#CollectiveMemories Monday - Stories of Port Blandford's Old Shops and Former Schools

Reg Penney in the Anglican Church in Port Blandford. 2017. Photo by Terra Barrett.

On August 10, 2017, as part of the Collective Memories project, I interviewed Reg Penney about growing up in Hant’s Harbour, moving to Port Blandford, his teaching career, the stores and shops of Port Blandford, and his time as mayor. This interview was also part of our Oral History Roadshow and sections of the interview were used in the booklet “Everything Was Wrapped in Brown Paper: The Old Shops of Port Blandford”. 

If you would like to listen to the full interview on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative click here or you can check out the pdf of our booklet on Port Blandford’s old shops here.


~Terra Barrett

A Month of Christmas Baking: Dark Fruitcake #FoodwaysFriday

Photo courtesy Newfoundland.ws

Fruitcake was a staple at Christmas time for my family. There was always a couple pieces in the freezer year-round, leftover from Christmas. Fruitcake was a topic that arose at the Heritage Foundation's recent Mummers Memory Mug-Up. Participants discussed how at Christmastime there was always dark fruitcake and light fruitcake. It was a treat that mummers would receive from their hosts when visiting from house to house.

Here is the recipe for a dark fruitcake, sure to please any guests, including mummers, over the holidays (from Newfoundland.ws):

Ingredients:
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups hot water
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup dates, chopped
1 box raisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp mace
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 beaten egg
2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup chopped cherries
1 cup mixed fruit
1 capful rum or brandy
1 capful lemon almond extract
1 capful vanilla

In a large saucepan, combine brown sugar, hot water, butter, chopped dates, raisins, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, mace, nutmeg. Bring to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; let cool. Add egg, baking soda, flour, cherries, mixed fruit, rum, lemon almond extract and vanilla. Combine together. Place in 9 or 10 inch greased tube pan at 300F for 2 hours.

Do you have any memories of fruitcake?

-Katie Harvey

Salmon Cove Booklet Launch

Booklet contributors with editor at the booklet launch. Left to right: Jim Parsons, Don Case, Katie Harvey, Berk Reynolds, Art Kelloway. Photo courtesy The Compass. 

On Tuesday I travelled to Salmon Cove to launch the latest booklet in our Oral History Roadshow Series titled Down in the Sands: Boyhood Memories of Salmon Cove. This is the fourth booklet in this series and it focuses on the memories of five men who grew up in Salmon Cove. The booklet was well-received, and copies are flying off the shelves. 

If you would like to download a PDF copy of the booklet, click here.

-Katie Harvey

Living Heritage Podcast Ep093 Aviation Heritage and Tourism with Abby Moss

Abby Moss was born and raised in Gander, NL. She has studied Communications and History at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She began her career as a seasonal worker at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum in 2013, and she has just finished her fifth summer with the museum. Doing work from creating exhibits to digitizing archives, she now holds the role as Tour Coordinator with Beyond Words Tour, a 9/11 tour of Gander. She has represented the museum at a local level with on the Gander Heritage Advisory Committee, and most recently on an international level in Azores, Portugal where she was the sole Canadian participant in the academic conference, where she presented on behalf of the North Atlantic Aviation Museum. We chat about her work, the tours, and her recent trip.

Download the mp3

Heritage Update Dec 2017 - exploring NL's tangible and intangible heritage

PF-357.0072 Richard Stoker Slide Collection 26 July 1960

In the September-December issue of the Heritage Update: a look at the Romanesque churches of Bishop Ronald MacDonald; two generations of memories from downtown St. John's collected as part of the Collective Memories program; notes on the Pilley's Island United Church graveyard; an invitation to the Basic Folklore and Oral History course we'll be running in January; the Booklet Launch of  "Down in the Sands: Boyhood Memories of Salmon Cove"; our 13th Annual Heritage Places Poster Contest; notes on a birch broom made by Nigola “Nickly” Jeddore, of Conne River; Czech gingerbread for St. Nicolas Day; and an invite to learn cross stitching!

Download the pdf here.

Man With Seal #FolklorePhoto

Sealing has always been an essential part of Newfoundland and Labrador's culture. The aboriginal peoples were the first to hunt seal; the fat rendered into oil for heat and light, their skin and fur used for clothing, and the meat consumed. Here we have a photo of a man with a white coat seal, photo courtesy of the Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove Museum. 

-Katie Harvey

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Spaniard's Bay Folk Cures with Jeanette Russell

Spaniard's Bay. 30-E. Rev. Edwin Hunt photographs. Geography Collection of historical photographs of Newfoundland and Labrador. Courtesy of Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative.

On August 8th, 2017, as part of the Collective Memories project and our work with the Spaniard's Bay Heritage Society, I interviewed Jeanette Russell about growing up in Spaniard’s Bay and her recollections of folk cures and home remedies including memories of midwives and the health benefits of May snow.

Jeanette grew up with four siblings in the 1950s and 1960s on Bishop’s Cove Shore in Spaniard’s Bay. She described children’s games like tiddley and red rover and how she would would play and create a cobbyhouses [copyhouses or cubbies]. Jeannette also discusses the folk cures from her childhood and remedies she learned from her in-laws. She even describes having the warts charmed off her hands and explains how to make bread poultices.

If you would like to listen to the full interview on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative click here or you can check out the pdf of our folk cures booklet here.

~Terra Barrett

A Month of Christmas Baking: Devil Bars #FoodwaysFriday

Photo by Katie Harvey.

The Christmas cookies I remember best from my childhood were affectionately nicknamed "Devil Bars" by my family. They were called this due to the fact that whenever my mother made them they were impossible to stop eating because they were so delicious. The base of this cookie is shortbread, a thick layer of caramel lies in the middle, and the bar is topped with milk chocolate.

I always make Devil Bars over Christmas, and this year is no acceptation. They freeze well and are easy to make. The caramel is the trickiest part, but using condensed milk makes it much easier than making it from scratch, and it may even be more delicious. I find it is best to make them the day before and leave them to chill in the fridge overnight.

Here is my recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup butter, softened 
• 1/4 cup white sugar 
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 cup butter

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).
2. In a medium bowl, mix together 2/3 cup butter, white sugar, and flour until evenly crumbly. Press into a 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes.
3. In a 2 quart saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for about 3 minutes. Pour over baked crust (warm or cool). Cool until it begins to firm.
4. Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 minute, then stir and continue to heat and stir at 20 second intervals until chocolate is melted and smooth. Pour chocolate over the caramel layer and spread evenly to cover completely. Chill in the fridge overnight.

Have you ever eaten this cookie? What do you call them?

-Katie Harvey

Living Heritage Podcast Ep094 Beware the Christmas Terror - The Hobby Horse

Dale Jarvis, Terra Barrett, and Ryan Davis (plus bonus Yeti!)

Ryan Davis has been running the Mummers Festival since 2009. He holds an MA in Folklore and a BA in Communication Studies. It was his interest in festivals, celebrations, and costuming that led him to mummering traditions. The Mummers Festival promotes the continuation and evolution of traditional arts and performance by encouraging active participation in mummering activities. The Mummers Festival helps to keep mummering alive and contemporary.

One of the traditions the Mummers Festival has helped to safeguard is the hobby horse. With its devilish spirit and snapping jaws, it might not be the first thing one associates with the season of comfort and joy, but it is a centuries-old part of the Yuletide season in Newfoundland and Labrador. In this podcast, we chat with Ryan about all things hobby horse!

Download the mp3

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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep heritage alive at the community level. The show is a partnership between HFNL and CHMR Radio. Past episodes hosted on Libsyn, and you can subscribe via iTunes, or Stitcher. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.