Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Tuesday’s Folklore Photo - Food Fishery


Courtesy of MUN`s Digital Archives Initiative
Today’s folklore photo is a photo of freshly caught cod being processed in Quidi Vidi during the food fishery. This picture was taken by folklore student Christine Blythe during the folklore field school in the fall of 2013.

I managed to get out on the water over the weekend and I figured this would be an appropriate photo given the ongoing food fishery. The fishery is open until August 10 and opens again September 20 to the 28.

Do you participate in the food fishery? Have you been out yet the year? Did you catch anything? Let us know in the comments below!

Bonus photo:
Breakfast is served!
Here is a picture of the lovely breakfast I was graciously served – including the freshly caught cod tongues and britches seen in the upper left hand corner.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

What Lemonade Means to You

The Museum of Logy Bay – Middle Cove – Outer Cove:
What Lemonade Means to You

Guest blog post by Katie Harvey



Photograph by Kenneth J. Harvey


Do you remember those hot summer days as a child, playing in the neighbourhood, coming home to your mother waiting for you with a cool glass of refreshing lemonade? The condensation on the glass and the clinking of the ice cubes would make your mouth water with anticipation. Lemonade evokes a sense of nostalgia. It is a tangible connection to our precious childhood memories.

Have you ever wondered about the origins of this tasty beverage? It is believed that lemonade can be traced back to ancient Egypt. The first documentation of the lemon in Egypt is made by the Persian poet and traveller, Nasir-i-Khusraw, in the eleventh century. Lemonade did not begin simply as a combination of lemons, water and sugar. The first variation was a wine made with lemons, honey and dates which was commonly drank by peasants. People also drank Kashkab, which was a drink made with citron leaf, rue, black pepper, mint and fermented barley. By 1104, Gatarmizat, or lemon juice, was being consumed regularly, traded and exported in the medieval Jewish community of Cairo.

The summer of 2014 is the summer of lemonade at The Museum of Logy Bay – Middle Cove – Outer Cove. Free ice cold lemonade will be served all day each Friday. Our museum has a large selection of fascinating artefacts and we invite you to stop by to see and experience the history of our community. We hope that, with a little help from lemonade, our museum can produce a sense of nostalgia and a better understanding of past ways of life.

This is an old fashioned Bausch and Lomb "Premoette" camera. Photo by Kenneth J. Harvey.

Our museum tells a narrative, displaying the essential parts of the lives of those who grew up in Logy Bay – Middle Cove – Outer Cove. Our themes include: School, Church, Lifestyles, Fishery, Military, Sports, and Agriculture. Everyone will find something of interest here!

Artefacts include: scrub board, wringer, washtub and spinning wheel (from left to right). Photo by Kenneth J. Harvey.

We are also looking to collect narratives and photographs from anyone who grew up in the area, so that we might incorporate them into the museum. If you are interested in being interviewed or have photographs you would like to donate, please contact our Museum Coordinator, Katie Harvey, at 726-5272 or email lbmcocmuseum@gmail.com.

Our hours of operation for the summer are Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. There is no admission to enter, although donations are greatly appreciated. Come out and enjoy our community’s unique history, share some lemonade with us, and pay tribute to the past.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Labrador Wildflowers


"Specimens: Wee Flowering Plants collected Summer 1919 at 
Grenfell Mission Station, Battle Harbour, Labrador / by Katherine G. Amberson, R.N."


Item MG 63.1937 in The Rooms Provincial Archives from the International Grenfell Association Fonds. Entry includes the following quote from inside the album cover:
  
"These little plants and blossoms changed the forbidding landscape to the softest, loveliest inviting hues one can imagine. A gentle tribute to the Creator of our universe. K.G.A"


Friday, July 18, 2014

Job Posting - Museum Attendant – Part time


The Museum of Logy Bay – Middle Cove – Outer Cove Museum is looking to hire an enthusiastic and independent student for the summer.

Responsibilities include: greeting visitors and leading tours of the museum, helping to establish an archives, and aiding with historical research.

Experience working in a museum and conducting historical research considered an asset.

Please forward your resume to Museum Coordinator, Katie Harvey, at lbmcocmuseum@gmail.com or drop off at the Museum of Logy Bay – Middle Cove – Outer Cove located at 744 Logy Bay Road in the town hall.

Petty Harbour Oral History Project - Interviewer Becomes Interviewee

Photo by Terra Barrett
Tune in this Sunday July 20th to the Weekend Arts Magazine (WAM) hosted by Angela Antle for an interview with the Heritage Foundation’s summer intern Terra Barrett.  The interview will air at 7:50am Newfoundland Time on CBC’s Radio One and online at http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/.  

If you have any memories of growing up in Petty Harbour or the social life within the community please contact Terra at terra@heritagefoundation.ca or (709)739-1892 extension 5.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Heritage grant announced for documenting the historic NL fishery



The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is announcing a $5000 grant program for projects that document, record, present or safeguard the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of the fishery in the province. Possible projects could focus on the intangible cultural heritage associated with boats, their builders and those who went to sea, net making and mending, crab or lobster pot repair, knot-tying and ropework, cod traps, make-and-break engines, knowledge associated with marks and berths, the architecture of fishing stages and associated material culture (splitting tables, etc), the business of making fish, or oral histories related to the fishery.

“This new program will give communities an opportunity to record some of the important stories and information about the fishery and its role in the daily life of Newfoundland and Labrador,” says Dale Jarvis, folklorist and development officer with the foundation. “A lot of this information is fragile, and needs to be collected before it vanishes.”

The Fisheries ICH Grants are open to town councils, museums, archives or incorporated non-profit cultural and/or heritage organizations.

Deadline for applications is 22 August 2014.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their proposal with the ICH Development Officer before applying, by phone at 1-(888)-739-1892 ext 2, or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca

(photo: the fish plant and boats, Twillingate, 1963)


Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Tuesday’s Folklore Photo - Flakes and Fish

Thomas Ruck fonds
VA 45-1; Petty Harbour in the 1860s
Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms
Today’s folklore photos are pictures of the flakes, stages and stores of Petty Harbour’s past. Throughout my interviews in Petty Harbour a major change that has been mentioned has been the change in the fishery.  The move from making fish to catching crab has meant a shift in the physical landscape of the harbour.  
Petty Cove [Petty Harbour]
VA 143-18 [between 1892 and 1904]
Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms
The loss of the fish flakes from the island rooms has been mentioned in a number of interviews as has the shift in the fishery.  Several of my informants have memories of the responsibilities of making fish and cutting tongues for the fishermen.  
Mike Hearn
Mike Hearn described walking into the Goulds to sell the cod tongues 10 a dozen as opposed to selling the tongues for 10 a pound in Petty Harbour.  He also mentioned making flickers out of his mother’s old cotton reels filled with lead in order to catch tom cods in the harbour.        

Petty Harbour VA 15a-43.1
Newfoundland Tourist Development Board photograph collection
Newfoundland Views Photographs
Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms
The lack of children involved with the fishery today has caught the attention of people in Petty Harbour and a non profit organization called Fishing for Success has been established.  Check out their website and facebook page as they reintroduce fishing knowledge to the children of Petty Harbour Maddox Cove and beyond.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

"Better to die a child than live in vain" - Winterton tombstone mystery



I posted a little while ago about a mystery headstone motif from Cupids, which generated some suggestions, and an article in The Telegram. Following that, I got this image (above) and note from Grant Tucker, about a headstone in the Anglican cemetery beside the church at Winterton. Grant writes:
"It has a six line epitaph which is only partially decipherable; perhaps you or one of your contacts can help us. Here is what we have deciphered: 
At last from worldly strife ------------------- (hand?) - Iambic Hexameter
And (valiant?) (souls?) -------------------------------- - Iambic (Pentameter?)
(Where?) mercies never fade - Iambic Trimeter
But if protracted guilt --------------------- the span - Iambic Hexameter
Better to die a child than live in vain - Iambic Pentameter
And sink into the shade - Iambic Trimeter 
Jasper, my fifth great-grandfather, or perhaps the generation before him, are thought to have been among the first of Winterton's permanent settlers who came from Trinity."
 Any thoughts? Does the epitaph ring any bells with poetry fans out there?

Drop me a line at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or post a comment!

Monday, July 7, 2014

Walking through the Great Fire of 1892



The Newfoundland and Labrador Historic Trust (“The Trust”) is accompanying the launch of the latest version of its Walk St. John’s app with a real-time history lesson. On Tuesday, July 8, the Trust will live-tweet the events of the Great Fire of 1892 from its account @NLHistoricTrust using #GreatFire1892.

The Walk St. John’s app allows users to experience the alluring streetscapes and heritage architecture of the city, which stand as a testament to the resilience and perseverance of its citizens who rebuilt time and again over the ashes of its past structures.

The app, created with the assistance of local developers TPLED Technology Inc., was initially released for iPhone and iPad in 2012. It allows users to select from several round-trip historic walking tours which guide them through the streets of St. John’s. The new version of the app includes a fifth tour tracing the path of the Great Fire of 1892 and is now also available for Android devices.

“The Great Fire dramatically altered the City of St. John’s,” said Robyn Pike, President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Historic Trust. “Using the app to explore the path of the fire and following #GreatFire1892 on July 8 will introduce you to the places and people that were forever changed by the events of that day.”

The information used to compile the fifth walking tour was collected by a student researcher employed by the Trust in 2013. A founding member of the Trust, Shane O’Dea, provided a voiceover to highlight points of interest along the Great Fire tour.

The Walk St. John’s app is available for free download for iPhone and iPad in the iTunes Store at: http://bit.ly/1n7uwoa and for Android in the Google Play Store at: http://bit.ly/1j8gDGx.

The Newfoundland Historic and Labrador Trust, established in 1966, is a membership-driven, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of all forms of architecture reflecting the culture and heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador.