Mount Pearl Interviews: Community and Radio History

One of the recent additions to the MUN Digital Archives, is a collection of audio interviews from the Admiralty House Communications Museum. The recordings can be divided into two different groupings, those conducted in 1990's and the early 2000's. The later interviews focus mainly on the development of Mount Pearl. We hear Don Hutchen's talks about the Lester Family History and the property that developed into Mount Pearl. Betty Thistle shares memories about spending summers in the area in the 1930's at her family summer home. Multiple interviews talk with residents who grew up in other communities and moved to Mount Pearl in the 1940's and 50's when it was just developing. They talk about what was available to the early residents, the roads, shops, and the lack of crime. Two interviews, with John Fuller and Frank Kennedy, talk about the SS Florizel. Steve Best talks about his experiences working with the railway, and Harold Squires talks about his work as a Marconi Operator.

The older interviews were conducted in the early 1990's by researcher and author Hector K.Swain. Swains interviews focus on the history of radio broadcasting in Newfoundland and Labrador, talking to important names in radio such as Joseph V. Butler, Oscar Hierlihy, Rab Carnell, Paul O'Neil, Michael Harrington, and others. The interviews talk about how different radio stations were set up, significant programs like "The Barrelman", religious broadcasting, and the social welfare effects of radio in the province.

Check out these interviews and others at the MUN Digital Archives

~ Kelly

#Folklorephoto Hearse Rules of the Spaniard's Bay Orange Lodge

This list came to us with material written by Wesley Gosse about Spaniard's Bay. This list would have hung at the "No Surrender" Loyal Orange Lodge No. 15 in Spaniard's Bay, and outlined the rules for the use of the Lodges hearse. The fraternal organization held parades, sometimes called 'walks', in the community as well as funeral procession for deceased members. The rules outline who could use the hearse for free, and how much it would cost for those who had to pay. Unfortunately the rules are not dated.

~ Kelly

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Fairy Lore in Witless Bay

Pat Carew, 2014. Photo by Emma Tennier-Stuart.

In September 2014, as part of Memorial University’s Folklore Field School, Emma Tennier-Stuart interviewed Babe Walsh, Bride Finn, Pat Carew, and Bernadette Maddigan about ghosts and fairy lore in Witless Bay.

In these interviews personal and community ghost and fairy stories are told. This includes stories of people being taken by the fairies, hearing music in the woods, and beliefs about how to ward off the fairies such as keeping bread in your pocket. There are also stories of ghostly animals – talking black dogs and ghost cows. Bernadette describes the death tokens seen before the death of a loved family member or pet.

Click here to listen and learn more about ghost, fairy lore and token beliefs.

Bernadette Maddigan, 2014. Photo by Emma Tennier-Stuart.

~Terra Barrett

A How-To Oral History Handbook

People, Places and Culture Workshop in New Perlican.

As part of my work with the Collective Memories Project I have been writing and compiling a how-to guide to oral history projects. The Collective Memories Project is an initiative of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, with funding provided by the Department of Children, Seniors, and Social Development. The main goal of this project is to invite seniors to record their stories and memories for archiving and sharing.

A big part of this project has involved oral history interviews and projects with towns across the province as well as Memory Mug Ups and People, Places, and Culture Workshops. Our office has also worked with communities to digitize materials previously collected by towns and organizations. The new interviews as well as the digitized archived collections can be found on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative at collections.mun.ca

The third major goal of this project was the oral history guide or toolkit for communities wishing to record and collect their own stories at the local level. This guide will help you start planning your project!

It offers you tips and tricks on how to do interviews, and will help you decide what to do with the materials you've collected to make them publicly accessible. The guide offers useful links guidelines from organizations across Canada and the United States and includes a How-To Guide for the Memory Mug Ups and the People, Places, and Culture Workshops we have been running here at the Foundation.

Click here to find the Oral History Handbook!

~Terra Barrett

The Merchants and Memories Mug Up at Marjorie Mews Library

Yesterday, we went to the Marjorie Mews Public Library for our Merchants and Memories Mug Up. As it was our third Mug Up event at the library we decided to have a theme, the Merchants of St. John's. This topic triggered memories and sparked the interest of many people who grew up in St. John's or visited the area. As people arrived at the library, we had to keep adding chairs to the space, widening our circle of chairs to eventually accommodate 56 people. While we were all crowded into the room, the event was a great success and we heard many marvelous stories! In anticipation of the popularity of the event, we decided to implement the use of a talking stick, which was passed around the room in order to give each participant a chance to tell their stories and hold the attention of the crowd. With such a large group, this was a wise choice!

A participant holds up the talking stick as she shares her story 

Participants shared stories about shopping in the downtown area of St. John's, both as St. John's residents and people who made trips to town with a specific list of items to buy and places to visit. As well as the main streets of Water and Duckworth, there were memories of the early days of the Avalon Mall, and the taxis and businesses of Brazil Square. People also shared stories of being employees of many of the well known shops and businesses of the area. They talked about their first job experiences, and shared stories about working in the area. One story was told of a bull accidentally being set loose on Water street, and a woman talked about working at the Newfoundland Savings Bank when a hold-up took place.

Many people came with fond memories of family businesses, and insider stories that started with "maybe I shouldn't say this but..." We heard about shops that had been passed down through generations, and the early days of well known businesses like Mary Browns.

Carol Ann Smith showing a Goobies Christmas Toyland advertisement

Carol Ann Smith talked about her families store, W. R. Goobie Ltd, and brought along a framed advertisement which referred to the store as "Santa's first stop." The ad lists the names and prices for Christmas gifts and decorations that would have been familiar sites in the participants childhood. There were many other stories shared of downtown St. John's which took place at Christmas. Any mention of the Christmas Raffle brought about smiles, and the magic that the window displays in downtown shops brought to families picking up their Christmas gifts.

Overall it was a wonderful event and we could have shared more stories well into the night.

Do you have any memories of the important shops when you were growing up? Did you win something at the Christmas raffle? What was your favorite place to eat? Do you remember your first shopping trip downtown?

~ Kelly

Living Heritage Podcast Ep071 The Tradition and Business of Printmaking

Graham Blair is a printmaker and graphic designer based out of St. John's, and holds a master's degree in Cultural Anthropology and Museum Studies from the University of British Columbia. After working in both non-profit and commercial galleries for a decade, Graham began pursuing printmaking full-time five years ago. He specializes in woodcut prints using techniques based on the earliest forms of printmaking, and in addition to selling his work at local craft fairs and venues, Graham sells his woodcut prints at the One of Kind Show in Toronto and, most recently, the Originals Show in Ottawa.

We talk about how Graham got his start in art and printmaking, specifically woodprints, his tenure at the Quidi Vidi arts plantation, the process of making woodcut prints, materials and tools used, Japanese techniques, his time at the Mi-Lab print residency at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan, the types of designs he favours and wildlife art, and his most recent acquisition - an antique book press.

Listen on the Digital Archive:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/705/rec/1



Graham Blair Woodcuts from Graham Blair on Vimeo. Photo via Graham Blair Woodcuts Instagram

Research Workshop: Collecting Community History - April 4th

Research Workshop: Collecting Community History

4 April 2017
9:30–16:00
The Rooms, St. John's

All of our communities have fascinating stories to tell. Are you interested in community research but not sure where to begin? This workshop will provide you with general tips and suggestions for sources available at the archives that may be of interest to your research.

Become inspired as you hear about what other communities around the Province are doing and how you can get your community involved. During the afternoon, your friendly neighbourhood folklorist Dale Jarvis will offer tips on how to document oral history, how to conduct interviews, and how to use the materials collected.

Cost is $85 per person, 10% discount for Rooms members.

Pre-registration required. All materials are included. Call 709-757-8090 to register or email information@therooms.ca.

Facebook event listing

Workshop organized by The Rooms in partnership with the Heritage Foundation of NL.

#Folklorephoto BINGO! Do You Have a Bingo Ritual, Setup, or Luck Charm?

BINGO cards and dabbers at the Witless Bay Knights of Columbus. Photo by Saeedeh Niktab Ettati. 2014.

Do you play Bingo? Do you have a particular ritual or setup? Is there anything you do for good luck?

#CollectiveMemories Monday - John Connors and Brown Derby

The Brown Derby Restaurant, Main Street, Windsor. Photo courtesy of the Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society.

On September 21, 2016, as part of the Collective Memories project, I interviewed John Connors of Grand Falls-Windsor about his family’s business and experience on Main Street.

In this interview John discusses his grandfather’s work as the first Railway Station Master, his father’s start in business, and the growth and development of Brown Derby from a restaurant on Main Street to the major wholesale business it is today.

Roy Oldford also of Grand Falls-Windsor described the restaurant:
The Brown Derby was a little café you went in and sat down. There were seats. They had a jukebox and roller seats around the counter and that was a pretty popular place for people to go and have a meal or whatnot especially if you came in on the train. We spent a lot of time at the Brown Derby and it was a typical teen and other place at that point in time.

Click here to listen to the interview with John and learn more about the Brown Derby.

~Terra Barrett