Just in time for Victoria Day Weekend: A Newfoundland trout basket

This year, we've been doing some research on basket making traditions, and yesterday, I got an email from Dan Mercer, who was looking for someone to repair his father's old trout basket.

The basket was purchased from Leckie's LTD here in St John's "in the very early 1970s."

The basket is fairly typical of other designs I've seen, such as this one from Tor's Cove, this one from Flat Bay, and this one from Pouch Cove.

Dan says he's used the basket for many years, and it is now in need of some repair work. If you have any leads on who might be able to do that sort of work, email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

Call for Applications to the Canadian Commission for UNESCO's Youth Action Group

I've just returned from the Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO in Ottawa. While there, I made a presentation to the Youth Action Group (YAG) on UNESCO's 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, and on the work we are doing to safeguard ICH in Newfoundland and Labrador.

I was impressed with the passion and the impressive volunteer and work histories of the YAG members I met, and I'm certain that they have a great deal to contribute toward's UNESCO's goals of building a culture of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.

The Canadian Commission for UNESCO is currently looking for interested young Canadians, between the ages of 15 and 30 years old, to become new members of its Youth Advisory Group.  This year, in order to increase geographic representation of members throughout Canada, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO is specifically looking to recruit in Newfoundland and Labrador. As well, the YAG currently does not have any members interested in the theme of archives. Indeed, members interested in Information and Communication in general are fairly rare at the moment. 

The original deadline of May 15th has been extended to May 25th, so if you are interested, get your application in today.

• More information here
• Download the application here

A story of spoons digs up an old memory of The Grange, Whitbourne

A while back, I posted an article on tablespoons, which prompted this note from Edwina Suley of Carbonear.

My mother worked at The Grange in Whitbourne and was a housekeeper, a cook’s assistant, sometimes the cook and general all 'round maid there. As for the work there, it was a joy she told me, since Fraser Bond was only there for short intervals, otherwise it was just mom and the head housekeeper. When Fraser was at The Grange there was always the round of dinners and entertaining. So she learned much about the etiquette of serving food. As a young wife and then a mother, she brought all of this knowledge to our meagre household.

About the spoons with the bowl shape, I learned from my mother that these were used specifically for cream soups. Soup was always to be spooned away from you. To spoon the last remaining soup from the bowl one very subtley placed the forefinger near the rim close to you and ever so slightly tipped the bowl away from you. Thank you for taking me back to all of the wonderful stories my mother told me....all because of a spoon you have made my day. Thank you.

The Grange was Sir Robert Bond's home in Whitbourne. Image above courtesy of the Centre for Newfoundland Studies Archives (Coll - 237), Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland.  You can read a bit more about the house on the Town of Whitbourne website.

Heritage Foundation Announces 2012 Fisheries Heritage Preservation Grants

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL), is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the 2012 Fisheries Heritage Preservation Program. This provincial granting program is designed to assist in the preservation of fisheries-related structures throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

“The Fisheries Heritage Preservation Program has proven to be one of our most popular and successful programs. Indeed, the results of the preservation program are very impressive,” says George Chalker, Executive Director, HFNL.

“Traditional fisheries buildings have defined the look of our coastal communities. Significant inshore fisheries infrastructure throughout the province, including flakes, stages, and fishing premises, are under threat. Much of this remarkable heritage is being lost with each passing year, and much more of it is threatened. Once they vanish, they cannot be replaced,” says Chalker.

The Fisheries Heritage Preservation Program may provide funding to individuals, communities and non-profit groups to restore stages, stores, net lofts and other buildings associated with the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery. Assistance will be provided for the preservation and restoration of heritage features using original materials.

Grants will be available for up to $2000 per property, or up to $10,000 for community-based projects involving multiple structures. Priority will be given to communities which have not received fisheries heritage funding in the past.

The deadline for applications is Thursday, May 31, 2012.

Download guidelines and application forms at www.fisheriesheritage.ca or phone 1-888-739-1892, ext.4.

Job Posting: Summer Student wanted for historic plaque project

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) is a non-profit heritage organization dedicated to the conservation of historic structures. HFNL is currently looking for a summer student to work on a research project gathering information about the organization’s historic plaque program. For many years, HFNL has been placing historic plaques on registered heritage structures throughout the province. Many of those are missing, out of date, or in need of repair. The student will be conducting telephone interviews with property owners across the province to identify what buildings have historic plaques and what condition they are in, and compiling a spreadsheet and report on the state of the historic plaque program.

The student should have a background in history or folklore, with an excellent telephone manner, good organizational and computer skills, and an interest in heritage conservation. The position will be based in St. John’s.

Students must meet ALL these criteria:
- Must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or refugee under Immigration Refugee Protection Act; and
- Must be planning to attend a post-secondary institution on a full-time basis in the coming academic year; and
- Must have been registered as a full-time student in the previous academic year; and
- Must be between 15 and 30 years old (inclusive); and
- May NOT hold another full-time job (30 hours per week or more) while on the SWASP placement; and
- May NOT be attending classes full-time while on the SWASP placement.

This position is pending approval of funding. If approved, it will cover a 280-hour community service placement (normally over 8 weeks), and the student will:

- Receive a $1400 Tuition Voucher, redeemable at any recognized post-secondary institution upon completion of 280 hours; and
- Receive a $1400 stipend over the course of the placement.

Email your resume and cover letter to:

Mr. Dale Jarvis
Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador
ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Deadline: Wednesday, May 2nd.

The Riddle of the Newfoundland and Labrador Fish Stage

The Newfoundland Historic Trust is holding its Annual General Meeting
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
7:00 pm
Hava Java Upstairs, Water Street

Followed by a presentation by Dr. Gerald Pocius
"The Riddle of the Newfoundland and Labrador Fish Stage"
7:30pm

Dr. Pocius is University Research Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he has taught since 1977. Among his many accomplishments, he has recently been named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. By looking at how everyday things are used Dr. Pocius has produced studies both sensitive and rigorous, earning him international standing as a scholar. His publications include A Place to Belong, Textile Traditions of Eastern Newfoundland, and A Field Guide to the Vernacular Architecture of St-Pierre et Miquelon.

All are welcome to attend - Please feel free to circulate

Deborah O'Rielly
Executive Director, Newfoundland Historic Trust
www.historictrust.ca
709.739.7870 Tel. 709.739.5413 Fax

Photo of Pete Porter's Stage, Change Islands, courtesy HFNL

Vintage sepia photos of a lost industrial Newfoundland

The United Church archives has recently scanned about 850 photos from the Max Dawe collection. Max Dawe was a United Church minister who travelled around Newfoundland in a small boat in the 1930s and 1940s.

"He took some great photos," says volunteer Linda White. "Most are identified. Many not."

The photos will eventually be posted on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative, but you get a sneak peak here, and can help in the identification process.

If you know anything about either of the two photographs posted here, send me an email at ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

Help unmask these accordion-playing Newfoundland Mummers

These two pictures were snapped by artist/photographer Dominique Hurley at the Mummers Parade, and I'm hoping some of you can help. She is looking for permission to use these images, and needs consent from the mummers themselves.

She writes:

"Do you, by any chance, know who these two accordion-playing mummers are? And if not, do you have a way of getting word out that I need help identifying uncovering their identity? If so, please ask people to contact me via my website at www.DominiqueHurley.com."

In which a folklorist spends his day off researching the history of spoons

Admire if you will, in their fitted red case, these 1912/13 silver Walker & Hall soup spoons. I love them. I appreciate a proper soup spoon, with a deep, rounded bowl. When I'm dining out, and someone serves me soup and then presents me with a tablespoon with which to eat it, I always feel slightly cheated. That happened to me earlier this week, at a higher-end restaurant in St. John's. The soup was lovely. The spoon left me cold.

Most people would just go home and forget about it, but material culture geek that I am, I realized that I had no idea why people insist on tablespoons over soup spoons, or why we even have something called a tablespoon at all. And that I truly needed to know.

So, I spent my holiday Friday drooling over websites like the California Academy of Sciences collection on the history of eating utensils and this silver collector's website on the history of spoons.  I read the Wikipedia articles on soup spoons, tablespoons, dessert spoons, and teaspoons. And I came to the realization that while I love spoons, and although I am a proud owner of all of the above (plus a couple of lovely serrated grapefruit spoons), that I am nowhere near as obsessed as this guy.

To save you the work of reading all of these sites, here it is, cutlery lovers, in a nutshell. 

Before about 1700, people generally brought their own spoons to the table. From about 1700 the place setting became popular, and along with it came new words: "table-spoon," "table-fork," and "table-knife." 

Tea drinking had been introduced to England around 1660. Because tea was rare and expensive, tea cups (and spoons) were small. Around 1710, the East India Company started importing tea from China, and as tea prices declined, the size of teacups and tea-spoons increased.

The 1700s saw the development of all kinds of spoons, including the coffee-spoon, and dessert-spoon (roughly equal to two tea-spoons, or half a table-spoon). By the time of the publication of the first Oxford English Dictionary in the mid 1800s,  the hyphen had been dropped, and "tablespoon" became the common spelling. Presumably the use of "table-forks" fell off the table at some point, so to speak.

By the end of the 19th century, the soup spoon had developed. The tablespoon, which had been used for eating soups and suchlike, was elongated and was thereafter primarily used for serving, rather than eating. In the UK, the dessert-spoon and soup-spoon began to displace the tablespoon as the primary implement for eating from a bowl, at which point the name "tablespoon" took on a secondary meaning as a much larger serving spoon.

At some point in history, the meaning of "tablespoon" diverged, depending on which side of the Atlantic you were on. By the end of the 20th century, in much of English-speaking North America, a tablespoon was the largest type of spoon used for eating from a bowl. In the UK and most Commonwealth countries, a tablespoon was still the type of large spoon usually used for serving. With the spread of American cooking books, and the typical use of tablespoon and teaspoon as a measurement system, the older meaning of tablespoon as an eating spoon is apparently enjoying a revival in the UK.

So why has the use of the soup spoon fallen out of favour in North America? I still don't know. But here, halfway down the page,  is a nice picture of an old teaspoon from a Beothuk site on the Exploits River to keep you busy, while I continue to investigate.

As for the spork? There I dare not go.