#Folklorephoto Standing on the Roof Looking at All the Snow

This photo of the Taylor House in Woody Point was collected by Charlie Payne and donated to the HFNL as documentation of the Woody Point Heritage District. A unidentified woman stands on the roof of the house looking over the piles of snow surrounding the house. Date unknown.

To see more items from the Bonne Bay area visit the MUN Digital Archives Initiative

Memory Mug Up Events!

Join us for a cup of tea!

Share Your Stories at the Memory Mug Up!

Which of your memories would you like to preserve for future generations? What are your dearest childhood memories? What advice would you give your 18-year-old self? If you have answers to these questions, you are invited to attend the Memory Mug Up!

The Memory Mug Up is an informal story sharing session for seniors, where people gather, have a cup of tea, and share memories.

The Heritage Foundation of NL will be hosting three Memory Mug Up events for seniors this February, in Mount Pearl, Portugal-Cove St. Philip’s, and St. John’s

The goal of the program is to help participants share and preserve their stories. Whatever story is important to you, whether it a personal story, a story about a family member, or a story about your community, the Memory Mug Up program can help you to preserve and share it.

The events are free! You bring a memory of growing up, we’ll supply the tea and biscuits, and we will all have a chat. Following the sessions, those who are interested can set up a time to have their stories recorded and archived by one of our story collectors.

Portugal Cove- St. Philip’s Memory Mug Up
Friday, February 10th, 10:00am
Recreation Center (next to the Town Hall)
1119 Thorburn Road, Portugal Cove- St. Philip’s

Mount Pearl Memory Mug Up
Monday, February 13th, 10:30 am
Mount Pearl Public Library
65 Olympic Drive, Mount Pearl

Marjorie Mews Memory Mug Up
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2:30pm
Marjorie Mews Public Library
12 Highland Drive, St. John’s


The Memory Mug Ups are part of the Collective Memories Project, an oral history initiative which invites seniors to record their stories and memories for archiving and sharing. It is a project of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL), the Provincial Advisory Council on Aging and Seniors, the Interdepartmental Working Group on Aging and Seniors, and is funded through the Department of Seniors Wellness and Social Development.

For more information on how you or your community organization can get involved, email Dale Jarvis at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or call (709) 739-1892 x2.

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Life on the O'Brien Family Farm

Photo of young Aloysius with two puppies in 1921

Many people in St. John's will have memories of Aly O'Brien and the O'Brien brothers, and their fabulous heritage farm and farmhouse, Thimble Cottage.  The O’Brien Farm is situated within the City of St. John’s between Mount Scio Road and Oxen Pond Road. The thirty-two acre property is located within Pippy Park and is adjacent to the MUN Botanical Gardens.

The O’Brien family immigrated to St. John’s from southeastern Ireland. John O’Brien (1791-1857) established a farm in Freshwater, two miles west of St. John’s, in or around 1818. From its establishment, this farm was operated by O’Brien family for 190 years until the family’s last descendant, Aloysius Patrick O’Brien, passed away in October 2008.

In 2010, the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador acquired the farm to be developed as an historic site. In 2011, the O’Brien Farm Foundation was founded to manage, preserve and develop the property as a sustainable historic resource and visitor destination. The O’Brien Farm as an historic site focuses on a number of themes: Irish settlement in Newfoundland; Irish-Newfoundland culture and tradition; farming history in Newfoundland; sustainable farming practices; and the story of the O’Brien family.

Between 1992-1994, Dr. Jo Shawyer, Department of Geography, Memorial University, conducted a series of interviews with Aly O’Brien.

You can listen to the first of their chats here, where Aloysius talks about the farm and the life in the past. Topics include the acquisition of the land, the history of Irish immigrants, the neighbours, carts, horses, cows, and farm life.

The remainder of their conversations, along with photos and other documents about the farm, are all online on Memorial University's Digital Archive Initiative.

#Folklorephoto Children with Sleds in Woody Point. Do You Have Memories of Sliding?

This photograph of "Bruce and Harry" ready to go sliding in Woody Point, is part of a collection of snapshots taken by residents of the Woody Point area. Images were collected by Charlie Payne and donated to the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador as documentation of this Registered Heritage District. To see more items from the Bonne Bay area visit the MUN Digital Archives Initiative

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Growing Up in a Cable Town

As part of the Heart's Content Cable Conference, Saturday, September 10th, 2016, we recorded a funny, charming, and nostalgic look back at growing up in a cable town. The talk was an on-stage conversation between Ted Rowe and Wallace Rendell, recorded at the Heart’s Content Regional Centre for the Arts (Heyfield Memorial Church). 

The two gentlemen swapped stories about the family histories of the Rendells and Rowes; differences between cable staff families and local families; the cable station library and its impact on literacy and education; childhood pastimes and swimming; card games; milking goats; memories of early televisions and TV sets; the post office and mail coming from Carbonear by horse and sleigh; and the impact of the cable station on town life.

You can listen to their chat, with an introduction by Joan Ritcey, right here. 

What is a birch broom, and who makes them?

A birch broom was once a common sight in Newfoundland. They were cheap to make, and were used for a variety of purposes.  Here is what the Encyclopedia of NL said about this traditional craft in 1981:

BROOMS, BIRCH. Birch brooms are hand-made brooms which were the major sweeping utensil in many homes in Newfoundland during the time leading up to the introduction of mass produced straw and plastic brooms. They remain in use in many areas. There are two major types of birch broom. One is made from a single piece of black birch which has been debarked. One end of the piece of birch wood is stranded and peeled back to form the brush part. This is a tedious, time consuming project. The broom is soaked in water or brine to keep it supple. Two or three days is often needed to create one of these brooms which then can be used for cleaning sofas and fireplaces and even for brushing horses. 

The second type of birch broom can be made in about half an hour. Young birch twigs about .6 m (2 ft) long are cut and tied together in a bunch. The thicker end is laced tightly with cord and drawn together. A stick about 1.5 m (5 ft) long, usually spruce, is cut and trimmed and sharpened on one end. It is then driven into the middle of the tied twigs with a hammer which tightens the broom even more. The broom is then ready to use in such chores as cleaning out barns, back porches, and steps, and sweeping snow. A broom can last with normal use from three to six months and is often soaked in water to prolong life. Jacob Winsor (interview, Feb. 1981), The Rounder (Mar. 1978). 

Source: Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador
http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/compoundobject/collection/cns_enl/id/1707/rec/2

Mr. Joshua Young is a birch broom maker who we interviewed in 2015. You can read one of our old blog posts here or watch his broom-making skills in action in this YouTube video.




The man in the photo at the top of this article is identified as "Hebert Heffern" but I don't have more information than that. Do you know this man or have more information about him?

I'd love to track down more living broom makers, especially those who might be up for a chat! Do you know a broom maker in your community or family? Drop me a line at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or call 1-888-739-1892 x2

- Dale Jarvis

The Big Black Bull of Hollow Tree - a Newfoundland Folktale. #FolkloreThursday

In July of 2010, we recorded traditional storyteller Alice Lannon sharing her story, "The Big Black Bull of Hollow Tree" at the 18th Annual Conference of Storytellers of Canada-Conteurs du Canada, in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Alice Lannon was well-known and highly respected on the island as a teller of traditional and community tales. She told stories at festivals, workshops and special heritage events, and credited her gift as a storyteller to her grandmother Mary (Strang) McCarthy. Her grandmother retold the stories she had been told by an elderly aunt, who was born in Lawn around 1820. These stories were passed on orally in the family for about 175 years. In 1991 some of these stories were preserved in a book which Alice co-wrote with her brother Michael McCarthy “Fables, Fairies & Folklore of Nfld.” Alice went on to co-author two more books with Mike "Ghost Stories from Newfoundland Folklore" and "Yuletide Yarns."

Alice passed away March 28th, 2013, but you can listen to her fabulous telling of The Big Black Bull of Hollow Tree on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative.

NEW: One day oral history workshop with Dale Jarvis in Carbonear

Collecting Oral Histories around Anniversaries and Milestone Events

Date: Wednesday, January 25th, 2016. 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.
Location: CARBONEAR, NL. College of the North Atlantic (Room 145), 4 Pike's Lane.

Collecting the oral history of an artifact is an important part of collections management. When people assemble at anniversaries and millstone event exhibitions opportunities to collect information on collections are created, and museums should be prepared to use these interactions with the public to collect and enhance collections records. The stories of veterans and people associated with artifacts should be properly recorded.

This workshop will provide information on the proper recording methods for oral history in museum settings. These histories will enable participants to enhance artifact records by recording stories on digital media. Participants will learn proper methods for digitizing audio and video recordings including the use of electronic devices, recording best practices and proper methods of digital storage. These recordings may be used to enhance the display of artifacts.

Instructor: Dale Jarvis, Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador
Enrolment Limits: Maximum of 10
Registration fees: $85 for MANL members, $110 for non-members

This workshop is an elective course for the Museum Studies Certificate Program. For more information about this program, please contact Sarah Wade, Professional Development Coordinator via email at swade@nf.aibn.com or at (709) 722 9034.

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Colin Pike: railway man, woodsman, and lineman

Photograph of Colin Pike (right) and his son, Wayne Pike

In August 2016, we had a visit in the Heritage Foundation office with Colin Pike, and his son Wayne Pike. We sat down for a chat, and Colin told us about growing up and the different jobs he had, including working on the railway, as a logger, and with Newfoundland Power as a lineman. He also talked about his father, including his service during the First World War, and his life as a trapper. Do you know what a railway torpedo is? Colin can tell you all about it!

Listen to the interview here.