Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Riding the Rails

This is a picture of my great grandmother, Ethel Peddle (nee Ivany), taken circa 1927-1933. Her father was a roadmaster with the Newfoundland Railway and she would ride the rails with him from time to time. Originally from Bloomfield, Bonavista Bay, Ethel loved the opportunity to go clothes shopping in Clarenville or St. John's on these trips. This snap was taken in Clarenville when my great grandmother was in her late teens to early twenties.

-Nicole

Bay Roberts Oral History Clips

In 1913, the Western Union Telegraph Company began constructing the homes on this street to accommodate their cable staff. So, this year marks the 100th birthday of Cable Avenue in Bay Roberts. To help mark this anniversary, I've been collecting oral histories with current and former residents of the street, as well as former employees of the Western Union. As we've mentioned before, some of this research will be up for temporary exhibition at the Road to Yesterday Museum. It will not only explore the cable operations of Western Union, but the architectural and family history of the street as well. Our display will be ready for viewing sometime this month and we'll keep you posted with dates for the official opening party that will take place later in the summer. In the meantime, please take a listen to a few audio clips from our collection.

Eileen Starr, former resident of Cable Avenue and daughter of Western Union employee Fred Starr, tells the story of when their family home burned down on the avenue in 1960.

Bart Kennedy, former employee of Western Union, explains how the cable station operated.

To browse a larger collection of audio clips, please visit our youtube channel.   There are some great stories up that we are eager to share.


-Lisa

May bushes in Torbay and Middle Cove

One of the great, if now somewhat fading, traditions in Newfoundland is that of the May Bush. A few days ago, former HFNL staffer Lara Maynard sent me two pictures she had taken this month. The photo above, with the house in the background, is from Torbay. The one below is from Middle Cove.

May bushes have a long tradition, but are rarely seen today, so I'm delighted that people are still putting them up. A few years back, Lara wrote a description of May bushes for a little publication we did entitled "What is ICH?" and which is reprinted here:

“When I was a primary or elementary school kid at a Catholic school, each May students wore blue ribbons pinned to their clothes in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Blue ribbons showed up around our neighbourhoods, too, on May bushes – saplings with most of their branches cut off, except for the few left around the top with the ribbons on them. This tradition can be traced back to the ancient Celts, who used maypoles or boughs as part of springtime rituals and to bring good luck, especially for agriculture. The Christian Church adopted May as a month for the devotion of Mary, and the custom appears to have evolved to fit in there. The people I know who still put up May bushes in recent years seem to do it out of a combination of religion and tradition.” 

If you know of May bush in your community, take a photo and email it to me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

- Dale

Old well on Mount Scio Road

This morning, Philip Hiscock with the Department of Folklore (left) and I met up with Sister Mary Tee (right), the Coordinator of the Mercy Centre for Ecology and Justice on Mount Scio Road. The centre is on land that once belonged to the Macdonald family. The property is home to an old well that they are interested in possibly restoring and using as part of their garden projects.

Over the next few months, Philip and I will be doing research around wells and springs in the St. John's area, and I would be particularly interested in tracking down people with knowledge about how wells were maintained, cleaned, restored, and used in the past. If you know anyone who has familiarity with wells, drop me an email at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or call me at 1-888-739-1892 ext 2.

- Dale

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Tolson Shears his Sheep

Yesterday evening Tolson Rendell of Heart's Content invited me to observe him shearing one of his sheep. It is a tradition that only two people in the town still practice, the other being his good friend Jack Smith. Tolson will be putting his animals out to pasture for the summer this coming weekend, so has lots of work to do before then. It usually takes him just over 2 hours to fully shear a sheep, and he uses scissors rather than electric shears because he believes them to be safer for the animal. He takes his time and makes sure to do a thorough job. Tolson clearly loves his animals and exclaimed "Isn't nature wonderful!" more than once during my visit. There were many newborns animals around the yard, and I couldn't help but notice how happy Tolson was to see them running around. This photo shows the mother sheep named Black being watched by her new lamb, who wasn't very patient about waiting for this whole shearing thing to be done. 

-Lisa

Job Posting: Quidi Vidi Historical Researcher

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) is hiring a Quidi Vidi Historical Researcher, to work on the Quidi Vidi Village History and Folklore Project. The position will run for 14 weeks, finishing August 30th, 2013. The position will require excellent written and oral skills in English. The Researcher will be undertaking research about the history, folklore and oral history of the Village with a goal of the collected information, images, maps etc. from the research to be featured in online collections and in a future community storyboard. The researcher will also be working to establish community contacts in Quidi Vidi leading up to the 2013 Department of Folklore Quidi Vidi Fieldschool in September.

Applicants should have a MA degree or equivalent in Folklore or related discipline, practical experience in the coordination of public folklore research projects, and proven fieldwork experience in oral history or ethnographic documentation.

Deadline for applications is Monday, May 27th, 2013.

Please send CV and cover letter to: Dale Jarvis, ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Job Posting - Summer Research Student in Portugal Cove-St. Philips

 Note: deadline extended to Thursday May 30^th, 2013.

Employment Opportunity- Heritage

The Heritage Programs and Services Coordinator and the PCSP Heritage Committee are seeking the employment of a Summer Research Student.

Job Description:

The selected candidate will complete a project that will be focused on the research and documentation of the built heritage of the community. This will include the identification of buildings, structures, and cultural landscapes in the town that might meet specified heritage characteristics. In doing so, the candidate may need to interview occupants/owners or others who may have knowledge of the select building and its history as well as research the architectural features. The researcher will prepare presentations to the heritage committee on the heritage value of the buildings and help with the drafting of recommendations to council. This position will include both office work and fieldwork. When the project is complete it is hoped to have a complete compilation of all the structures in the community that have heritage value.

Qualifications:

· The applicant will have completed some university in Folklore, Geography, History, Architecture, or Social Sciences

· Be familiar with Microsoft Office

· Have knowledge of interview practices

· Be adaptable to working environments

· Have great communication and interpersonal skills and be able to speak with and conduct interviews with residents and community members.

· Be a student prior to and/or following the position

Deadline for applications is Monday May 27th, 2013. For further information contact Julie Pomeroy at Julie.pomeroy@pcsp.ca or 709-895-8000 ext. 229.

Tuesday's Folklore Photo

Have you ever wondered what the oldest structure is St. John's is? Anderson House, built circa 1804-1805, is most likely the oldest in the city. The structure was built for James Anderson who was a sergeant in the militia at the time. Anderson House was designated as a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador on March 23, 1996. 

-Nicole

Weaving Pillow Tops in Cupids

Yesterday I was invited out to Cupids to instruct a pillow top workshop. Dale came along and we had a great time at The Cupids Legacy Centre teaching a lovely group how to weave this interesting textile. 

Pillow tops are square-shaped textiles woven from wool using a wooden frame, made by Newfoundland women and men. Women would make these in various sizes and used them around the house as pillow covers, table toppers, and backs for chairs. Pillow tops were also made by men working in the lumber camps. Cutting and collecting lumber was arduous work and the only day the men in the camps had off was Sunday. To pass the time some men would make pillow tops to give to girlfriends, wives and mothers.

For more information on pillow tops check out the Intangible Cultural Heritage Pillow Top Collection on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative. 

And here's some of the finished pillow tops. One thing I love about these is they all look different, I've yet to see two pillow tops that look the same. 

For more information on the tradition of Newfoundland lumber camp workers weaving pillow tops, check out this issue of the ICH newsletter. 

If you're interested in making your own pillow top frame, check out this blog entry which includes instructions and lots of pictures.

And if you'd like to have us out to your community to teach a pillow top workshop, you can reach Nicole Penney at 1-888-739-1892 ex.6 or via email at nicole@heritagefoundation.ca. 

Happy Weaving!