Do you remember being sent to the store as a child? #Folklorephoto

028.03.193 Four unidentified children in front of  Broad Cove with a jar of mustard pickles.
Photo courtesy of Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives.

The above photo shows four unidentified children in front of Broad Cove in St. Philip's, who look like they may have just come from a stop at a local store. One little girl holds a jar of mustard pickles, another has something in her hand, maybe a chocolate bar? Do you have memories of your parents sending you to the store as a child? How far did you walk? What did you have to pick up?

~ Kelly

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Main Street Fashion

Cohen's. Photo courtesy of GFWHS.

On September 23, 2016, as part of the Collective Memories project, I interviewed Yvonne Courtney of Grand Falls-Windsor about growing up in Grand Falls, shopping on Main Street, the merchants and business owners, the various cultures on Main Street, and social events in Grand Falls-Windsor.

In this interview Yvonne describes the fashion of the 1950s and 1960s and shopping on Main Street. Describing Cohen's on Main Street Yvonne remembered:
Cohen’s had elegance right off the magazine covers. They had changed the shop completely. When you walked up those steps on the left hand side and entered the world of Cohen’s fashion you were just blown away. Everything was gorgeous. There were velvet coats or fur coats, fur-lined coats, there were hats like you had never seen before, there were shoes that were really today’s shoes with a clutch purse to match and the clothing was just gloriously beautiful and there was carpet on the floor and the dressing rooms were snazzier. Everything about Cohen’s was just snazzy, totally snazzy and big floor length mirrors, 2 or 3 of them in a row. You could stand there and see everything and you could stand there and just admire putting on a coat or whatever. Cohen’s really had a fashion sense that was a cut above. Cohen’s had a way of presenting it that was in a league of its own.

Click here to hear the full interview and leanr more about shopping on Main Street and the fashion of the 1950s and 1960s.

~Terra Barrett

Alex C. Gruchy General Dealer, Pouch Cove 1954 #Folklorephoto

028.03.013 Alex H. J. Gruchy, Delcie Squires, and Pearl Squires in front of Alex C. Gruchy General Dealer, Pouch Cove. 1954
Photograph courtesy of the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives 

These two photograph are from the Allen and Pearl Squires fonds at the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives. Allen and Pearl visited his home town of St. Philips, taking 35mm slided in 1954 and 1962. The slides show the couples travels around the Avalon Peninsula including Pouch Cove. The above photo shows the Pouch Cove shop Alex C. Gruchy General Dealer in 1954. Allen Squires and Alex Gruchy served together in WW2 as part of the 166th Newfoundland Field Regiment Royal Artillery. Below is a photograph from Allen and Pearls 1962 visit, showing Allen Squires, Alex and Jean Gruchy with their children and a friends baby.

 028.03.132 - Alex and Jean Grouchy and their son and daughter and friends baby and Allen Squires (in suit) in. Pouch Cove. August 12th 1962. Photograph courtesy of the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives.  

Are you from the Pouch Cove area? What do you remember about the Gruchy's shop?

For more information on the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives, contact the Town of Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Heritage Programs and Services Coordinator Julie Pomeroy.

~Kelly

The Merchants and Memories Mug Up at Marjorie Mews Library

Yesterday, we went to the Marjorie Mews Public Library for our Merchants and Memories Mug Up. As it was our third Mug Up event at the library we decided to have a theme, the Merchants of St. John's. This topic triggered memories and sparked the interest of many people who grew up in St. John's or visited the area. As people arrived at the library, we had to keep adding chairs to the space, widening our circle of chairs to eventually accommodate 56 people. While we were all crowded into the room, the event was a great success and we heard many marvelous stories! In anticipation of the popularity of the event, we decided to implement the use of a talking stick, which was passed around the room in order to give each participant a chance to tell their stories and hold the attention of the crowd. With such a large group, this was a wise choice!

A participant holds up the talking stick as she shares her story 

Participants shared stories about shopping in the downtown area of St. John's, both as St. John's residents and people who made trips to town with a specific list of items to buy and places to visit. As well as the main streets of Water and Duckworth, there were memories of the early days of the Avalon Mall, and the taxis and businesses of Brazil Square. People also shared stories of being employees of many of the well known shops and businesses of the area. They talked about their first job experiences, and shared stories about working in the area. One story was told of a bull accidentally being set loose on Water street, and a woman talked about working at the Newfoundland Savings Bank when a hold-up took place.

Many people came with fond memories of family businesses, and insider stories that started with "maybe I shouldn't say this but..." We heard about shops that had been passed down through generations, and the early days of well known businesses like Mary Browns.

Carol Ann Smith showing a Goobies Christmas Toyland advertisement

Carol Ann Smith talked about her families store, W. R. Goobie Ltd, and brought along a framed advertisement which referred to the store as "Santa's first stop." The ad lists the names and prices for Christmas gifts and decorations that would have been familiar sites in the participants childhood. There were many other stories shared of downtown St. John's which took place at Christmas. Any mention of the Christmas Raffle brought about smiles, and the magic that the window displays in downtown shops brought to families picking up their Christmas gifts.

Overall it was a wonderful event and we could have shared more stories well into the night.

Do you have any memories of the important shops when you were growing up? Did you win something at the Christmas raffle? What was your favorite place to eat? Do you remember your first shopping trip downtown?

~ Kelly