Living Heritage Podcast Ep086 How do Newcomers Experience Newfoundland? Part 2

Part Two of “NL Stories: How do Newcomers Experience Newfoundland?” - excerpts from an evening of storytelling with new residents of Canada. The event was recorded live on Thursday, June 29, 2017. It was hosted by the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council, with support from the Helen Creighton Folklore Society and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. The MC and organizer for the event was Marissa Farahbod, a graduate student in the Department of Folklore at Memorial University, with stories from Leonardo Linares Gutiérrez (from Cuba), Maria Moreno (from Colombia), Yohei Sakai (from Japan), and Ellie King (from the UK).

Download the mp3

#AdaptingHeritage Forum 2017 - Introducing Grace Shears

Grace Shears is the Risk Manager at AbbyShot Clothiers Limited in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador. Grace holds the advanced level certificate in Health, Safety and Environmental Processes through the University of Fredericton, NB. She is a former Military Veteran and has also served as a volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross on the Disaster Management team.  In 2014, Grace joined the AbbyShot team and has been dedicated to quality control, product development and supply chain management. She is a major contributor to the empowering energy and culture of AbbyShot.

At the forum, Grace will be discussing her work with AbbyShot with particular focus on the incorporation of traditional knitting into their Outlander products.

Forum on Adapting NL's Intangible Cultural Heritage will take place on October 25 and 26. The cost of registration is $75.00, and $18.75 for post-secondary students. For full program details click here. To register click here.

#AdaptingHeritage Forum 2017 - Introducing Clare Fowler

Clare Fowler grew up on Bell Island. She spent time working in fish plants and other food processing plants before moving to Ontario in 1999 to do the Chiropody Program at the Michener Institute for Applied Health.  She moved to St. John’s in 2004 and worked for a decade before switching gears and following her passions for art and craft.  She completed the Textile: Craft and Apparel Design program with College of the North Atlantic in 2016 and is now a full time crafts person and maker with an open studio at the Quidi Vidi Village Craft Plantation.  Her body of work focuses on the use of seal fur and seal leather.

At the forum, Clare will be discussing her work where she utilizes traditional Newfoundland and Labrador sealskin to develop couture products. She explains:

"My work is exploratory.  I’m not afraid to use colour, texture, and to pair it with different materials.  I’m compelled to be bold and unapologetic in my designs.  I see truth in the material.  The resiliency, hard work, the beauty produced by harsh conditions.  It is successful evolution; it is a smart textile.  Anything a synthetic textile would try to emulate, Nature has already perfected in this fibre.  The creative potential I see in sealskin is nurtured by my emotional relationship to it.  It embodies so much of what the world needs right now.  It is local, sustainable, humane, and possesses the most wonderful combination of durability and biodegradability.  You can wear it a life time, and it will then return to Mother Earth.  I’m inspired to push the limits / boundaries / properties of what the material can do.  I’m inspired by the sealers themselves and their strength in the face of adversity."

If you would like to learn more about Clare's work, you can listen to our Living Heritage podcast episode with her by clicking here.

Forum on Adapting NL's Intangible Cultural Heritage will take place on October 25 and 26. The cost of registration is $75.00, and $18.75 for post-secondary students. For full program details click here. To register click here.

Barn in Freshwater, Conception Bay 1995 #Folklorephoto

Photograph taken in Freshwater in 1995 and is part of the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation slide collection.

“Folklore Lives Here!” - A storytelling night in Bay Roberts

Do you remember the spot where teenagers went for their first kiss, where fairies marched, or the rock haunted by the woman in white? Have you collected water from brooks or picked berries from a marsh? What was the best place for playing hockey?

A group of Memorial University folklore students, along with the Heritage Foundation of NL and the town of Bay Roberts, wants to know!

“We are looking for people’s memories about local places, neighbourhoods, swimming holes, skating ponds, and old paths,” says the foundation’s folklorist, Dale Jarvis.

Jarvis, and a group of Memorial University folklore students, will be hosting “Folklore Lives Here” at the SUF Lodge, Bay Roberts, on Thursday, September 14th, 2017 at 7:00pm.

The event is an informal story sharing session for students to meet local residents and seniors, where people can gather, have a cup of tea, and share memories of growing up in Bay Roberts.

The folklore students are part of Memorial University Folklore Department’s Graduate Field School. Students will be living, studying, and researching in the area for three weeks, where they will receive training in folklore interviews, and will work together as a team to document the folklife of Bay Roberts.

The information gathered will be used by the students to create a booklet about the folklore and historic places and neighbourhoods of Bay Roberts.

Come for a cup of tea, share a memory or two about a special place in Bay Roberts. If you have old photos of your favourite place, bring them along!

For more information please contact Dale Jarvis with the Heritage Foundation toll free at 1-888-739-1892 ext. 2 or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

“Folklore Lives Here!” - A storytelling night in Bay Roberts
SUF Lodge, Patterson Street, Bay Roberts
Thursday, September 14th, 2017 at 7:00pm.

"Adapting Heritage…Engage, Innovate, Rejuvenate!" - St. John's Oct 25-28

www.adaptingheritage.ca

Less than 6 weeks left to register for “Adapting Heritage…Engage, Innovate, Rejuvenate!” - an exciting forum that examines various aspects of how heritage needs to change and adapt in the 21st century. Hosted by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland & Labrador, in partnership with Memorial University, the conference consists of three individual events:

Wednesday, October 25 – Thursday, October 26 (Morning): Forum on Adapting NL's Intangible Cultural Heritage - The Lantern, 35 Barnes Road: A day-and-a-half forum highlighting past efforts to safeguard NL's Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and considering future directions.

Thursday, October 26 (Afternoon): Workshop on Adapting NL's Historic Religious Places - Cochrane Centre, 81 Cochrane Street
A half-day workshop on the management of NL's historic ecclesiastical buildings.

Friday, October 27 – Saturday, October 28 (Morning): Conference on Adapting NL's Historic Places - Gower Street United Church, 99 Queen's Road
A day-and-a-half conference that considers the various ways that NL's built heritage can and should change to meet modern needs.

Join conference participants and presenters from across Newfoundland and Labrador and across Canada to learn about new strategies for preserving and safeguarding the province’s heritage and to share your own experiences. Sessions will be of interest to a wide variety of individuals and organizations including historic property owners and managers, municipal officials, heritage professionals, architects, planners, academics, community development organizations and others.

Travel subsidies are available on a first-come, first-served basis so register early!

A generous student discount is available as well.

Visit www.adaptingheritage.ca for full details and to register.

Occasional Paper No. 008 - A Social and Architectural Analysis of the Harbour Grace Railway Station

Harbour Grace Railway Station and Freight House c. 1980. Photo by Joe McMillan. 

For the past couple of months, I've been researching the Harbour Grace Railway Station. I interviewed several people who have memories of the station, conducted archival research, and visited the building on various occasions to document its architectural features. The final result of this project is an occasional paper.  

If you would like to download the full PDF click here.

-Katie Harvey

Today's Catch and Earle Freighting Service LTD. Carbonear, 1994. #Folklorephoto

This photograph was taken in 1994 and is part of the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation slide collection.

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

#FoodwaysFriday - When Historic Places Meet Food: The Boreal Diner

The Boreal Diner. Photo by Katie Harvey, 2017.

This past weekend, I went on a little road trip around Bonavista, Port Union, Port Rexton and Trinity. I saw so many beautiful buildings, visited a variety of museums and art exhibition, and revelled in the breathtaking scenery that these unique communities have to offer. Also, I ate a lot of delicious food.

I had supper at The Boreal Diner Friday evening. It is located on the east end of Church Street in Bonavista. The restaurant opened in 2016, and is quickly becoming a hot-spot to dine. The architecture was the first feature that grabbed me upon arrival. It is a beautifully restored, late nineteenth-century building with a mid-pitch gable roof. 

Upstairs interior. Photo by Katie Harvey, 2017.

This house was constructed in 1872 by master carpenter Robert Ryder and his father, Allan. It was home to George Templeman and Mary Ann Cuff and their five children, Ronald, Christine Agnes, Heber John, Frances and Arthur Spurgeon. The Templemans had occupied this area of town since the early 1800s, and there are six properties belonging to the family that are still standing today. However, this house is the oldest surviving of the Templeman properties. 

A couple of years ago, the building was going to be demolished, but was instead purchased by Bonavista Living and restored. Sylvie Mitford and Jonathan House now operate The Boreal Diner from this location, serving locally foraged foods, Newfoundland-raised meats and seafood. 

Prior to renovations. Photo courtesy Bonavista Creative.

Under construction. Photo courtesy Bonavista Creative.

That evening we ate steamed mussels in wine, with garlic scape aioli and homemade sour dough bread for an appetizer. The main course was an orange-ginger tofu stir fry with rice noodles, mushrooms, broccoli, pickled turnip and radishes topped with sesame seeds and fresh herbs. For dessert, I indulged in a mixed berry crumble with slivered almonds. 

Steamed mussels. Photo by Katie Harvey, 2017.

Orange-ginger stir fry. Photo by Katie Harvey, 2017.

The food was scrumptious and the atmosphere was lovely. There is something about eating food in an old, historic building that makes the experience much more enjoyable. 

-Katie Harvey

The Baccalieu Island Lighthouse

Baccalieu Island Lighthouse and Dwelling. Photo courtesy Heritage House (Lighthouse Friends Website)

Baccalieu Island is an uninhabited island located in northern Conception Bay near Red Head Cove. Construction began on the Baccalieu Island lighthouse and dwelling in July of 1858. It was first established as a fog station in 1905, and the light tower was later added in 1953. The tower was composed of red bricks and stood at twenty-five-feet tall. The dwelling was painted white with a red roof.

James Ryan was the first lighthouse keeper appointed to the Baccalieu Island Lighthouse in 1858, and four generations of Ryans manned the lighthouse for the next ninety years. The telegram reported the following about the Ryans upon their retirement:

“They were well and favourably known by all mariners and fishermen in the sea lanes, they were the friends of all who needed them and were ready at all times to risk their lives to save others. Because of their isolation they loved not man less, but nature more, they always felt close to God and they were God fearing people.”

When there was talk of demolishing the lighthouse, locals protested by writing a letter:

“Demolishing the stone lighthouse would be destroying a part of our culture, that could never be replaced. It would be tantamount to ‘blowing up’ a medieval castle in Europe, an act so outrageous that it would immediately have word wide attention.”

Today, the lighthouse is not manned by a living person, however, a bright white light still flashes every ten seconds, warning nearby boats of impending danger and serving as a reminder of Newfoundland's rich fishing history. 

-Katie Harvey

Always a Use for a Flour Bag: Quilts, Shrouds and Sails

On August 3^rd, I interviewed Sarah Griffiths Ennis (born October 20, 1946) of Placentia. When we met, I asked if she wished to talk about anything in particular. Without missing a beat, she said, “Recycling. You know, how we recycled, because we didn’t waste anything then.”

For the most part, we talked about flour bags, which, as Sarah noted, were “a big thing.” At the time, everyone had a 50 pound sack of flour at home. Sarah explained, “You didn’t buy small amounts, because everybody had to bake their own bread and make their own cookies.” As a child, Sarah would venture into the family’s pantry to play with the sack of flour, discovering that “if you hit both sides of the bag, you’d get a little puff of flour, because these were cotton sacks. … I thought it was spitting at me.” She could also mold the sack into “a real good snowman”:

            Andrea: So was that while the flour was in the bag?

Sarah: Yes, but if it was real full you couldn’t make a snowman, because it was too dense. So you had to wait until the flour bag was about a quarter gone, or two thirds gone, or whatever. And then you could push up the flour so you could mold it. And you could make a little waist around the middle. [laughter]

Once the flour (and the snowman) had been used up, the flour bag was always repurposed for something else. The cotton of the bag had a dense weave—it had to be, to contain the flour—and was thus a highly valuable commodity. As Sarah explained:

Sarah: So anyway, when the flour bags were empty, they were used for everything. There was fabric—it was well needed, the fabric was. So it was great. You got the flour, and you got the cotton. And most women at the time would use them, embroider them, or make clothes out of them. They were probably used for shrouds, too. But they were used for school bags, shopping bags, quilts, blankets—you name it and they used the flour bags for it. Bandages. Slings. And when we were younger, houses weren’t heated, and we used to wear a lot of vests inside our clothes. So the vests were often made with flour bags. So then they would get fancier, and get embroidered. They’d make beautiful things, and the cotton didn’t wear out, it was good heavy cotton. … And my dad was a sign painter. So if he was doing signs that were banners, you know, big banners going across—the flour bags would be used for that. So there was another use for them, right. Always a use for a flour bag.

As Sarah and her six siblings grew up and left home, the family’s flour bag supply began to decline. With less people in the house, less bread was baked and, as a result, fewer flour bags were free for the taking. Unfortunately, this scarcity also coincided with her mother and father’s upsurge in “time for creativity.” As Sarah put it, “a silent war” then began to be waged over the the flour bags. While her mother had visions of flour bag needlework, her father wanted flour bag sails for his boat. On one occasion, Sarah was summoned by her father from St. John’s, and asked to sew six flour bags (which “was a big thing, right, six flour bags”) into sails. Ordinarily, Sarah’s mother would have undertaken this task, but the two seemed to have reached an uneasy kind of stalemate. Though her father had won the flour bags, her mother wasn’t about to help him. A few months later, Sarah and her father set sail in the flour bag sailboat, and had a close call out to sea. They made it back to shore in the end, but as Sarah remarked, “I always said, ‘That’s the flour bags getting even.’”

While Sarah doesn’t have any of the family’s flour bag creations in her possession, she showed me a flour bag quilt made by another woman in Placentia:

Sarah Griffiths Ennis poses with her flour bag quilt.

It's a little hard to make out, but some labels are still visible on the quilt. The mirror image of this one reads "Goldrim Flour":

"Goldrim Flour," visible from the back of a flour bag quilt.

As Sarah summed it up, “this flour bag thing was so valuable in everybody’s life, everybody in our era.” However, other kinds of recycling were engaged in as well. In the following audio clip, Sarah describes how cans of tinned milk and other can lids were reused during her childhood:

Blundon House Before and After. Bay De Verde, 1997. #Folklorephoto

These three photographs are from the 35mm slide collection of the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation and were taken in 1997. The same year the building was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Blundon House is the last merchant house in Bay De Verde, originally owned by John Blundon who owned several schooners used in the coastal trade.

To see what Blundon House looks like today, visit Heritage Foundation website.

~ Kelly

Architecture, Pothead Whales, and International Folktales - The Heritage Update!

In the July-August edition of the Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador, we bring you up to date with the various ongoing projects of the Heritage Foundation of NL. The lineup of articles includes: "Tales from Afar: Old Stories from New Residents" -- a new project to share traditional stories which have come from away; memories of hunting pothead whales in Bonavista Bay, the
Heart’s Content Heritage District Inventory and a spotlight on the Anglo-American House; memories of the Americans in Ship Harbour, Placentia Bay, with Mary (Murphy) King; the Oral History Roadshow in Port Blandford; a look an unusual Victorian photo album in Holyrood; and early Modernist architecture in St. John's!

Download the pdf

#FoodwaysFriday - Carrot Sandwich

When Terra and I were in Port Blanford last week, I noticed a sandwich at the Memories Mug Up that I had never seen before. It appeared to be the most popular sandwich at the event; the tray having been more or less consumed before any of the other typical pot luck sandwiches. It's innards were bright orange, and so, obviously, I had to enquire as to what it was.

Linda Bennett explained that this sandwich is composed of grated carrot and cheese, finely chopped onion and mayonnaise. Apparently this recipe is particular to Port Blanford.

According to local lore, Betty Greening, a World War II bride brought this recipe with her to Port Blanford from Scotland. It has since become a well-known sandwich among the locals.

Have you ever consumed this sandwich? Is there a particular name you've associated with it?

-Katie Harvey

Living Heritage Podcast Ep085 How do Newcomers Experience Newfoundland? Part 1

Today on the Living Heritage Podcast - Part One of “NL Stories: How do Newcomers Experience Newfoundland?” - excerpts from an Evening of Storytelling and Musical Performances. The event was recorded live on Thursday, June 29, 2017.

It was hosted by the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council, with support from the Helen Creighton Folklore Society and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. The MC and organizer for the event was Marissa Farahbod, a graduate student in the Department of Folklore at Memorial University, with stories from Yvette Niyomugaba (from Rwanda), Mark Watts (from the UK), and Jing Xia (from China).

Download the mp3

Retaining Wall in Heart's Content

Does anyone have any information on this retaining wall on Main Road in Heart's Content? How old is it? Who built it? It is located just alongside the Anglican Cemetery in the Heritage District. If so, please email Katie at katherine@heritagefoundation.ca or call (709) 739-1892 ext. 7.

#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

Do You Know of Any Metal Grave Markers in Newfoundland and Labrador?

On a recent camping trip to the New-Wes-Valley area, I visited the Lumsden United Church Cemetery and came across the headstone of William Tuff, son of William and Susanah Tuff, who died 9th of October 1847 aged 28 years. What caught my attention with this headstone was that it's made of cast iron. I have seen one other cast iron marker, at Bethany United in Carbonear, and a small sheet metal marker in St. James Cemetery, also in Carbonear.

In a 2012 ICH Newsletter article, Patrick Carroll wrote about the tin monuments in Bonavista Bay, which you can read about here. There are also a few interesting zinc (or white bronze) grave markers in St. John's. The hollow zinc markers have an distinctive blue-gray colour that is easily recognized once you know what to look for.

The zinc or White Bronze grave marker of Isabell and S.H. Parsons at the General Protestant Cemetery in St. John's

Do you know of any others metal grave markers around the province? Do you have a relative whose grave is marked with one? Do you know anything about the makers of these headstones, particularly the cast iron ones?

~ Kelly

New project to share traditional stories which have "come from away."

"Tales from Afar: Old Stories from New Residents"

The St. John’s Local Immigration Partnership and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) are looking for old stories from new residents as part of a project to collect and share the diversity of oral traditions that exist within the region.

The goal is to create a showcase of traditional stories and folktales from around the world. The project will end with the creation of written booklet of world folktales. The booklet will be made available online, printed, and shared through key organizations and at community events.

What kind of stories do you want?
We are looking for folktales, legends, myths, stories of saints and miracles, ghost stories, fables or stories of talking animals, or traditional children’s tales -- any story that has been passed down by word of mouth.

Who can share a story?
If you come from away, and know an old story, we want to hear it! Storytellers could be recent refugees, temporary foreign workers, international students, newly arrived professionals or economic migrants, or could be well-established immigrants who have long since made St. John’s their home.

What if I’m worried about my English?
Don’t worry! We’ll work with you to edit it your story into a final form that makes you happy!

How can I share a story?
Stories can be submitted in written form, or participants can sit down with a collector and record a spoken version of their story.

To share a story, you can:

• Email ich@heritagefoundation.ca
• Call Dale Jarvis at 1-888-739-1892 extension 2, or 
• Fill in the online form here: https://goo.gl/forms/QWmJY9haiyItAeop2

Deadline to share a story: September 29th, 2017.

#FoodwaysFriday - Recipe for Chop Suey

Where is that recipe from?

On a recent trip to Spaniard’s Bay for the Oral History Roadship Judy Symonds brought out some papers she had recently found while cleaning out her mother’s belongings. There was an old newspaper clipping from 1950 as well as a small recipe book. Although I didn’t have a chance to scan all the recipes I had a look through the book and scanned a couple of pages. The recipes inside were reminiscent of the time with white layer cake, salads with fruits like bananas and pineapple topped with sliced eggs, and fruit cake filled with raisins, sultanas, cherries, and almonds.

Among the recipes for shortbread and cakes was a recipe for Chop Suey which includes mince meat, tinned tomato soup, rice, macaroni, onion, boiling water, and fat pork. These ingredients seem to resemble Newfoundland’s version of goulash which typically consists of minced meat***, and macaroni in a tomato sauce with variable vegetables such as onions, bell peppers, and occasionally mushrooms more than a Chinese meal. After a quick internet search and a discussion with a friend from New England it seems like the chop suey recipe is a version of American chop suey which is a pasta dish resembling Newfoundland goulash with macaroni, ground beef, onions, and peppers in a tomato based sauce. It is interesting that the recipe showed up in a handwritten notebook in Newfoundland. I would love to know the background behind the recipe, where she found it, and why Judy’s mother kept the recipe.

The origin of chop suey itself is a hotly debated topic with folks arguing it is an American Chinese creation and others saying it was a Chinese dish which was adapted to the available American groceries and particularly vegetables. If you want to learn more about the Chinese community in Newfoundland and their expression of Chineseness check out Dr. Mu Li’s thesis “Wanderers between Cultural Boundaries: Exploring the Individual Expressions of Chineseness in Newfoundland”.

Share your stories and knowledge of food with the hashtag #FoodwaysFriday.
Tell us your favourite recipe and let us know the origin story!

***Judy Symonds emailed to clarify that the minced meat in the recipe simply means ground meat. 


~Terra Barrett

Living Heritage Podcast Ep084 Untold Stories: Merchants and Memories of Main Street Windsor

In September 2016 researcher Terra Barrett spent a week in Grand Falls-Windsor collecting stories and memories of Main Street, Windsor. This was part of the Merchants and Memories project which was a partnership between the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society. The Society wanted to focus on Windsor to celebrate the diverse community that grew up on Main Street across from the train station. This podcast is a selection of memories about Main Street which take the listener back to the heyday of the shopping district of Windsor. Take a listen to learn more about fights at the pool hall, movies at the Vogue Theatre, people watching at the train station, and shopping at Riff’s and Cohen’s.

Download the MP3

The X-Ray Machines of Old St. John's

If you talk to enough people about the way St. John’s used to be, a few reoccurring stories begin to emerge. Some of these stories describe the advent of new machinery in the downtown. For instance, the allure of the first escalator in St. John’s, at Woolworth’s department store, is an oft-cited memory. As the story goes, crowds of people showed up in the store for the sole purpose of riding the escalator. Lynn Anne Hollett also recalled the stir caused by an early TV set, which could be gazed at through the window of Great Eastern Oil on Water Street. Though no sound could be heard through the glass, there were usually "about four deep there of people watching that black and white TV." However, while escalators and TVs are all around us these days, other contraptions of downtown St. John’s have (perhaps wisely) fallen out of favour. One of these contraptions is the shoe store x-ray machine, otherwise known as a “fluoroscope”:

Wayne Guzzwell, who went on to become a CBC producer, and who later oversaw the Cabot 500 celebrations in 1997, the 50th Anniversary of Confederation Gala, and the Vikings 1000 Islendingur arrival ceremony, shared his memories of the gadget during our interview: 

Wayne: I wanted to go to the Royal Stores because the Royal Stores had this neat machine that—you put your new shoes on, you’d stand up to the machine, and you put your feet in the machine, and then there was a scope, and you’d look down, and it was an x-ray machine. And you could see your toes inside the shoe. So you could see if there was enough room for your feet. So, you know, our feet were probably massively radiated by the x-rays, but I thought I was Superman at the time, because I could see my feet through the shoes. And that was a really neat aspect of the Royal Stores, that x-ray machine. And that’s the only thing I would buy at the Royal Stores, or my family would buy, was shoes, and it was because of the x-ray machine.

Lynn Anne Hollett also brought up the x-ray machine during our interview, saying that "at least once a week you'd get away with it":

Lynn Anne: It was a big thing. Can you imagine what we were exposed to at that particular time? I mean, it was just like if you go over there now and put your foot into a sizer and say, “Okay, we’re going to do an x-ray right here, right now.” And I mean, you’d go down there for play. I mean, at least once a week you’d get away with it, to get down there and have an x-ray done of your foot. [laughs] Those poor salesmen. I don’t know how they fared, or how long they lived after that particular thing.

Andrea: So the salesmen would have to administer the x-ray?

Lynn Anne: Yeah! Yeah, right? No lead aprons or anything then, no, definitely not.

Andrea: So that was a big thing for kids, mostly?

Lynn Anne: Oh yeah, and adults! I mean, can you imagine? They can tell the exact size of my foot because I’m getting an x-ray. Wonderful! 

Andrea: Do you think the appeal was mostly seeing your bones?

Lynn Anne: Yes, of course! And it was new, and it was amazing. Like, “That’s my foot!” I mean, what doctor ever showed you an x-ray if you ever had one as a child? None! You know, as they sat smoking in their examining room. But you know, who knew that radiation was a problem or that it existed? You know, nobody. 

These exciting (but in all likelihood, highly regrettable) machines certainly drummed up business for the shoe stores during their heyday (around the 1950s), but by the 1970s, they had largely been banned.

Do you remember the shoe store x-ray machines?

Media Release: Tales from Afar: Old Stories from New Residents

"Tales from Afar: Old Stories from New Residents"
New project to share traditional stories which have come from away.

St. John’s, NL
For immediate release

The St. John’s Local Immigration Partnership and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) are looking for old stories from new residents as part of a project to collect and share the diversity of oral traditions that exist within the region, and to create a showcase of traditional stories and folktales from around the world.

“When European settlers first arrived in Newfoundland and Labrador, they brought stories from their old countries,” says foundation folklorist Dale Jarvis. “That is part of the reason we have such a unique oral tradition here in the province with our stories of fairies and superstitions. But that process didn’t stop; new people coming here are bringing their own traditional stories as well, and adding the richness of our local lore.”

Jarvis believes that sharing folktales can highlight the commonalities between cultures, and help build a common understanding between people by bridging cultural, political and religious divides.

“Sharing the stories we grew up with is a way of bringing people together,” Jarvis says.

Jarvis, a group of researchers with the foundation, and the St. John’s Local Immigration Partnership are embarking on a pilot project called “Tales From Afar: Old Stories from New Residents”

Project organizers are looking for folktales, legends, myths, stories of saints and miracles, ghost stories, fables, or traditional children’s tales -- any story that has been passed down by word of mouth.

Participants could be newcomers in the truest sense of the word - recent refugees, temporary foreign workers, international students, newly arrived professionals or economic migrants, or could be well-established immigrants who have long since made St. John’s their home.

“If someone knows a story, and wants to share it, we want to hear it!” says Jarvis. “We will work with participants to edit and polish the stories once they are collected.”

“Tales From Afar: Old Stories from New Residents” will culminate in the creation of written booklet of world folktales. The booklet will be made available online, printed, and shared through key organizations and at community events.

To share a story, email ich@heritagefoundation.ca or call 1-888-739-1892 x2. Stories can be submitted in written form, or participants can sit down with a collector and tell their story in spoken form.

Partners:

City of St. John’s Local Immigration PartnershipThe Local Immigration Partnership (LIP) is a multi-stakeholder partnership designed to help address key immigrant issues, encourage broader stakeholder collaboration and promote St. John’s as a welcoming community. Building a welcoming community in this sense means fostering the conditions where social connections can be made between people, namely between newcomers to Canada and Canadian-born residents.

Intangible Cultural Heritage Office, Heritage Foundation of NLThe ICH Office works to safeguard and sustain the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador for present and future generations everywhere, as a vital part of the identities of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and as a valuable collection of unique knowledge and customs. This is achieved through initiatives that celebrate, record, disseminate, and promote our living heritage and help to build bridges between diverse cultural groups within and outside Newfoundland and Labrador.

For more information, contact:

Dale Jarvis
Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer
Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador
PO Box 5171, St. John's, Newfoundland,
Canada A1C 5V5
Phone: 709-739-1892 ext 2
E-mail: ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Online submission form for stories:
https://goo.gl/forms/QWmJY9haiyItAeop2

Long Since Demolished House in Freshwater, Conception Bay (1995). #Folklorephoto

A House in Freshwater, Conception Bay that has since been demolished. Photograph taken in January 1995 and is part of the slide collection of the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation.

#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.

A cabbage cure for migraine headaches! #FoodwaysFriday

"My Grandmother, Mary Jane Gosse, had a ‘cure’ for migraine headaches. I’m familiar with it having been her patient several times. The treatment was this. A dark green cabbage leaf was soaked in strong vinegar, place on your forehead and carefully tied on with a sock, nothing else, and kept there until the headache was gone. My guess is that the stinging of the strong vinegar hurt more and the headache was soon forgotten."

- Wesley Gosse, Stories and Stuff Spaniards Bay, page 31. March 2007.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep083 Chronicling Craft Traditions

Don MacLean grew up on Cape Breton Island and attended St. Francis Xavier University and Memorial University. He retired in 2015 after a 32 year career as a fisheries biologist with the Inland Fisheries Division of the Nova Scotia Dept. of Fisheries and Aquaculture. He has written professionally since 1999, and his columns and articles on sport fishing, natural history and traditional crafts have appeared in a variety of newspapers and magazines. He is the author of two books, Discover Nova Scotia Sportfishing and A Little Thing I Tied Myself-Stories of Atlantic Canadian Fly Tiers. Don and his wife Judy live in Pictou, Nova Scotia.

In this podcast, we discuss Don’s new book project on traditional arts and crafts, the history and regional variations of fly-tying, the resurgence and vitality of craft traditions, and Don’s quest to find a tin kettle maker.

Listen on the Digital Archive:
http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/716/rec/1

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

What Is Your Earliest or Favourite Memory from the Royal St. John's Regatta? #Folklorephoto

People at the 1962 St. John's Regatta. Identified (l to r): Theresa, Edna Tucker, Delcie, Jake Tucker, Jimmy King, Al Squires, and Syl. Photograph courtesy of the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives (Allen and Pearl Squires Fonds). 

1962 St. John's Regatta. Photograph courtesy of the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives (Allen and Pearl Squires Fonds)

1962 St. John's Archives. Photograph courtesy of the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives (Allen and Pearl Squires Fonds)

What's your earliest or favourite memory of the St. John's Regatta? Do you compete, watch the races, play the games, eat the food, or take in every aspect?

~ Kelly