14

Chris MacDonald, date of birth: July 14, 1928
12 August 2003
Burnt Islands, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

15

Christina MacDonald

Christina Macdonald was born on July 14, 1928 in the community of Burnt Islands. Her parents were Susie and James Keeping. Christina had four brothers and two sisters. Christina and her parents were lifelong residents of Burnt Islands. Her mother was a homemaker and her father was a jack-of-all-trades. He went away to work like many of the men in Burnt Islands. Some of the men went away fishing and others went away to the Great Lakes working on the freighters there. He was one of these men.

Her mother, Susie was always involved in whatever her husband was working at. If he was cutting hay she was helping him. She helped her husband with the fishery when he was fishing. She would get up in the morning, help him and go back to bed.

James owned his own boat and caught cod, haddock, red fish and halibut. He would fish along with his sons. Fish sold for this time for twenty-five cents a pound. The fish was dried outside in the sun on flakes. Women would go over to the island portion of Burnt Islands and were paid twenty-five cents a quintal. This was a 2000-pound allotment of dry fish.

Her family kept a garden and grew vegetables for their own use. They grew carrots, turnips, cabbages, and potatoes. All the gardening was done by hand and kelp was used to fertilize the fields. Her parents did not raise animals.

The family home was lit by kerosene lamps that did not give off much light. Heat came in the form of a wood stove. The home that Christina currently lives in was her parent's home. Christina and her husband bought it from her parents.

Susie made the clothes that all her children wore. If she did not make it there would be none to wear because people did not buy all that much back then. Susie and Christina also spun wool into yarn so that clothing could be knitted.

Groceries were bought at one of several small stores in Burnt Islands. The food that people bought would be called rough grub today. There were not a lot of choices but as Christina says, "We never went hungry." In her opinion, "Food tasted better then."

If someone got sick in Burnt Islands at that time then people would have to go to Port aux Basques by boat if they needed a doctor. There was an older lady in Burnt Islands that tended to people ills if they did not need a doctor.

There was a post office in Burnt Islands where people could send and receive mail. The mail came to Burnt Islands by boat.

Christina remembered having lots of fun when she was a child. She would play ball and skip rope or play a game of tag for fun when she was a child. When she was a child the girls and boys used to go to dances. They would start at eight and be over by twelve.

Christina had chores to do around her house including dusting, washing and helping her mother. Housework was a big chore because all the washing was done by hand.

Christina and her family used to go to the local Anglican Church. The minister would come up from Rose Blanche. Christina attended school in Burnt Islands until she finished grade six. She did not like it and at that time a person could leave school when they wanted to. The children used to take turns in the morning going in and lighting the fire in the stove. She also was in the CWA (Church Women's Association) and had to put up the flag in the mornings. School was not as valued for young people as it is today. The pupils wrote with a pen and paper. If a student misbehaved the teacher would make them put out their hand and strap them with a piece of leather. Christina came out of school and went to work at the local fish plant.

Christina also worked as a serving girl for the people in Burnt Islands She washed clothes, did housework for various people in the community. She would make four or five dollars a week.

Christmas was fun for Christina when she was growing up. She would put out her stocking Christmas Eve and could expect to get it back full of candies, and fruit. The children would get sweaters and underwear and the girls might get a doll. Her family occasionally had a turkey for their Christmas dinner. The family usually had roast meat for their Christmas dinner.

Christina and her friends and family used to go mummering during Christmas. They would dress up and go all around Burnt Islands, Isle aux Morts and Margaree. Now Christina says, 'we ain't seen any mummers for years and years. They don't let them in now because they will dance on the floors and make a mess."

Christina met her husband Ephraim at a friend's wedding supper and they were married when she was seventeen by the minister in Port aux Basques. Her husband, Ephraim, worked at the fish plant in Burnt Islands for fifteen cents an hour. A bottle of soda pop at that time cost ten or twenty cents. He later worked as a fisherman on the local boats around Burnt Islands. Together they had eight children.

It was a big responsibility for Christina looking after eight children. They did not have a great deal of clothing and Christina had to wash every day so there were clean clothes for the next day. She had to keep a fire in all night and dry the clothes on a line in the house. She had to wash all the children in the same washtub that she washed clothes in. She would do this in the middle of the house in the nighttime.

Christina and Ephraim did not grow their own vegetables or raise any animals after they were married. They had eight children together and it was all that she could do to cook for them all and do her housework. Ephraim had to go away sometimes to get work.

Christina did not make much of her family's clothing. She did make the curtains, tablecloths and quilts for the home.

Her daily chores involved getting the children's lunches in the morning, keeping the house clean, cooking, washing clothes and playing with the children. With so many children she did not have a lot of time so the older children helped mind the younger ones. Her family's home was quite small with no second story so it was cramped at times with all the children. It was difficult at times because Ephraim had to go away to get work, which left Christina to look after all the children. Six of Christina's children were born with a midwife in Burnt Islands and two of her children were born with a doctor. Three of her children were born with Martha Leamon. Ali Lawrence was another midwife. Christina had another child with a midwife she called Aunt Dee but the child did not survive. Other midwives in the area were Elsie Herritt and Thanie Lawrence.

When asked about comparing today with yesterday Christina said, "It was a lot harder growing up then than now." In her opinion people were a lot closer. It was her opinion that people stopped visiting one another when the telephone came to Burnt Islands. People did not need to visit one another as much because of the telephone and they drifted apart. The ladies in Burnt Islands would knit together in the summer but people do not do that today.

16

Corella Keeping, date of birth: October 13,1925
12 August 2003
Burnt Islands, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

17

Corella Keeping

Corella Keeping was born in Burnt Islands on October 13, 1925, to John and Suzanne Fudge. Corella was one of three children. She has a brother George and a sister Martha Anne. Corella and her parents always lived in Burnt Islands.

John, like many men in the area, fished for cod for a living, Suzanne didn't do anything as an occupation. "There was only fishing then for people." says Corella. John didn't own his own equipment. He always fished with someone else. Corella and her mother didn't have to help with the fishery like a lot of wives and children did. "Lots of people here worked on flakes. They used to work over on the island, you know people working with fish, dry fish, making fish." says Corella. Most of the fish was sold fresh but sometimes they salted it.

While John was away fishing Suzanne looked after the home and their children. She did her housework, which included washing in a washtub all day long. Corella believes that her mother made lye soap for washing but she's not sure, as she was very young when that would have happened. Water had to be brought to the house in buckets from a well for things like washing clothes, bathing and cooking.

They didn't have any conveniences back then like washers or even electricity. They used kerosene lamps for light and a wood and coal stove for heat. Corella remembers that her father used to go into the woods to cut firewood for the stove when he wasn't working. They didn't have washrooms then either, not the way they are today. For a toilet they used slop pails and they had a washtub for washing in. The furniture in their home was mostly bought, Corella remembers, but they didn't have a lot of furniture like people have today. They just had whatever was necessary. Another convenience, that many take for granted today, is the telephone. Corella doesn't remember any telephones back then. "No I don't think anyone had phones. Not back that far." she says.

Food was different back then as compared to today. They had fresh foods that were not processed. "Oh you know we had boiled supper sometimes or when he (her father) was fishing we'd have fish. We didn't have much but we got along," says Corella. The groceries that they bought were bought at a store in Burnt Island. Groceries and supplies were usually bought on credit. "Sometimes they would mark it down or something like that. Then when you'd get your pay cheque, well you go and pay for your groceries. I guess that's how a good many did it," says Corella.

There wasn't a doctor in Burnt Islands. At that time you had to go to Port aux Basques if you were sick or injured, which is where the nearest hospital was and still is. There was a mail service there then. The mail came by boat from Port aux Basques to the post office in Burnt Islands.

As a child Corella would make her own fun, like many children back then. "Crowd of girls, I guess boys too, would get outdoors and have a bit of fun. That's all, nothing going on. Might go sliding on an old slide in winter," says Corella. One of the routine things in Corella's life was attending church. At first a teacher had services but after that there was a minister in residence.

School was also a daily part of Corella's life. The school she went to was a one-room schoolhouse where they used slates and what Corella called exercises. "They call it St. George's now but it was the old school then. I got eleven. That was as far as I could go." Corella doesn't think that school was considered important back then.

Corella says that there weren't many holidays when she was growing up, like there are now. When the 24th of May would come around their mothers would all get together and take the children outside and they'd have a party and a little "time" up to the school for them. "That's all I knowed I went to my dear. After we grew bigger we went to dances and stuff like that." Corella says.

Christmas was an exciting but very different time then. Children didn't get much for Christmas. "We got some little thing but not like today my dear. What's growin' up today is getting' too much." she says. There might be some little food item that was different around Christmas time but the food really was the pretty much the same as every other day. One of the most fun activities during Christmas then was to go mummering. "That was our only bit of fun we had back then." says Corella.

Corella worked as a serving girl as a young woman. She worked for a woman whose daughter had a baby. The little girl liked Corella so much that she sometimes would have to go and stay with them.

Corella herself wasn't affected by the depression but she does remember her mother contributing to the war effort. "Mom did a lot of knitting, what you call gurnsies," she says.

When Corella was eighteen she married a fisherman named Wilson Keeping. To get married by a minister then they had to go to Port aux Basques by boat. Corella and Wilson had eight children; all were born at home with the aid of a midwife. Raising them was not always easy. "Well it wasn't good but we got through with it. I reared eight children, they're all grown up now." says Corella.

While Wilson was out fishing, with the men that he fished with, Corella raised the children, had his meals ready when he came home and washed his mitts after he got in. She basically had the same kind of life that her mother did, had the same household chores and hardships.

Corella believes that it was harder growing up back then than it is now. "It was harder back then. I don't think it's that bad now. Everything is a bit better now, they got everything now as far as I know." she says. Although she thinks that life was harder back then she wouldn't change anything about her life if she could.

Corella isn't really sure how she believes that the roles of women have changed. "I don't know that, I can't say. They didn't work then, everybody's working now," says Corella. She says that most young women now are working as soon as they are out of school. As soon as they are finished their education they are on the job.

18

Dorkus Sheaves

Dorkus Sheaves was born to Cecil and Mariah Strickland on September 22nd, 1929 in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. She has lived in Port aux Basques all her life.

Cecil and Mariah, Dorkus's parents, were born in Port aux Basques, moved to Halifax, and then returned to Port aux Basques to live. Cecil worked for Canadian National Railway (CN), while Mariah was a homemaker. His three sons also worked with the railway. While Cecil was working Mariah took care of the five children (four boys, one girl), she also had to do housework. She would also make some of her clothing. She would take old clothing and remake them to make new clothing.

As a child, Dorkus would play hopscotch, and ride bike. She says, "You would make your own fun." Dorkus grew up in a sharp-roofed house, not like the homes today. It was old fashion furniture, Dorkus had an old organ. Nothing was like it was today. There was no running water so to get water some people would have to go down to Man-O-War Brook, and fill up their buckets. Some other people had wells. They used slop pails for toilets and washtubs for bathtubs. When Dorkus was eighteen her family got their first toilet and sink. To wash their clothing they would use a washboard and a washtub, it was all done by hand. For lights and heat Dorkus's family used kerosene lamps and a woodstove and a coal stove. Dorkus would help put the wood in the store house. Dorkus was the youngest child in her family so she didn't have to do much, only shovel the coal and paint. Dorkus went to an Anglican church as a child. Reverend George Martin had church services on Sunday morning and on Sunday night. Dorkus went to St. James Elementary School to get her education. She got grade ten. The students were separated by grades. There was about twenty-five, or thirty students per class. There was no telephone but there was a mail service. There was a post office on Main Street where the Port aux Basques courthouse is located today. There was not always a hospital in Port aux Basques but there was always a doctor. Dr. Parsons was the doctor she remembers. His house was also located on Main Street, Port aux Basques next to where Shoppers Drug Mart is today. One home remedy that was used was vinegar and molasses to help stop a cough.

At the age of eighteen, Dorkus worked as a serving girl for Dr. LeGrow making six dollars a month. She would have to do housework such as dusting, scrubbing floors, doing dishes, etc.

For Christmas, Dorkus did not get too much. She might get candy, or some fruit. The Christmas dinner would be salt water birds, duck, or goose. There was no turkey. Dorkus did some mummering during Christmas for entertainment. It was a famous Christmas tradition in Newfoundland; four or five people would dress up together and go out.

Dorkus married Joseph at the age of twenty-three. The minister from Port aux Basques married them. The average marrying age back in those days was about twenty. Joseph worked on the oil tankers, and then was a truck driver, he owned a taxi stand, and he owned a store, and he also worked as a fisherman. Dorkus worked in George Battiste's store as a clerk. Together Dorkus and Joseph had five children, all born in the hospital by a doctor. They had to buy their groceries at a store called Shoprite, which was located on Main Street, Port aux Basques where Coleman's is today. While Joseph was fishing, Dorkus would look after the five children. She also washed clothing, cleaned, and cooked. Joseph had his own small boat. He mostly caught halibut and codfish. The fish was salted and dried, and then it was boiled, fried, or baked. They ate the same types of food as we do today, meats, salt pork, fish, etc. Today she uses Crisco oil to cook. Dorkus didn't raise any of her own animals, but they did have a small vegetable garden at their cabin. All the gardening was done by hand. Dorkus's father-in-law owned one of the first's cars in Port aux Basques. It was a Model T. Dorkus did not find it hard raising a family of five children. She says "she guess she was one of the lucky ones".

Dorkus remembers she was only ten years old when WWII was going on. She had a brother at the age of nineteen who got killed in WWII. Her husband's Uncle, Israel Sheaves, was lost when the old Caribou sank.

Dorkus says that life was somewhat better years ago. "Everyone was the same back then, now everyone cares about brand names." Dorkus also feels that the roles of women drastically changed. "More women are working, back then you stayed home and raised a family. There's more now for the people, but here, there's no jobs." Dorkus also feels that people were happier in her day.

19

Edith King

Edith King was born in Isle aux Morts, Newfoundland on June 3, 1929. She lived in the area all her life and currently is still living in Isle aux Morts.

Edith's parents, Rosanna and Andrew Coleman lived in this area all their lives. Rosanna was from Burnt Islands and Andrew was from Rose Blanche but ended up living in Isle aux Morts. Andrew was a fisherman who owned his own fishing boat. With thirteen children Rosanna's role in the household was to, first of all, look after her children. She would also have to do all the housework while Andrew was out fishing.

As a child Edith would go to dances at the Isle aux Morts lodge with her friends. She said, "We done a lot and we had a lot of fun." She attended LeGallais Memorial until she reached grade six. There was a minister in the area for as long as Edith could remember so she attends church regularly.

There was no doctor in Isle aux Morts but there were nurses in a clinic if someone was sick. If they were too sick for the nurses to help they would have to go by boat to Port aux Basques. During Christmas time Edith would get things like a doll. She got these things because she had brothers working at the time.

Edith got married to Frank King when she was twenty-seven years old. A minister was present to perform the ceremony to Frank and Edith. The groceries were bought at Bird's Store. They paid for their groceries by using credit, on payday they would pay for what they charged so they could charge more. Clothing was bought either from a catalogue or at Bird's Store. Frank worked as an engineer at the local fish plant in Isle aux Morts. Edith was a stay at home wife; she would do the dishes, clean the house, cook the meals, and look after the children. They ate more fish and vegetables back then than they do now. Edith didn't raise any livestock but she did have dogs. She didn't grow any of her own vegetables but her mother always kept her own garden. She had thirteen children and all of them were born in a hospital by a doctor. Edith would occasionally travel to the mainland to visit her sister.

Edith believes she had it better than most people growing up due to the fact she was the youngest out of thirteen children. She would have had it easier because there were enough older children than her to do all the work, so she got off easy.

20

Ella Osborne

Ella Osborne was born to Katherine and William Carter on October 22nd, 1926 in Codroy Valley located on the Southwest coast of Newfoundland. Ella moved to Corner Brook when she married and lived there for forty-four years. She moved back to Codroy Valley where she resides in her own home today.

Katherine and William lived on the Southwest coast of Newfoundland all their lives. Katherine and William had thirteen children together. William was a fisherman, while Katherine was a homemaker. Katherine would do the housework and look after the children. When William worked with the fish plant he would get groceries or whatever they needed, instead of money. They would get the items at E.W. Moore's store. E.W. Moore, the store owner also owned the first car in the Codroy Valley. It was a Model T Ford. Ella was seven or eight years old at the time that she first saw it. Katherine would make the clothing for the family from material she would buy, which was cheap at the time. Katherine and William had a five-bedroom house with a peaked roof. Most of the furniture in the house was made by William. There were beds, a daybed, and a table and chairs. There was no electricity so they would use kerosene lamps for light and a woodstove for heat. There were no telephones or radios at the time; they never got a radio until the Queen was crowned. They also did not have any running water, so they would get the water from the government well in buckets. They would use an outhouse for a toilet and a washtub to bathe in. The clothing was washed by hand on a scrubboard in a washtub. If someone got sick there was not a doctor available in the Codroy Valley but there was a nurse. When Ella was a child she had to travel to Corner Brook on train to get her appendix out.

As a child, Ella would go to dances, go swimming, and go boating. "There was not too much going on." Beside play Ella had chores that had to be done. She would have to make her bed, sweep and wash the floors, and tidy up the rooms. Ella went to an Anglican Church where they would only have a minister once or twice a month, but they still had services every Sunday. Ella attended school until grade ten. Ella tells us that the school that she attended was a one-room school, so all the children were in one class together. Ella also tells us that school was considered important back then.

When Ella was a child she would get items such as dolls, storybooks, and other things like that for Christmas. The Christmas dinner would consist of a turkey that was usually given to them by E.W. Moore. Ella had a lot of fun participating in the famous Christmas tradition of mummering.

Ella worked as a serving girl when she was growing up. "That is all we done. I got twenty dollars a month when I was working in Corner Brook. I was twenty years old. I did some housekeeping around here when women were having their babies." Ella also worked other places in her life before she got married. She worked in North Sydney, South Sydney, and in Corner Brook.

Ella tells us that when the war started she was berry picking with her father and her uncle came and called out over the field, "the war was broke out." "I remember the boys getting home too." Ella tells us that she contributed to the war effort overseas by knitting socks and sending them over to the soldiers. When the old Caribou sank Ella knew someone that was affected by the sinking.

Ella married her husband, William Osborne, in 1949, at the age of twenty-two by a minister. Ella and William had one daughter, which was born in the hospital with the aid of a doctor. William worked at the Canadian National Railway (CNR), after he and Ella were married, where he worked for twenty-six years. While William worked Ella would do things around the house such as cleaning, cooking, washing clothes, taking care of her child, etc. Ella tells us that her family would eat good, healthy food. Ella also tells us that she did not find it hard raising a family.

Ella says that she feels that there has been a big improvement on the Southwest coast of Newfoundland. Even though the fishery is gone, Ella feels that there are more things to do.

Ella's most memorable experience of growing up on the Southwest coast of Newfoundland is the day that the Queen was crowned.

If Ella could change anything about her life she would not change anything she tells us. Ella feels that it is easier for women growing up today than it was for women growing up back in her day. "Today, we have more things to work with." Ella feels that life is better today as opposed to years ago.

21

Elsie Ford, date of birth: September 10, 1929
28 August 2003
Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

22

Elsie Ford

Elsie Ford was born September 10th, 1929 in Channel-Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. At seventy-four years old, she still resides in her home in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland.

Elsie's parents Rebecca and John Dicks raised their family in Port aux Basques. Her mother was born in Lapoile Bay and her father lived at Channel Head Lighthouse, where he worked with his father taking care of the lights and the supplies that came in. Elsie does not know what her mother did because she died when Elsie was two years old. Her parents had three daughters.

Her father also fished. He would catch codfish, salmon, mackerel, and herring. He would take the fish to the fish plants to sell. They usually salted the fish for the winter or took it to Codroy Valley to trade salted herring for vegetables in the winter. Her family would eat a lot of fish. They brought their groceries at Martin Brother's Store, with cash.

Elsie family lived in a two or three bedroom house. There was a kitchen and a living room, with a table and chairs to sit on. There was a day bed in the corner. There were kerosene lamps for lights and a coal stove for heat. There was no indoor bathroom; instead there were slop pails in the house to use, which would have to be dumped outside. The clothing was washed in a washtub on a scrubboard.

If someone got sick, there was a doctor available but there was no hospital. If you had a cold, they would use molasses candy. The post office was just a little place with no mailboxes.

The types of things Elsie would do for fun when she was a child was play in the land wash, cook wrinkles, light a fire, go berry picking, or walk to school. She attended St. James School, a two-room school, which was located next to the Anglican Church. She left school right after grade four to go to work. School was not as important to Elsie as it was to some other people. Elsie attended services at St. James Anglican Church every Sunday. There was a full time minister in Port aux Basques.

Elsie remembers one Christmas when she received some apples. "We hung them on the tree for decorations. We were grateful for what we got." They had salt water birds and vegetables for Christmas dinner. Elsie took part in mummering, "It was fun. Five or six of us would go together and have a jolly old time for ourselves."

Elsie worked as a serving girl at the age of thirteen for her stepmother who had twenty-two children. Elsie never got paid for this. Her father got a maid later. Elsie also worked at the fish plant where she got twenty-five cents an hour.

During the depression, Elsie's family would get a "dole order" to purchase groceries. They would get a slip of paper to get food and things like flour. During the Second World War Elsie's grandmother would tell Elsie's family to black out their windows because enemy submarines were outside in the water.

Elsie tells a story about the day the old Caribou sank. She tells us that her stepmother was having a baby that morning and became sick. The midwife came in to deliver the baby and heard the news about the Caribou. "She pulled down the oven door because she was cold. She said, "Oh my God, the Caribou is gone and I had a parcel on that boat." She didn't think about all the lives that went, she only thought about her parcel." Elsie had a few people on the Caribou that were saved.

Elsie married John Ford at age of twenty in Port aux Basques. Reverend Baggs married them in the United Church. Elsie met John "running around town" because both Elsie and John lived in Port aux Basques.

John worked with the Canadian National Railway (CN) handling freight, while Elsie was a homemaker. Elsie would cook, clean, and look after the children while John was at work. Telephones came in after Elsie got married. Elsie and John had twelve children. She found it had raising such a big family. Some of Elise's children were born at home and some were born in the hospital. A midwife would go to the home to help deliver the babies.

Elsie wouldn't change anything about her life. Besides having problems with sickness, she is okay. She is not sure that growing up in her time was harder than it is for women growing up today but she feels that people were a lot happier. "You could do what you wanted, catch a fish, pick berries, and get a meal of lobsters if you wanted it. Now you can't do anything like that." Elsie has found that the roles of women have changed over time. Women today go to work just as a man would. Years ago, women would have to stay home to take care of the family and the home.

23

Elsie Keeping, date of birth: July 15, 1929
23 June 2003
Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

24

Elsie Keeping

Elsie Keeping was born on the fifteenth of July, in the year 1929, in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. Elsie worked in the restaurant owned and operated by her father, while she was growing up. Her father, Theodore Keeping, not only owned and operated the restaurant, he also sailed a schooner from North Sydney to Port aux Basques, carrying codfish to sell. Her mother, Maude Mary, was a homemaker who took care of the children and did all the household chores. Elsie's mother was born in Fox Roost, a small community approximately fourteen kilometers outside of Port aux Basques. Elsie's father always lived in Port aux Basques. Elsie was born, raised in the town, and lived there ever since.

Elsie had five brothers and one sister and though she insists that her family was not well off, she says they never wanted for anything and they never went hungry. "We always had a vegetable cellar, full for the winter...there were all the vegetables and the supplies kept down there." Elsie did attend school and church. She went to school in a time when everyone was together in one class, but divided in half, the lower grades and the higher grades. Elsie remembers there were three rows of seats with two to a seat. Elsie attended until grade nine, which was quite a good education for a young girl then. Elsie went to St. James Anglican Church every Sunday with the rest of her family. "There was always a minister in the area, as far as I can remember." For fun as a child, Elsie says she used to play hopscotch, pippy and ball down on a field that was located close to her house at the time. "When we were younger we used to play house."

During the year, if the family needed anything, Elsie says they used to get all of their supplies at George Battiste's store. "We could charge it all in a little black book and pay when you could." Elsie never made her own clothes, but had a sister-in-law that could sew very well. Material for clothing was bought at George Battiste's store, or Martin Brother's store, both popular places of business at the time in Port aux Basques. "We used to get Christmas gifts ordered in from the Sears catalogue or from the Eaton's catalogue."

Elsie says there was no hospital in the area in her mother's time, but she recalls clearly, when the hospital went up in Port aux Basques, in 1952. "Before then, there was always a doctor, but we had some home remedies we used too...one was goose grease rubbed on the chest for the cold or the flu...luckily, none of my children ever got really sick."

Elsie had daily chores to do as well. She had to sweep and mop the kitchen and all the scrubbing was done on your hands and knees. All the household mats were washed out and took down to the landwash (the shoreline) to be rinsed out in the salt water. The house itself was two stories with a kitchen, porch and a living room. "There was a front room that we didn't use; only when someone got really sick, or when someone really special came to visit." There were no telephones, but Elsie can recall when they started to come in, as she got older. "My father had one because he had the store." The post office was located in what is now the courthouse on Main Street, Port aux Basques. You had to go there to get your mail, much like today.

Elsie's father raised hens, but he did not raise any other animals. They never grew their own vegetables, Elsie says, her father would bring over whatever they needed for the fall on the schooner from Sydney. The family got their water from a well near the home. Clothing was washed out in a washtub, with the washboard and homemade lye soap. "I can recall my mother making lye soap." This was made from boiling animal fat with water and adding lye. It was then poured into molds and left to harden. Once hardened it was cut into blocks and used for cleaning. This was an excellent cleaning soap, but it was very rough on the hands, often left the skin raw, and burned from the chemical lye. Since electricity was not available, coal stoves were the source of heat and kerosene lamps were the source of lighting. All the furniture in the home was store bought, Elsie says her father brought it all from Glasgow. There was no toilet or bathtub, so for a toilet, there was a pail with a cover. For bathing, there was a big metal washtub. Elsie remembers the first few cars in Port aux Basques, her father owned the second one that came to town and he ran a taxi service.

Christmas for Elsie as a child was quite different than today. "We would have a turkey or a goose; usually we had a turkey for New Year's and a goose for Christmas." Elsie says there were plenty of concerts during Christmas and everyone would go mummering together. "You don't do that now." Elsie says it is not as good as when she was a child and even when she was raising her own children; Elsie says there are quite a few differences. "Things were better then because we didn't expect as much...I remembers when my boys were young and they saw a train set in the window of Beauchamps (a hardware store in Port aux Basques) they wanted it so their father went and ordered it for them for Christmas...my youngest boy still got it in his house with all the parts still in it." Elsie says the girls always got clothes and a doll, and they all had a sock, in which they would get an apple, an orange or some candy.

When Elsie was nineteen, she married a young engineer named Gordon Keeping. Sadly, Elsie was only forty-five when her husband passed away. Together, they had seventeen children. Elsie says since her husband was an engineer, they never went hungry, but they never had luxury.

Elsie admits it was kind of hard raising a family but she says she had some help. "My mother would come and help me, so it was a bit easier." Elsie's family was involved with the railway; she has a daughter that still works on the wharf in Port aux Basques, and a son that works on the railway in British Columbia. She recalls the war because she had two brothers-in-law that fought in the war. The only thing she recalls about the depression is that her father often helped people by giving them their dinner in his restaurant. "People were just nicer then...I can remember people coming up from the coast to get their dole." This was the term then used for social assistance. Altogether, Elsie seems to think that things were just plain better in those days.

25

Elsie Mathews, date of birth: 1929
4 July 2003
Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

26

Elsie Matthews

Elsie Matthews was born in 1929 in Ramea on the South coast of Newfoundland. She currently resides in her own home in Grand Bay East, Port aux Basques.

Her parents, Agnes and Gordon Crewe lived in Ramea all their lives. Her father was a fisherman and her mother was a homemaker. Elsie had four siblings, three brothers and one sister. Her family supplemented their diet of fish by keeping a few sheep, some hens and a small vegetable garden. Elsie never had to help with the vegetable garden which was planted by hand because she had to help clean the house and look after the younger children.

Elsie and her brothers and sisters had chores to do every day to help them get by. At the age of nine she learned to bake bread, bring water from the well, scrub floors, and wash clothes with sunlight soap on a washboard. Even with all her chores, Elsie made time for fun. She played games like ball, pippie and hopscotch, and went to accordion dances at the local hall. Sometimes these parties or as they were called, "times", involved a soup supper before the dance.

Elsie's father was a fisherman which was the main occupation in Ramea. The types of fish caught at that time were cod, catfish, flounder, red fish, halibut, and lobsters. Her mother looked after the children and kept the house.

Medical care in Ramea at this time consisted of a district health nurse assigned there with her own clinic. A doctor could be summoned from Burgeo if required and if someone was really sick they could be transferred to the hospital in Burgeo. Elsie remembered some of the home remedies used if a doctor was not available including brown paper soaked in vinegar placed on the forehead for a headache. A tonic to boost your immune system was made by stepping tree bark and mixing the liquid with fruit juice such as grape and carrot juice.

Ramea was not completely isolated despite its remote location because a mail service was available as mail came by coastal boat. There was a combination mail and telegraph office where it was possible to send a telegram to contact someone.

Christmas brings back good memories for Elsie. If you were lucky, you would get half of an apple, a few candies, or a stick of gum. Once she remembers receiving a small tea kettle and a wooden dancing man. Christmas dinner consisted of mutton or seabirds. Elsie never heard of turkey as a child during Christmas. She used to go mummering which she enjoyed very much. Elsie attended Christmas dances in Ramea where everyone would square dance.

During this time in Ramea the main foods that Elsie ate were fish and vegetables such as turnips, carrots and potatoes. The fish was either eaten fresh or dried in the sun on flakes. A flake was a large netted frame on which the salted fish would rest on to dry in the sun. Meat was usually not eaten all year round but only was eaten in the fall or winter due to the lack of refrigeration. Meat or sea birds were placed outside on the house when it was cold enough to keep it from spoiling. Groceries could be purchased from one of the few small stores in Ramea.

Elsie attended the Anglican Church in Ramea every Sunday. A minister would come from Burgeo once a month to conduct service. Services were still conducted by lay readers at those times during the month when a minister was unavailable.

Elsie attended a two-room school in Ramea with two teachers that ran from kindergarten to grade eleven. Elsie left school at fourteen when she was in grade nine to work at the local fish plant to help support her family. At the time education was not as valued as it is today because people could make a good living without completing high school.

Elsie was born in the middle of the Great Depression yet she has no memories of it. The Second World War holds a vivid memory of her cousin being on a ship that was torpedoed.

When Elsie was eighteen she came to work as a serving girl for an elderly couple in Port aux Basques. This couple was in their eighties and owned Lambert Billard's Store in Port aux Basques. Her duties included doing all their housework such as washing clothes by hand on a scrubboard, cooking, baking, and dusting. She was paid five dollars a month initially, it was later raised to ten dollars a month, and finally she was paid fifteen dollars a month. This raise came about to help keep Elsie from leaving her job. Elsie remembered that while she was working there this home received electricity before it was available in Grand Bay. Most of the time Elsie would look after Mr. Billard and keep house for him alone because Mrs. Billard would leave Port aux Basques to visit her children.

In 1949 Elsie left her job as a servant girl when she was twenty years old, after working for her employers for two years to marry her husband, Gilbert Matthews who was a storeowner in Grand Bay East. The store was connected to the family home which was a bungalow. Elsie stayed at home, taking care of her children, cooking their meals, and cleaning the house. Elsie had ducks, hens and one cow, which she used to milk for making her own butter. Elsie helped feed the animals and clean the barn.

Elsie had ten children in the first thirteen years that she was married. Four of her children were born at home while the other six were born in the Cottage Hospital in Port aux Basques. She had midwives to help deliver her children but doctors were usually called in if there were any difficulties.

When Elsie moved into her home in Grand Bay, there was no running water or sewage lines. Her water had to be carried in buckets from a well on the property. Heat in the home was provided by a wood and coal stove located in the kitchen. Light was provided by kerosene lamps which had to be cleaned and filled daily. Toilet facilities consisted of a slop pail that had to be dumped and cleaned at the cove.

Elsie can remember attempting to travel to the mainland when she was fourteen before she went to work at the fish plant there. Her plan was to travel with her aunt to Nova Scotia and get a job working there. Newfoundland was separate from Canada then and it was required to go through customs before embarking on the ferry. At those times if there was any kind of problems with a person they were denied passage across. Elsie had a prominent stutter at the time and this was given as the reason she was denied passage. Elsie gives this as the reason why, "I ended up here."

Elsie thinks that we take things for granted today. She used to bake ten pies on a Sunday and by the end of the week they would be gone, so the next Sunday she would have to bake ten more pies. Once a week she would bake a chocolate cake, and after baking so many pies, she had to clean up, wash the dishes and look after the children. Once a week both Elsie and her husband got to go out for a night. He would go to the movies in Port aux Basques that cost twenty-five cents and she would go to bingo. It was good to get out and do something fun after a week of tending a house, a store, and ten children.

Elsie tells us that "back then a woman's place was always at home," cooking, cleaning and rearing the children. It is not like that anymore but people are not any happier because of it.

27

Gertrude Patey

Gertrude Patey was born on June 13, 1926 in the community of Middle Barchois. This community no longer exists and was located near the current community of Cape Ray. Her mother was Addy Patey and her father was Robert Patey. Gertrude had four brothers and three sisters. Her mother was a homemaker and her father worked on the section of the local railway. Her parents were lifelong residents of the area. "They worked hard but were not considered well off and were poor by those days' standards," Gertrude said.

Gertrude remembered that her family had to pick berries and sell them to get money to buy clothes. Her family was not the only one that picked berries to help get by. To deliver the berries Gertrude and her family had to walk to Port aux Basques that was nine miles down and nine miles back. A gallon of berries was worth twenty-five cents at that time. It would take a week to pick enough berries and Gertrude would bring down five or six gallons. The family would bring down whatever berries were in season including bakeapples, blueberries, and marshberries. When the berries were brought in, they would get the order for the next week. Her family would order their groceries in Port aux Basques and the order were sent to Middle Barchois by train.

Gertrude and her siblings would attend the Anglican Church in Cape Ray. The minister would travel to Cape Ray from Port aux Basques. Gertrude attended Church regularly as a young girl but she contracted an illness and could not go for a long while. Gertrude and her family would have to travel to Cape Ray to pick up their mail at Tom Tapp's store because he had the post office. There were no telephones in Middle Barchois so mail was the main form of communication with people from away.

Gertrude cannot remember attending school. She cannot remember doing much for fun when she was a child. When she was twelve years old, Gertrude worked as a serving girl. She had to do the housework, wash the dishes and look after the children. She did not work there very long because she found the work to hard. Gertrude was not even paid money when she worked as a serving girl; instead she was paid with clothing.

When Gertrude grew up in Middle Barchois, her family had to rely on government assistance or dole to get by. This was because her father perished in a snowstorm. Her family raised sheep, cattle and pigs. Gertrude did not have to help feed the animals when she was a child. They also grew carrots, turnips, and potatoes. She was sick and did not have to help dig the vegetables.

Food was a big concern for Gertrude when she was growing up. The family had to eat what they could get. In her words, "If we had dinner today perhaps you wouldn't get no supper, we were that poor off."

The closest health care was Dr. Barlow in Port aux Basques who would come up on the train. There was no hospital in Port aux Basques and extremely sick patients were sent on the boat to Sydney or by train to Corner Brook and Stephenville. Gertrude's mother was a midwife who helped the women in her community give birth.

Gertrude remembered that housework was hard when she was growing up. She had to scrub her wooden floor with sand in order to make the boards white. There were no mops to wash the floors. They were washed with a rag and a cake of sunlight soap. Clothes were washed by hand on a scrubboard. Sometimes the family had to make their own lye soap.

When Gertrude was growing up her family got their water from wells. The water would be carried in buckets. In the wintertime, water was brought in a barrel on the back of a sleigh. Kerosene lamps lighted the homes. A wood stove heated the home. The family had a slop pail that had to be taken to the salt water and dumped instead of a toilet. The family spun their wool from their sheep to make yarn for knitting. The home that Gertrude grew up in was not overly furnished. In her words, "We were lucky if we had a chair to sit down on."

Gertrude got married to Will Patey when she was twenty-four years old. He worked on the service wharf in Port aux Basques. This was not an unusual age to marry but many young women at that time got married at a younger age. Reverend Martin married them.

Gertrude lived in Mouse Island after she was married. She bought her groceries at Martin Brother's Store in Port aux Basques. Gertrude was married to Will Patey for twelve years after which they divorced.

When asked it was hard for her growing up Gertrude replied, "Twice as hard as growing up today." When asked if all the hard work made her generation better people, Gertrude," replied yes in one way but in another way no. Now if you got five cents or five dollars it is no good to you. Back then it was."