On August 8, I interviewed Dave Dunn about growing up in St. John's. We talked about his early years in Georgestown (which, as Dave said, was "a bustling community, lively as heck"), his dealings with "longshoreman gangs" on the waterfront (who were always nabbing transistor radios, "the iPhones of the day"), and his later life in Makinsons, where he gardens, picks berries, hunts and forages for most of his food. Towards the end of our interview, Dave brought up the matter of tending to injured animals. "If a horse is in trouble," he said, "if they need to get a pill in them, you've got to get a pill in them. You've got to figure out ways to make things work." With that, he launched into the tale of the time he sewed up a horse with buttons.
Monday, August 28, 2017
#CollectiveMemories Monday - Up-cycling Tin Cans
On our trip out to Grand Falls-Windsor for the Memory Mug Up we were told an interesting story about the slide projector in this photo. The event was held in July at the Classic Theatre as part of their Salmon Festival celebrations and there were six storytellers on stage. Shawn Feener, the owner/operator of the Classic Theatre and one of the story tellers, explained the story behind the slide projector. You may notice right away but it has been altered slightly with the addition of three tin cans. These were added so that the picture from the slide could reach the screen. Listen to the clip below to hear Shawn Feener and John Edwards explain the story of the tin can projector. What have you used tin cans for besides beans?!
~Terra Barrett
Friday, August 25, 2017
#FoodwaysFriday - When Historic Places Meet Food: The Boreal Diner
The Boreal Diner. Photo by Katie Harvey, 2017.
This past weekend, I went on a little road trip around Bonavista, Port Union, Port Rexton and Trinity. I saw so many beautiful buildings, visited a variety of museums and art exhibition, and revelled in the breathtaking scenery that these unique communities have to offer. Also, I ate a lot of delicious food.
I had supper at The Boreal Diner Friday evening. It is located on the east end of Church Street in Bonavista. The restaurant opened in 2016, and is quickly becoming a hot-spot to dine. The architecture was the first feature that grabbed me upon arrival. It is a beautifully restored, late nineteenth-century building with a mid-pitch gable roof.
Upstairs interior. Photo by Katie Harvey, 2017.
This house was constructed in 1872 by master carpenter Robert Ryder and his father, Allan. It was home to George Templeman and Mary Ann Cuff and their five children, Ronald, Christine Agnes, Heber John, Frances and Arthur Spurgeon. The Templemans had occupied this area of town since the early 1800s, and there are six properties belonging to the family that are still standing today. However, this house is the oldest surviving of the Templeman properties.
A couple of years ago, the building was going to be demolished, but was instead purchased by Bonavista Living and restored. Sylvie Mitford and Jonathan House now operate The Boreal Diner from this location, serving locally foraged foods, Newfoundland-raised meats and seafood.
Prior to renovations. Photo courtesy Bonavista Creative.
Under construction. Photo courtesy Bonavista Creative.
That evening we ate steamed mussels in wine, with garlic scape aioli and homemade sour dough bread for an appetizer. The main course was an orange-ginger tofu stir fry with rice noodles, mushrooms, broccoli, pickled turnip and radishes topped with sesame seeds and fresh herbs. For dessert, I indulged in a mixed berry crumble with slivered almonds.
Steamed mussels. Photo by Katie Harvey, 2017.
Orange-ginger stir fry. Photo by Katie Harvey, 2017.
The food was scrumptious and the atmosphere was lovely. There is something about eating food in an old, historic building that makes the experience much more enjoyable.
-Katie Harvey
Thursday, August 24, 2017
The Baccalieu Island Lighthouse
Baccalieu Island Lighthouse and Dwelling. Photo courtesy Heritage House (Lighthouse Friends Website)
Baccalieu Island is an uninhabited island located in northern Conception Bay near Red Head Cove. Construction began on the Baccalieu Island lighthouse and dwelling in July of 1858. It was first established as a fog station in 1905, and the light tower was later added in 1953. The tower was composed of red bricks and stood at twenty-five-feet tall. The dwelling was painted white with a red roof.
James Ryan was the first lighthouse keeper appointed to the Baccalieu Island Lighthouse in 1858, and four generations of Ryans manned the lighthouse for the next ninety years. The telegram reported the following about the Ryans upon their retirement:
“They were well and favourably known by all mariners and fishermen in the sea lanes, they were the friends of all who needed them and were ready at all times to risk their lives to save others. Because of their isolation they loved not man less, but nature more, they always felt close to God and they were God fearing people.”
When there was talk of demolishing the lighthouse, locals protested by writing a letter:
“Demolishing the stone lighthouse would be destroying a part of our culture, that could never be replaced. It would be tantamount to ‘blowing up’ a medieval castle in Europe, an act so outrageous that it would immediately have word wide attention.”
Today, the lighthouse is not manned by a living person, however, a bright white light still flashes every ten seconds, warning nearby boats of impending danger and serving as a reminder of Newfoundland's rich fishing history.
-Katie Harvey
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Always a Use for a Flour Bag: Quilts, Shrouds and Sails
On August 3rd, I interviewed Sarah
Griffiths Ennis (born October 20, 1946) of Placentia. When we met, I asked if
she wished to talk about anything in particular. Without missing a beat, she
said, “Recycling. You know, how we recycled, because we didn’t waste anything
then.”
For the most part, we talked about flour
bags, which, as Sarah noted, were “a big thing.” At the time, everyone had a 50
pound sack of flour at home. Sarah explained, “You didn’t buy small amounts,
because everybody had to bake their own bread and make their own cookies.” As a
child, Sarah would venture into the family’s pantry to play with the sack of
flour, discovering that “if you hit both sides of the bag, you’d get a little
puff of flour, because these were cotton sacks. … I thought it was spitting at
me.” She could also mold the sack into “a real good snowman”:
Andrea: So was that while the flour was
in the bag?
Sarah: Yes,
but if it was real full you couldn’t make a snowman, because it was too dense.
So you had to wait until the flour bag was about a quarter gone, or two thirds
gone, or whatever. And then you could push up the flour so you could mold it.
And you could make a little waist around the middle. [laughter]
Once the flour (and the snowman) had been used up,
the flour bag was always repurposed for something else. The cotton of the bag had
a dense weave—it had to be, to contain the flour—and was thus a highly
valuable commodity. As Sarah explained:
Sarah: So
anyway, when the flour bags were empty, they were used for everything. There
was fabric—it was well needed, the fabric was. So it was great. You got the
flour, and you got the cotton. And most women at the time would use them,
embroider them, or make clothes out of them. They were probably used for
shrouds, too. But they were used for school bags, shopping bags, quilts,
blankets—you name it and they used the flour bags for it. Bandages. Slings. And
when we were younger, houses weren’t heated, and we used to wear a lot of vests
inside our clothes. So the vests were often made with flour bags. So then they
would get fancier, and get embroidered. They’d make beautiful things, and the
cotton didn’t wear out, it was good heavy cotton. … And my dad was a sign painter.
So if he was doing signs that were banners, you know, big banners going
across—the flour bags would be used for that. So there was another use for
them, right. Always a use for a flour bag.
As Sarah and her six siblings grew up and
left home, the family’s flour bag supply began to decline. With less people in
the house, less bread was baked and, as a result, fewer flour bags were free
for the taking. Unfortunately, this scarcity also coincided with her mother and
father’s upsurge in “time for creativity.” As Sarah put it, “a silent war” then
began to be waged over the the flour bags. While her mother had visions
of flour bag needlework, her father wanted flour bag sails for his boat. On one
occasion, Sarah was summoned by her father from St. John’s, and asked to sew six
flour bags (which “was a big thing, right, six flour bags”) into sails. Ordinarily,
Sarah’s mother would have undertaken this task, but the two seemed to have
reached an uneasy kind of stalemate. Though her father had won the flour bags,
her mother wasn’t about to help him. A few months later, Sarah and her father
set sail in the flour bag sailboat, and had a close call out to sea. They made
it back to shore in the end, but as Sarah remarked, “I always said, ‘That’s the
flour bags getting even.’”
While Sarah doesn’t have any of the family’s
flour bag creations in her possession, she showed me a flour bag quilt made by
another woman in Placentia:
Sarah Griffiths Ennis poses with her flour bag quilt. |
It's a little hard to make out, but some labels are still visible on the quilt. The mirror image of this one reads "Goldrim Flour":
"Goldrim Flour," visible from the back of a flour bag quilt. |
As Sarah summed it up, “this flour bag thing
was so valuable in everybody’s life, everybody in our era.” However, other
kinds of recycling were engaged in as well. In the following audio clip, Sarah
describes how cans of tinned milk and other can lids were reused during her
childhood:
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Blundon House Before and After. Bay De Verde, 1997. #Folklorephoto
These three photographs are from the 35mm slide collection of the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation and were taken in 1997. The same year the building was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Blundon House is the last merchant house in Bay De Verde, originally owned by John Blundon who owned several schooners used in the coastal trade.
To see what Blundon House looks like today, visit Heritage Foundation website.
~ Kelly
Monday, August 21, 2017
Architecture, Pothead Whales, and International Folktales - The Heritage Update!
In the July-August edition of the Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador, we bring you up to date with the various ongoing projects of the Heritage Foundation of NL. The lineup of articles includes: "Tales from Afar: Old Stories from New Residents" -- a new project to share traditional stories which have come from away; memories of hunting pothead whales in Bonavista Bay, the
Heart’s Content Heritage District Inventory and a spotlight on the Anglo-American House; memories of the Americans in Ship Harbour, Placentia Bay, with Mary (Murphy) King; the Oral History Roadshow in Port Blandford; a look an unusual Victorian photo album in Holyrood; and early Modernist architecture in St. John's!
Download the pdf
Heart’s Content Heritage District Inventory and a spotlight on the Anglo-American House; memories of the Americans in Ship Harbour, Placentia Bay, with Mary (Murphy) King; the Oral History Roadshow in Port Blandford; a look an unusual Victorian photo album in Holyrood; and early Modernist architecture in St. John's!
Download the pdf
Friday, August 18, 2017
#FoodwaysFriday - Carrot Sandwich
When Terra and I were in Port Blanford last week, I noticed a sandwich at the Memories Mug Up that I had never seen before. It appeared to be the most popular sandwich at the event; the tray having been more or less consumed before any of the other typical pot luck sandwiches. It's innards were bright orange, and so, obviously, I had to enquire as to what it was.
Linda Bennett explained that this sandwich is composed of grated carrot and cheese, finely chopped onion and mayonnaise. Apparently this recipe is particular to Port Blanford.
According to local lore, Betty Greening, a World War II bride brought this recipe with her to Port Blanford from Scotland. It has since become a well-known sandwich among the locals.
Have you ever consumed this sandwich? Is there a particular name you've associated with it?
-Katie Harvey
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Living Heritage Podcast Ep085 How do Newcomers Experience Newfoundland? Part 1
Today on the Living Heritage Podcast - Part One of “NL Stories: How do Newcomers Experience Newfoundland?” - excerpts from an Evening of Storytelling and Musical Performances. The event was recorded live on Thursday, June 29, 2017.
It was hosted by the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council, with support from the Helen Creighton Folklore Society and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. The MC and organizer for the event was Marissa Farahbod, a graduate student in the Department of Folklore at Memorial University, with stories from Yvette Niyomugaba (from Rwanda), Mark Watts (from the UK), and Jing Xia (from China).
Download the mp3
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