Living Heritage Podcast Ep007 Food Knowledge and Skills with Sarah Ferber

Sarah Ferber is the Education Manager at Food Security Network NL. Their mission is to actively promote comprehensive, community-based solutions to ensure access to adequate and healthy food for all people in the province. Sarah works closely with community groups across NL to gather, share and preserve food skills and knowledge. In this podcast, folklorist Dale Jarvis talks with Sarah about the "All Around the Table" film series, creating food celebrations with seniors, traditional knowledge, food skills workshops, and advancing farm-to-school and school gardening initiatives.

The Memory Store: It was not consumed in the fire of 1892...

Photo courtesy of Bruce Templeton.

The week's Memory Store video comes to us from St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church otherwise known as the Kirk. Bruce Templeton tells the story of the burning bush in relation to the Presbyterian Church and how the burning bush medallion of an earlier church survived the fire of 1892.

Watch the video below or click here to watch the video on YouTube.

Click here for more information about the building's history and architectural style.
If you missed our initial post explaining the concept of the Memory Store clip here to go back to our first blog post with the introduction video or check out our YouTube channel at ICH NL.

Stay tuned for more short stories about historic places in the province, in the form of short oral history interviews conducted with the people who care about those places and if you have a personal memory about a historic place in Newfoundland and Labrador, and want to add your voice to the Memory Store project, let us know at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

-Terra

Tuesday's Folklore Photo - A Trinity Potato Garden

Happy Tuesday! For this week's Folklore Photo, a lovely view of a potato garden in flower in Trinity, Trinity Bay.

I have been assisting the Agricultural History Society of NL with some of their files, soon to be uploaded to the Digital Archives Initiative, under the "Knowledge and Practices Concerning Nature and the Universe" section of the ICH Inventory. This is one of the photos in their collection that will be included.

The photo was undated and unnamed, but that is the Hiscock House there in the background, now a provincial historic site.  I love the wood stacked up behind the garden, as well.  The photo was used in a panel prepared by the Agricultural History Society circa 2008, but the photo might be older. If you recognize it, email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or leave a comment below!

- Dale Jarvis

Oh! You Nasty Nazi Man: A WWII Novelty March Song from 1940s Newfoundland

Those of you who follow the ICH blog know that we are often uploading information and interviews to the ICH Inventory on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative. It is an amazing resource for people conducting historical and folklore research, and the ICH Inventory is only one small part of the entire collection.

There is a recent uploads page for the DAI, which showcases some of the more recent items uploaded. While checking it out today, I came across this peculiar gem, a novelty march song from Newfoundland entitled "Oh! You Nasty Nazi Man" - a call-to-arms of sorts with a chorus that starts "Oh! you nasty Nazi man, Way over in Berlin, You know you haven't got a chance, This blinking war to win."

Words and music are attributed to A.J. Dee, and copyright is attributed to one A.S. Donnelly, of 20 McKay Street, St. John's. If you know anything about this piece of music, or the author, let me know, or leave a comment below!

You can view the sheet music on the DAI, or download a pdf here.

Can you help solve the mitt mystery of Long Beach, Trinity Bay? #nlheritage

I recently got an intriguing email from Wanda Garrett of the Southwest Arm Historical Society, concerning a pair of children's mitts dug up by her father. Wanda writes:

A few years ago, my father dug up two children's mitts on his land in Long Beach. I am trying to find out some historical information about the mitts - how old they are, etc.

The mitts appear to be children's mitts as they are small. They are two different sizes. It appears that the mitts were dipped in some type of solution to make them waterproof - maybe linseed oil?

The land where the mitts were found is now owned by my parents but it used to belong to my grandparents. When my parents took over the land, my grandparents' home was in bad shape and falling down so they had it bulldozed and buried on the land. We don't know if the mitts were in the house when it was bulldozed or not. My grandparents purchased the land and house in the '50s. The original owners of the land lived there from 1873-1961. 

I asked my mother (who is 81) if she remembers seeing these mitts before but she does not. I also asked her brothers, who are a little younger than her, and they also do not remember them. Therefore I am thinking they belonged to the people who owned the house and land before my grandparents. When they sold the house to my grandparents, they left some belongings in a back room upstairs. These mitts may have been among their items.

Have you seen or worn mitts like this? If you have, send me an email at ich@heritagefoundation.ca, or leave a comment below.

- Dale Jarvis

Living Heritage Podcast Ep006 Public Folklore with Jillian Gould

Jillian Gould is an assistant professor in the Department of Folklore at Memorial University. In the public sector she was a museum educator in New York City, and has worked with museums and archives in Toronto, Ottawa, and St. John's. On this episode, Dale Jarvis talks with Jillian about egg rolls and egg creams, fish and chips, public programming and festivals, and the public folklore program at Memorial University.

Notes from the road - St. Matthew's Presbyterian Church, Grand Falls-Windsor

I'm in Grand Falls today, helping sort out some oral history collections with the Grand Falls-Windsor Historical Society (more on that in a future post).

Before I left St. John's, Margaret Scott with St. Matthew's Presbyterian Church heard that I was going to be visiting Grand Falls, and tracked me down. They have a collection of historical documents they want to do something with, so I met with them today, and had a brief chat about their materials and the possibility of doing some digitization work, and potentially some oral history recording around the life and history of the church and congregation.

Today, there are about twenty active members of the congregation, which holds a service once a month. The church is one of the oldest buildings in Grand Falls, and was the first municipally designated heritage building for the town, officially recognized as such on October 11, 2005. It is the only Presbyterian church in Newfoundland outside of St. John's.

St. Matthew's Presbyterian Church is listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places, which notes that the building was constructed in 1910, and is the last remaining original church structure in Grand Falls. It is a fine example of a small, country-style church in an urban setting. It has some Gothic Revival style elements, such as multi-paned, Gothic arched windows, as used in similar small churches in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is currently undergoing some repair work.

The building has undergone a number of changes over the years.  The interior of the church was redone in the 1950s, and has been largely untouched since.

The church has a number of interesting archival items documenting the construction and changes to the church over the years, including a copy of the original construction blueprints and photos of the building at various stages, including the one below showing the church before renovations.

Other photos in the collection document church suppers, youth events, women's groups, and special events such as the dinner below, held between 1-2 April 1951.

I am looking forward to seeing more of the St. Matthew's archival material, and wish them success with their preservation efforts!

- Dale Jarvis

 

Saving Stories: Podcasts, Workshops, and Community Booklets

In this edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for July and August 2015, we announce the launch of the Living Heritage Podcast, give a review of the Saving our Stories workshop held in Corner Brook, and provide some tips for communities wanting to create a short oral history or local folklore booklet.

Download the newsletter as a pdf

Living Heritage Podcast Ep005 Museum Gift Shops with Kelly Jones

Kelly Jones has worked in the world of retail for the past 30 years as a sales associate, manager, merchandiser, and owner. Currently, she is on a contract for The Rooms Gift Shop, as Buyer and Product Development officer. She is also still involved in theatre and film on a small scale, having been a professional stage manager for 10 years. On this episode of Living Heritage, Terra Barrett chats with Kelly about the business side of running a successful museum gift shop. They talk about challenges faced by museum gift shops, how to link products to gallery exhibits, balancing the themes of collections with sales products, developing product for the Christopher Pratt exhibit, working with artists, popular price points for items, and tips for marketing your shop using social media.