"Everything Was Wrapped in Brown Paper: The Old Shops of Port Blandford" Booklet Launch

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) and the Port Blandford Heritage Society present a booklet launch at the Anglican Church in Port Blandford on Thursday, October 12, from 1:30-3:30pm.

“Everything Was Wrapped in Brown Paper: The Old Shops of Port Blandford” is the third booklet in the Oral History Roadshow Series produced by the Heritage Foundation. This booklet focuses on the old shops of Port Blandford, and people’s memories associated with these places.

“The face-to-face relationship that you had with the clerks by going into the store was much more personal than it is today,” explains Reginald Penney,  one of several residents of Port Blandford interviewed as part of the oral history project.

“The store itself had a different atmosphere” says Penney. “There were no aisles as you would see in the supermarket type places we have today. Most groceries were in shelves built in the back or on the sides of the store, and in the back there might be some dry goods articles, nails, screws and things like that.”

“The Port Blandford Heritage Society contacted us to help document the old shops that once existed within the community,” says Katie Harvey, a researcher with the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. “There are only a few shops remaining, so it is important to preserve these memories while it is still possible.”

This booklet is part of the Oral History Roadshow project, which aims to empower and encourage seniors to showcase their memories through a series of public oral history night celebrations.

The booklet launch is open to the public and will include light refreshments. There will be copies of the booklet available at the launch, and a downloadable PDF version will be placed online. For more information please go to www.collectivememories.ca or call Katie Harvey at 1-888-739-1892 ext. 6.

Oral History Roadshow - Salmon Cove Memories

Dorothy Smith fonds Salmon Cove, Conception Bay Fonds MG 179, Item VA 22-53 [summer 1943]
Courtesy of The Rooms

Oral History Roadshow - Salmon Cove Memories

Did you grow up in Salmon Cove? Do you remember bucking barrels for bonfire night? Do you recall sliding in the winter or playing on the beach in the summer? Do you have old photos of Salmon Cove? The Heritage Foundation NL, in partnership with community members in Salmon Cove, wants to know!

We’ll be hosting a Salmon Cove Oral History Event at the Salmon Cove Community Centre (SCPC Fire Department) on Main Road on Wednesday, October 11th, 2017 at 10am.

“We are looking for anyone connected to Salmon Cove with stories of growing up in the community,” says Heritage Foundation folklorist Dale Jarvis. “If you have memories or photographs of the community of Salmon Cove, we would love to hear from you.”

The Salmon Cove Memories Oral History Event is part of the Foundation’s Oral History Roadshow. This project is an initiative of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the HFNL made possible with assistance from the New Horizons for Seniors program. The Oral History Night Roadshow will see researchers travel from community to community, hosting a series of Oral History Nights, open-mic storytelling sessions led and inspired by seniors in that community.

Come for a cup of tea, a bite to eat, and share a memory or two about growing up in Salmon Cove. If you have old photos, bring them along!

For more information please contact Terra Barrett with the Heritage Foundation toll free at 1-888-739-1892 ext. 5 or email terra@heritagefoundation.ca

The Old Shops of Port Blandford Booklet Launch

Please join The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in partnership with the Port Blandford Heritage Society for the launch of Everything Was Wrapped in Brown Paper: The Old Shops of Port Blandford. 

When: Thursday, October 12th at 1:30pm

Where: Anglican Church Basement, Port Blandford

We hope to see you there!

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Chip Bags and Memories

Photos of the framed chip bags and tickets. 

Photo courtesy of Kelly Jones.

On our trip out to Grand Falls-Windsor for the Memory Mug Up event back in July we were told the story behind the framed chip bags that hang in the Classic Theatre on High Street. Listen to the clip below to hear Shawn Feener, the owner/operator of the Classic Theatre, explain the story behind the tickets and chip bags.

What was the first movie you saw in theatres?
Or where was your first date?

~Terra Barrett

How to Sew Up a Horse with Buttons

On August 8, I interviewed Dave Dunn about growing up in St. John's. We talked about his early years in Georgestown (which, as Dave said, was "a bustling community, lively as heck"), his dealings with "longshoreman gangs" on the waterfront (who were always nabbing transistor radios, "the iPhones of the day"), and his later life in Makinsons, where he gardens, picks berries, hunts and forages for most of his food. Towards the end of our interview, Dave brought up the matter of tending to injured animals. "If a horse is in trouble," he said, "if they need to get a pill in them, you've got to get a pill in them. You've got to figure out ways to make things work." With that, he launched into the tale of the time he sewed up a horse with buttons.

Diagram drawn by Dave Dunn, showing how he stitched up an injured horse with buttons and a shoelace. The diagram shows the position of the cut, the shape of the open wound, and his method of repair.

When Dave's horse, Prancer, first received the injury, Dave initially called up the local doctor. However, the doctor didn't want to be known as a "horse doctor," and thus refused his services. Dave then took matters into his own hands, and attempted to sew up his horse with sutures, but the stitches wouldn't hold. After giving the operation a couple of tries, he recalled a story of the time that a Clarke's Beach cow had a wound sewn up with buttons. And so, a woman named Myrtle brought out her button collection, and Dave decided to give it a shot. He explained:

“I think it was about seven buttons—four on the bottom, and three on the top. One in the centre on the top, a couple of flanks, and then the ones on the bottom to match it. … The buttons held. And then afterwards, when the buttons were held, then I used a shoelace. Pulled it together with a shoelace, and tied it up with a little bow.”

Dave used orajel to ease the horse's pain, but as he said, "The repercussion of it was that it was a hot day, and while I was in there trying to do it, I was rubbing sweat off my head—and next thing I knew, my forehead went dead, and my nose went dead, and my mouth went dead, and my fingers went numb—oh, it was so funny trying to do it. That was the funny part. It just made it into such a lark."

Dave had called up a nearby vet to inspect his operation. After sizing up the job, the vet told Dave, "I couldn't have done any better." Dave cut off the buttons once Prancer had healed (after a week or so), and that was that. The cut was set at the very point where Prancer's black and white hair met, so nobody ever saw the scar.

Prancer the horse. Photo courtesy of Dave Dunn.

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Up-cycling Tin Cans

On our trip out to Grand Falls-Windsor for the Memory Mug Up we were told an interesting story about the slide projector in this photo. The event was held in July at the Classic Theatre as part of their Salmon Festival celebrations and there were six storytellers on stage. Shawn Feener, the owner/operator of the Classic Theatre and one of the story tellers, explained the story behind the slide projector. You may notice right away but it has been altered slightly with the addition of three tin cans. These were added so that the picture from the slide could reach the screen. Listen to the clip below to hear Shawn Feener and John Edwards explain the story of the tin can projector. What have you used tin cans for besides beans?!

~Terra Barrett

#OralHistoryRoadshow - Port Blandford

Oral history event on local stores. Photo by Katie Harvey. 2017

On Wednesday afternoon Katie and I headed out to Port Blandford to meet with the Conservation Corps' Port Blandford Green Team and Calvin Efford with the Port Blandford Heritage Society. Calvin contacted the Heritage Foundation about having the Oral History Roadshow come to Port Blandford. The Heritage Society suggested we focus on the stores in the community as there have been over twenty stores in the community through the years, and many local people have memories of both shopping and working in these general stores, convenience shops, and grocery stores.

Thursday morning we met with the green team and provided an overview of how to do oral history interviews including consent, recording equipment, questions to ask, and how to process the material once the recording has been done. Following this meeting Katie and I interviewed two women in the community about their experience with stores in the community.

In the afternoon we held the public oral history event where twenty five people came out to share their memories of local stores like Roland Greening's (later Wanda's), Powell's, Pelley's, and other small stores. There were stories about the charge system, how everything was noted by hand, and memories of the delivery service first by horse and cart and then by vehicle.

Following the afternoon event Katie and I interviewed five community members about their stories and memories of working and shopping in Port Blandford. We are still looking for memories of the stores in Port Blandford so if you have one let me know by calling 1-888-739-1892 ex. 5 or emailing terra@heritagefoundation.ca

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Charming Warts with Dianne Carr

Dianne Carr of the Spaniard's Bay Heritage Society. Photo by Terra Barrett.

On Tuesday July 31st, as part of the Collective Memories project, I interviewed Dianne Carr about her memories of charms and cures from Spaniard's Bay, Newfoundland. One of the stories Dianne told me was about her sister Jeanette and how she had her warts charmed as a child. Listen to the clip below to learn more about how a local woman charmed the warts away!

If you have any stories about folk charms, and cures, or practical recipes for things like soap, toothpaste, or wallpaper paste me know at terra@heritagefoundation.ca or call Terra at 1-888-739-1892 ex. 5.

The Goats of New Perlican - Booklet Launch

Cyril Pinsent reading out some of his story from "The Goats of New Perlican" booklet.
Several people who were interviewed for the booklet surround Cyril on stage.

On Saturday, July 8th, while the rest of our office was busy with Great Fire celebrations in St. John's, I headed to New Perlican for their Heritage Day celebrations. The day was a celebration of all things heritage and included a couple of speeches and presentations as well as display boards on family genealogy, occupational folklore, significant buildings, and events in the community.

As part of New Perlican's Heritage Day we also launched "Goats of New Perlican".  This is the first booklet in the Oral History Roadshow series. The booklet focuses on local memories and stories around the goats of New Perlican from their many uses to their stubborn nature.

New Perlican Heritage Day displays.

The roadshow is an initiative of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the HFNL made possible with assistance from the New Horizons for Seniors program. The Oral History Night Roadshow will see researchers travel from community to community, hosting a series of Oral History Nights, open-mic storytelling sessions led and inspired by seniors in that community.

The launch was a great success with approximately a hundred people turning out to celebrate New Perlican's heritage! Heritage New Perlican is currently selling the print copies of "The Goats of New Perlican" or you can check out the free PDF here!

Heritage Day audience.

If you would like to know more information about how your community can get involved in the Oral History Roadshow call Terra at 1-888-739-1892 ex. 5 or email terra@heritagefoundation.ca or Dale ex. 2 and ich@heritagefoundation.ca

~Terra Barrett

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Tonic Wine, Rescued Kettles and Wooden Skates at W.J. Murphy's Store

On July 12, I interviewed Ed Murphy about the W.J. Murphy store in St. John’s, which operated from 1895-2000 on Rawlin’s Cross (in the space now occupied by Hungry Heart Café). As the third-generation owner and operator of the store, Ed had a wealth of stories to share about the history and legacy of the business. Over the years, W.J. Murphy’s sold many local products, including rabbit, moose, salmon, halibut, fish (cod), partridgeberries, blueberries, bakeapples and locally grown vegetables. The store also imported a few fancy items from England, Scotland and Ireland. In the early days, the store delivered their wares using bicycles and horse and cart, before making the obligatory shift towards car deliveries. Many customers entrusted W.J. Murphy’s with keys to their homes, even in the years leading up to the business’s close. As Ed explained it:

"Like I said, it was family. And we used to go around delivering, and we had keys to their houses, and if the driver went there and they weren’t home, we just opened the doors and went in. If there was ice cream or anything frozen, we’d put that in the fridge, leave the rest of the stuff there and go on. It was just a different atmosphere altogether, you know.”

After our interview, Ed showed me several intriguing artefacts that he’s held onto over the years:

This is a bottle of pre-confederate tonic wine, which Ed estimates as being “80, 90 years old now, it’s got to be.” Before confederation, W.J. Murphy’s was permitted to sell wine, but the Canadians opted to outlaw such practices “because the liquor store took over.” As Ed remembers it, “The liquor store went around to all the stores and collected these bottles of wine and liquor that weren’t already sold, but Dad said to himself, ‘They’re not getting that liquor.’ So we took all the cases.” Ed drinks the tonic wine very sporadically, and has kept many bottles since that time. He opened up a bottle on his 60th birthday, thinking it might taste like vinegar, but instead found that “Harvey’s Bristol Cream has nothing on it. A little shot of it like that, and you can feel the blood in your body starting to curl.”

Here, Ed is holding a pair of wooden skates that his grandmother used to skate across the St. John’s harbour. At first, I registered this fact with some astonishment—could people have truly skated across the Narrows?—but Ed appeared unswervingly confident:

Ed: And I’m going to show you now a pair of wooden skates that my grandmother used to skate on the harbour. And you might say this, “Now, how can you use a pair of wooden skates on the harbour?” It was homemade, they were homemade here in Newfoundland, and she’d hook them onto her boots. Whichever way the wind was going, you’d give her a push and the wind would take her, and she’d go down the harbour. So then she had to come back on her own, but these were used on the harbour.
Andrea: So was that considered a risky thing to do?
Ed: No, no, they walked across the harbour, oh yes—back then at the time, loads of them. Even when I was going to school, I can remember ice in the harbour. And you could, if you wanted to, jump the ice and so on.
Andrea: Could you skate to Fort Amherst?
Ed: Oh yes. Like I said, because back then it froze. Later on we more or less got slab ice, you know, because things warmed up.

Finally, Ed showed me this set of silver kettles, which his family rescued from the Great Fire of 1892, and kept safe in their Bannerman Park makeshift lodgings. According to Ed, many people grabbed ahold of their kettles when the fire first broke out.

#CollectiveMemories - Folk Cures and Practical Magic - Oral History Night

Participants describing types of poultices to Dale Jarvis.

On Wednesday July 26th, Dale, Andrea (McGuire), and I went out to Spaniard's Bay for the Folk Cures and Practical Magic Oral History night. The event took place at the Wesley Gosse United Church in Spaniard's Bay where 22 people came out to share stories of cures, charms, and recipes for ailments such as warts, arthritis, cuts, colds, freckles, etc.

The Cures and Practical Magic Night is part of the foundation’s Oral History Roadshow. This project is an initiative of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the HFNL made possible with assistance from the New Horizons for Seniors program. The Oral History Night Roadshow will see researchers travel from community to community, hosting a series of Oral History Nights, open-mic storytelling sessions led and inspired by seniors in that community.

Andrea taking notes on the cures and charms.

We discussed recipes for bread poultices used to draw out splinters, and to cool burns and mustard poultices which would be spread over the chest for a cold. Several people remembered Aunt Eminy Barrett who would charm warts but wouldn't accept thanks for the work. Shelly Bowring went to see Aunt Eminy as a child and hasn't had a wart since. Shelly also shared her own knowledge of using a wedding band to make the sign of a cross to remove a sty, or using a needle and thread to divine whether or not someone would have children and the amount and sex of the children.

Shelly Bowring and her daughter Courtney Bowring.

Midwives and midwifery were discussed and there were stories of babies being thrown in the snow or dunked in hot and cold water until they were able to catch their breath. Two woman at the event were delivered by midwives and there was a discussion of Anne Marie Sheppard from Trinity Bay who was said to have delivered over 1200 babies!

Sharing stories!

If one was nauseous during pregnancy a mixture of 2 tbsp cider vinegar, and 2 tbsp of honey mixed with water would settle the stomach. Cures for seasickness included a ginger drink or a cloth bag of salt worn around the neck. The bag of salt could also be used for car sickness.

When the crowd was asked about uses for vinegar they repeated the second verse of Jack and Jill. We were told brown paper and vinegar could cure headaches and bruises! Jack and Jill is a traditional English nursery rhyme dates back to the 18th century and there are several variations. The version repeated last night is as follows:

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after

Up Jack got and home did trot,
As fast as he could caper;
And went to bed and bound his head
With vinegar and brown paper.

If you want to learn more about vinegar and it's uses check out this blog post on the Folklore of Vinegar!

We finished off the evening with a cup of tea and some blueberry cake. This is a just a small sample of the stories we heard in Spaniard's Bay. We will be doing some follow up interviews and are hoping to produce a booklet of practical magic.  If you would like to learn more keep your eye on the blog, our Facebook, and Twitter! If you know any cures or charms reach out by phone to Terra at 1-888-739-1892 ex. 5 or terra@heritagefoundation.ca or Andrea ex. 7, mcguire@heritagefoundation.ca

Cup of tea!

~Terra Barrett

#Folklorethursday Great Balls of Fire and the Goats of New Perlican

I recently scanned a booklet titled "Ghost Stories and Legends" that was produced by the Lower Trinity South Development Association. Because of our recent work on The Goats of New Perlican the following story peaked our interest:

Great Balls of Fire 

One evening as Mr. Ryan was returning home from New Perlican with a sac of flour for his mother, he stopped on Spicer's Lungers between Turk's Cove and New Perlican to allow his goats to take a drink. Out of the corner of their eye the goats noticed a small light, almost like a ball of fire, approach from out of nowhere. Leo soon realized what had caused the goats to become restless. He saw this light as it came closer and got smaller when it neared him. The fire ball crossed the road and suddenly disappeared out of sight. The two goats began to run and when they reached home they were shivering with fear. It has been said that this ball of fire is a spirit who watches over the people of the community. It is not known whether the spirit is good or bad. 

~Kelly

Learning about St. John's, or "that old flannel shirt you love to wear when you're sooky" #Collectivememoriesmonday

My name is Andrea McGuire, and I am a folklore MA student at Memorial University. This summer, I am working in partnership with Conservation Corps NL and the Intangible Cultural Heritage office as the Cultural Conservation Intern. Throughout my degree, I have interviewed dozens of people about their stories and traditions (especially those related to hitchhiking, which was the subject of my master’s thesis). In this position, I am helping Dale with the Living Heritage Podcast, gathering folk tales for an upcoming project with the Local Immigration Partnership, and conducting a slew of oral history interviews.

So far, most of these interviews have centered on memories of old St. John’s. Upon returning to St. John’s in 1975 (after dwelling in such places as Toronto and Australia), interviewee Barry Whelan likened the city to “that old flannel shirt you love to wear when you’re sooky.” Having lived downtown for the past nine years (with no compulsion to stray further afield), I can definitely relate to this sentiment. But what is it about the city as it was and its modern iteration that remains the same, other than this continuity of sooky attachment? It can be fun to imagine historical features overlaying the modern landscape—the apparition of a horse, the humming of the streetcars—but how do these versions of St. John’s fit together?

Since beginning this job, I have learned a great deal about the city and the way things used to be. Some memories are easy to relate to—interviewee Madge Noseworthy, who was born in the Battery in 1931, offered vivid recollections of picking blueberries on Signal Hill, saying, “I remember you’d go off berry picking and when you’d come back, your mouth’d be blue from eating the berries, you know? But they were gorgeous to eat!” (Madge later mentioned her distaste for store-bought blueberries: “Even in cookies, they’re not nice.”) Blueberry picking on Signal Hill has certainly stood the test of time. But other historical details seem impossibly far away, almost of another place—horses carrying freight from the harbour up the hills; a downtown replete with “four or five theatres that everybody knew,” where, as Barry Whelan remembered it, “the real thing to do was bring all your comic books to the movie on Saturday afternoon … you went all around the place and everyone went crazy trading comics”; people ice-skating, somehow, across the Narrows; and the sight of horse troughs in the streets (complete with low-hanging watering troughs for dogs, since horses weren’t the only thirsty animals on the block).

The last watering trough for dogs and horses in St. John’s, situated in Bowring Park.

July 8th marked the 125th anniversary of the 1892 Great Fire, and the ICH office all kept busy with a number of commemorative activities. My task was to mind archival photographs of the city in ruins, which were displayed in the Bannerman Park pool house. Over the weekend, history buffs and swimmers alike wandered into the room, and many visitors spoke about their ancestors’ brush with the fire. Until this weekend, I was unaware that thousands of citizens camped in Bannerman Park for months in the wake of the disaster. Since then, however, the fire of 1892 (and subsequent mass camp-out) has come up repeatedly in my interviews with long-term residents. It seems clear that the fire is firmly lodged in the city’s collective memory.

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Valentine's Day

Daphne Gillingham. 2017. Photo by Terra Barrett.

On May 29, 2017 as part of the Collective Memories project, I interviewed Daphne Gillingham about growing up in St. John's including her memories of her time in school, her first job at as a cook at cub camp, and her memories of the holidays.

Daphne Gillingham was born in St. John's in August 1938 and grew up in St. John's. She shared her memories of growing up in St. John's in the 1940s and 1950s. One of the things which stood out in Daphne's memory was Valentine's Day. In this clip Daphne describes the difference between Valentine's day when she was a child and how it is celebrated today. If you would like to listen to the full interview you can head to Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative.


~Terra Barrett

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Grand Falls-Windsor Memory Mug Up

As part of the Collective Memories project Dale and I headed out to Grand Falls-Windsor last week to help out with the town's first Memory Mug Up event. The mug up was held in the Classic Theatre on High Street and was part of the town's Salmon Festival activities. The event was organized by the Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society and was a staged interview with six local community members.

Dale moderated the discussion which involved memories of horses and goats, tales of how to sneak in to the movie theatre with flattened nickels or fake tickets, stories of memorable local characters, the influence of strong woman, and memories about growing up in the community. The event was recorded and will be placed on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative. Check out the video below for a taste of the event and stay tuned for more memories!



~Terra Barrett

Folk Cures and Practical Magic Oral History Night - Spaniard’s Bay, Conception Bay North

Photo from: http://archivalmoments.ca/2016/09/newfoundland-and-cod-liver-oil/

Have you ever made a bread poultice? Do you remember stories about a seventh son or daughter? Do you know the perfect mix for wallpaper paste? Have you had a wart charmed? The Heritage Foundation NL, in partnership with the Spaniard’s Bay Heritage Society, wants to know!

The Foundation will be hosting a Cures and Practical Magic Oral History Night at the Wesley Gosse United Church, Spaniard’s Bay on Wednesday, July 26th, 2017 at 7:00pm.

“We are looking for anyone with memories of cures, charms, or practical recipes such as soap or wallpaper paste, as well as midwives, and healers with memories of practicing medicine in the area,” says the foundation’s folklorist Dale Jarvis.  “If you have memories of cures and recipes, we would love to hear from you."

The Cures and Practical Magic Night is part of the foundation’s Oral History Roadshow. This project is an initiative of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the HFNL made possible with assistance from the New Horizons for Seniors program. The Oral History Night Roadshow will see researchers travel from community to community, hosting a series of Oral History Nights, open-mic storytelling sessions led and inspired by seniors in that community.

Come for a cup of tea, share a memory or two about a cure, and bring some home recipes. The information gathered will be used alongside oral history interviews and archival research to create a booklet about folk cures and practical traditions in Spaniard’s Bay. If you have photos or old written recipes, bring them along.

For more information please contact Terra Barrett with the Heritage Foundation toll free at 1-888-739-1892 ext. 5 or email terra@heritagefoundation.ca.

#CollectiveMemories Monday - "The first thing I did was climb the mizzen..."

Patricia Cumby, May 2017.

On May 15, 2017, as part of the Collective Memories project, I interviewed Patricia Cumby about her memories of moving to Newfoundland from the UK, living in Heart's Content, and some of the trouble she got into as a child.

Patricia arrived in Gander in a snow storm and had to spend a couple of nights there before the family could make their way to Heart's Content where her father was stationed to work as a doctor. She told the story of getting fitted out for the Newfoundland winter and in this audio clip you can hear about her first adventure in Heart's Content - climbing the mizzen. Patricia explained the mizzen is a small hill in Heart's Content named because ships entering the community could see it from the mizzen-mast up in the crow's nest. Patricia's full interview can be found on Memorial's Digital Archives Initiative.

~Terra Barrett

The Goats of New Perlican Booklet Launch

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and Heritage New Perlican present a booklet launch at Veteran's Memorial Community Centre, New Perlican on Saturday July 8, 2017 at 1:00pm. This launch is part of the community's 10th Annual Heritage Day Celebrations.

"The Goats of New Perlican" is the first booklet in the Oral History Roadshow series produced by the Heritage Foundation. This booklet focuses on the memories of goats in New Perlican and includes stories about laughing goats, stinky bucks their stubborn nature, using goats to haul wood, the benefits of goat milk, and keeping goats as pets!

"They would all roam the roads," described Susie Smith. "You would never know when you would go for a walk in the road at night and no lights on the pole you would never know if you were going to bump into a goat or a horse or a cow or something on the road."

Smith was one of several residents of New Perlican who was interviewed as part of the oral history project completed by HFNL in conjunction with Heritage New Perlican.

“This booklet developed as a result of an event in New Perlican in May 2016,” says Terra Barrett, a researcher with the foundation. "At this workshop the topic of goats kept coming up again and again. So after discussions with Heritage New Perlican we decided to record stories about the goats of New Perlican."

"The Goats of New Perlican" is part of the foundation’s Oral History Roadshow. This project is an initiative of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the HFNL made possible with assistance from the New Horizons for Seniors program. The Oral History Night Roadshow will see us travel from community to community, hosting a series of Oral History Nights, open-mic storytelling sessions led and inspired by seniors in that community.

The booklet launch at New Perlican's Heritage Day is open to the public and will include light refreshments. There will be copies of the booklet for sale by Heritage New Perlican available at the launch as well as a PDF version which will be placed online. For more information please call Terra Barrett at 1-888-739-1892 ext. 5 or email terra@heritagefoundation.ca.

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Great Fire of 1892

Women making hay at Ross' farm, Quidi Vidi.
Series Item E 6-7. Parsons Family Collection.
S.H. Parsons and Sons sous fonds. Summer 1911.
Photo courtesy of The Rooms.

On April 19, 2017, as part of the Collective Memories project, I interviewed Roberta Bugden about her memories of growing up in St. John’s. She told stories about riding the street car twice for the price of one trip, buying braces of rabbits from Mercer’s and fish from the harbour front, and her father’s work as a buyer for the Royal Store.

Roberta also told stories about her grandfather Ross’ move to Newfoundland from Scotland and recounted stories her mother, Queen Victoria (Ross) Young, had told her about the Great Fire of 1892. The Ross family farm was located on the North Side of Quidi Vidi Lake adjoining Mount Carmel near the temporary accommodations built by the government after the Great Fire of 1892.

Roberta was born August 16, 1931 and her mother was Queen Victoria (Ross) Young born March 23, 1885. In the following clip Roberta describes her mother’s memories of the Ross farm and of the Great Fire of 1892. Roberta's full interview can be found on Memorial's Digital Archives Initiative.

Tilts put up in [Bannerman] Park to shelter the poor who had been burnt out.
Series VA 152, Item VA 152-53. June 1893.
Photo courtesy of The Rooms.

~Terra Barrett

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Steve Best, Train Dispatcher and Telegraph Operator

A 19-61. Stalled! Winter scene on the Newfoundland Railway [191-?]. Originally published by Ayre & Sons (St. John's, N.L.). Courtesy of The Rooms Provincial Archives.

One of the interviews recently digitized for Admiralty House Museum and Archives was with Steve Best, a resident of Mount Pearl. Best talks about his childhood growing up in Gambo, telling stories about his family, school, and pastimes. He also talks about moving to the growing community of Mount Pearl in the 1970's. 

Best also talks about his work with the Newfoundland Railway, as a telegraph operator and train dispatcher. He tells stories about the accidents that occurred on the railway, both minor and major, and the problems snow created on the railway.   

To listen to the interview with Steve Best visit Memorial University Digital Archives Initiative.

~ Kelly