
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Folklore Photo - Gertrude and Leah Jenkins, Twillingate, 1930s
This Tuesday in our folklore photo segment, we've got a gem from Corey Sharpe, of Grand Falls-Windsor, who owns and has restored the Jenkins House Registered Heritage Structure in Blow Me Down, Durrell, Twillingate.
The photo shows his great aunt Amelia "Gertie" Gertrude (Jenkins) Hamlyn and her sister, his grandmother, Leah (Jenkins) Sharpe, thought to have been taken sometime in the early 1930s, positioned in front of the Jenkins House. Gertrude was born in 1919, Leah was born in 1925, and today is her 90th birthday! Happy Birthday, Leah!
You can read and listen to the interview I did with Corey about the house here.
- Dale Jarvis
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Southern Shore Ship Wrecks
Ferryland [VA 41-21] 1929 Newfoundland Tourist Development photograph collection Views of Newfoundland by W.R. MacAskil, Halifax, N.S. Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms Provincial Archives |
Another idea surrounding shipwrecks which is repeated is the practice of wrecking. For anyone who doesn't know the term wrecking refers to the practice of removing valuables from shipwrecks which have landed close to shore. One particular story which stands out is of a wrecked ship which was full of pork. The men of the community came home with chunks of meat for their family's supper after that particular wreck.
Have you heard any stories about shipwrecks? What about the practise of wrecking? If so leave a comment below or shoot us an email at terra@heritagefoundation.ca
-Terra
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Red Sky at Night - Weather Lore
Red sky at sunset. |
Last week's snow and everyone's complaints about St. John's having snow in May made me think of the folk belief that May snow had special properties. Both folklorist Dale Jarvis and archivist Larry Dohey have written about it in their blogs. You can click here for Dale's post and here for Larry's for more information.
Today I figured I would ask the question: What beliefs do you know about the weather?
I posted the picture of the sunset with the red sky because as a child I always heard the rhyme:
Red sky at night,
Sailor's delight,
Red sky in morning,
Sailor's take warning.
What are some of the other ways to foretell the weather? Do you know any other warnings?
I've always heard of galing cats predicting a storm. Do you know any other animals who can predict the weather?
Comment here or send an email to terra@heritagefoundation.ca
EDIT:
Here are two beliefs sent in by Berk Reynolds originally from Salmon Cove, Conception Bay North:
1. Animals, particularly goats coming home from the hills before a storm in summer
(or when you wouldn't expect them)
2. Whatever the prevailing wind direction is at noon on Good Friday so it will be for the summer
-Terra
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Gosine's Grocery Store, Portugal Cove-St. Philip's
This week's folklore photo is of the former Gosine's Store, in Portugal Cove- St. Philip's. Katie Harvey, one of our youth speakers at our upcoming Youth Heritage Forum, collected the photo during her work as heritage researcher for the town.
Katie writes,
"This is a photograph of Gosine's Grocery Store which was located at 25 Hardings Hill in the 1950s. It was a two storey grocery store. The house that is in its location now is brand new, so unfortunately there is no trace of this store left."
The photo will be part of a collection of photographs and interviews from Portugal Cove- St. Philips, soon to be added to Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Tuesday’s Folklore Photo - Food Fishery
Courtesy of MUN`s Digital Archives Initiative |
I managed to get out on the water over the weekend and I figured this would be an appropriate photo given the ongoing food fishery. The fishery is open until August 10 and opens again September 20 to the 28.
Do you participate in the food fishery? Have you been out yet the year? Did you catch anything? Let us know in the comments below!
Bonus photo:
Breakfast is served! |
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Tuesday’s Folklore Photo - Flakes and Fish
Thomas Ruck fonds VA 45-1; Petty Harbour in the 1860s Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms |
Petty Cove [Petty Harbour] VA 143-18 [between 1892 and 1904] Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms |
Mike Hearn |
Petty Harbour VA 15a-43.1 Newfoundland Tourist Development Board photograph collection Newfoundland Views Photographs Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms |
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Tuesday's Folklore Photo: A Collection of Conversations
Today's folklore photo is actually a collection of photos from the past week. It has been a busy week with the Heritage Foundation. Last Tuesday was the cemetery clean-up and since then I've been kept busy with interviews!
Ron Doyle |
Gordy Doyle |
Cyril Whitten |
have a boil up and put some freshly caught lobsters on the stove. Cyril and I discussed his life in Petty Harbour, the games he played as a child, his memories of the community concerts, fishing in the community and his time as Mayor. Cyril contacted me and said he would like to meet again and said he had much more to say about Petty Harbour. I'm looking forward to interviewing Cyril again this week.
With my feed of lobster. |
Betty Cheeseman |
Harbour. Betty described growing up in a musical family with a mother who played the accordion and a father who danced. She also described being in the community plays, listening to the concerts and the intensity of the card games played in the community.
I'm looking forward to meeting and interviewing more people from Petty Harbour as well as working on the interviews I have already completed. The interviews need tape logs and all the necessary metadata so they can be published on MUN's DAI. If you have memories of growing up in Petty Harbour please contact me at terra@heritagefoundation.ca or (709) 739-1892.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Folklore Photo - Painting the Jenkins House, Twillingate
So colour was another thing. What are we going to put on it for colour? I can remember it always being white. So I said, “I’m not a big fan of white. White’s everywhere. It’s not even a colour, in my opinion. But anyway, it did look nice on the house and stuff.” So I said … I spoke to George Chalker, and he said, “Well, take a look at those heritage colours that we had Templeton’s do for us.” I said, “Yeah, I’ll do that.”
So I picked out a colour. I think it was Dory Buff or something like that. Am I going to drastically change the colour of the house, or what am I going to do? So the siding, the local siding, had been replaced on the house in different places on the house over time. It was never all stripped and replaced. I could do one side one year, then 15, 20 years later they probably did a patch on the other side, whatever. So anyway, I got down to a patch that was original to the house. It had the cut nails, and I said, “What colours were on that house?” So I slowly scraped the paint down. When I got down to the last colour, apart from say the red ocher-ish stain that they had on it, that was the colour. It was almost like exact. That just made up my mind right there. So that’s the colour we painted the house.
Photos courtesy Corey Sharpe.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Folklore Photo - Engine Rock, Petty Harbour, Newfoundland
This week's folklore photo is of Engine Rock (or Indian Rock, depending upon who you ask), overlooking the town of Petty Harbour. I've written about this rock before, and I'm still interested in knowing more about any stories associated with it, and I'm especially curious about where the name comes from.
I was in Petty Harbour last week, with some colleagues from the Wooden Boat Museum of NL. We're looking into a possible intangible cultural heritage project there later this year, so stay tuned to this blog for more details!
- Dale
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Folklore Photo - Heritage Lighthouse in Heart's Content
I wrote the other day about how we took a group of public folklore grad students out to Heart's Content. Today is folklore photo day, so here is that group of students, in front of the Heart's Content Lighthouse. The lighthouse was constructed in 1901, and is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building.
You can read more about the lighthouse here and on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.
- photos by Dale Jarvis
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Somebody's Home
Photograph of a heritage structure submitted by Teri Delaney. |
-Lisa
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Folklore Photo: The Cupids American Man circa 1930
Today's folklore photo comes courtesy of the Newfoundland Historical Society archival collection. The photo shows the "American Man" - a cairn of stones located at the top of Spectacle Head, in Cupids. The original photo was taken by A.C. Hunter, and the back of the photo has an inscription which reads:
Photo by A.C. Hunter, about 1930
The "American Man" on the hill between Cupids +
Clarke's Beach. Mrs Hunter in photo
There was another one between Brigus and Cupids.
They were used as landmarks for Vessels
coming in, we supposed. We also wondered if
they came from "Marking Man"???
Muriel H. Hunter, 1976
Negative of this is in the A.C. Hunter Collection, Memorial Univ.
Audio Visual.
The cairn, which has been rebuilt several times since the 1930s, is much taller today, and a secondary, smaller cain has also been constructed nearby. I've heard it referred to as both the "American Man" and the "Merican Man," and have also heard the theory, given by locals, that it is indeed a corruption of "Marking Man."
Here is how the structure looked during the Cupids 400 Celebrations in 2010. I believe the photo is by Dennis Minty:
At some point after the 2010 celebrations, the structure was damaged by vandals, and rebuilt by local volunteers. Here is what the cairn looked like on 13 October 2013. Note that it is slightly more symmetrical here, than in the 2010 photo.
This note is the first I've heard of a similar structure located between Brigus and Cupids. If anyone knows of that particular cairn's current or previous location, email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca
- Dale Jarvis
UPDATE:
On 5 February 2013, Mike Sexton wrote me and noted the following:
"...years ago I met an Icelander in L'Anse Aux Meadows, he was on the hill looking for a third cairn at the viking site. He was an old mariner and he told me that there should be three if they were used for navigation. they always have the sky as a background,and you have to keep one in the middle for safe water. This one in the middle could be a considerable distance behind the ones closest to the coast. so you sail by, and when you have them positioned right you turn towards shore. (Safe water)"
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Construction During Winter
Pictured above is the Port Union salt fish plant and retail store during construction. Though the photograph is undated, Edith Samson from the Sir William Coaker Foundation noted that the retail store (on the left) is shown here as a 4 story building indicating that this photo was taken at the time of the original construction project. In 1945 this building was rebuilt but only as a 3 story structure.
This photograph was donated to the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and will be added to the Port Union collection on MUN's Digital Archives Initiative.
-Lisa
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Tuesday's Folklore Photo: This is Mr. TB Germ
Educational booklet published by the Newfoundland Tuberculosis Association. Ca. 1950 |
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, Newfoundland had a very high rate of tuberculosis infection and death, much higher than that of Canada, Great Britain or the United States. Several factors contributed to the spread of TB in Newfoundland and Labrador. One was the custom of large families spending a lot of time in the kitchen, especially in winter, when all would gather to socialize and stay warm. A person with active TB would then expose their family and visitors to the disease. A monotonous diet that lacked fresh food and important nutrients also weakened immune systems and left Newfoundlanders vulnerable to the disease. Tuberculosis was also difficult to detect until it became active and at this point was much more difficult to treat. Also, severe isolation in Newfoundland and Labrador meant there was little or no access to medical services and to top it off, there was little understanding of the causes and prevention of TB.
Educational booklet published by the Newfoundland Tuberculosis Association. Ca. 1950 |
The Newfoundland Tuberculosis Association, a dedicated anti-TB group founded in 1944 by Ted Meany, released publications to educate the community about the spread and prevention of the disease. The booklet featured in today's folklore photo was published by the association ca. 1950.
Educational booklet published by the Newfoundland Tuberculosis Association. Ca. 1950 |
Tuberculosis continued to be a leading cause of death in Newfoundland and Labrador well into the 20th century, only being overtaken by heart disease and cancer in the 1950s. From 1901-1975, just under 32,000 people died of TB in Newfoundland. Often the victims were males aged 15 to 45, the wage earners of their families, so the social and economic costs of TB were great. It wasn't until the 1970s, with advances in pharmaceuticals, living conditions and through the efforts of the Newfoundland Tuberculosis Association, that Tuberculosis was defeated.
Click here to read the full booklet!
-Nicole
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Tuesday's Folklore Photo: That's one dirty old...shut your mouth!
When I happen to have a boil up with folks from away I can't help but point at the kettle on the fire, lean in close and whisper mischievously, "Do you know what we call that in Newfoundland"?
They, of course, say "no" and I giggle like a child who just learned about beaver architecture, the actual name for a female dog and donkey synonyms all in one glorious afternoon.
I blurt out, "It's called a slut!", while thinking, "please ask me why it's called that, please ask me why it's called that."
The inevitable question follows and I practically explode.
"Because they're fast and dirty"!!
I sit back then, far more proud than I should be of this awful one-liner. Who do I think I am? Henny Youngman?
But I can't help myself so I giggle and ask, "Do you know what we call dandelions here"?
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