14

Annie Maud Snow

Annie Maud Snow was born June 16, 1939, in Channel-Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. At sixty-four years old she currently resides in her own home in Port aux Basques.

Her parents Leah and Thomas Strickland lived in Port aux Basques. Her father came from Little Bay, near Petites but when he married Annie's mother he moved to Port aux Basques. Annie's father worked for the Canadian National Railway. His job was calling the men into work. He would go around in all kinds of weather and tell people to go to work. Her mother was a homemaker who looked after her thirteen children. She would scrub and wash everything.

Annie's father did raise some animals. He had horses, hens, ducks, sheep and pigs. Annie never helped to look after the animals. They only used their meat and vegetables for their own use. One day after her father had cleaned the pigs and pulled their bad teeth, her son Johnny went out when his grandfather was in the house and painted the pigs green.

Annie lived in a two-story house. There were four or five rooms, with four or five beds. "I slept in my bed by myself." All the furniture was store bought. Her mother did not make their clothing. She bought it in stores. She would use washtubs to wash the clothes with store bought soap. Later she used a washer. Sometimes they would put lye on the stove and boil the clothes to get the clothes clean. They had a bathroom but they did have a slop pail for her sister who was sick with TB. She was too weak to walk to the bathroom. There is a saying, "A women's work is never done." Before they built the house that they live in now, they would get their water from a well. They would go over to a brook to get water. They would go over to Kurt Strickland's to pick up the water, "I had two little buckets for myself." She would shear the sheep and card the wool, to take the ticks and burrs out of the wool.

There was always a doctor available and the hospital was located in Channel-Port aux Basques. Her mother had a telephone. If she needed the doctor she would call him. Sometimes she would make a poultice made out of bread, salt and butter.

There were telephones, roads and cars in Port aux Basques when Annie was a young girl. Mail would be collected at the old courthouse.

For fun, Annie would go to school. One of her teachers, Ms. Snowball was going out with a Ranger. When they were out walking, they would hide and throw snowballs at them. The next day, Ms. Snowball would ask them who threw snowballs at them. They would never give themselves up.

Annie attended the United Church School until it burned down. After it burned down they would have to bring a chair and desk to the Orange lodge for classes. They would use a slate for writing on and a pen with an exercise book for doing her homework. In grade seven Annie got sick and could only go to school for a half day. She would have to have two to four rest periods a day. Annie considered school important. She tried to get her education. She did manage to get half of her grade eight. However when you have to go take rest periods, you didn't have much time for schooling. Like children today, she didn't like school that much.

Annie was the baby of the family, so there weren't so many chores that she had to do besides washing the dishes. She would run away from the other chores. She attended church every Sunday morning, evening and night. When she got married she would take her children to church.

For Christmas Annie would get clothes. When she was smaller she would get a camera or watch. Christmas dinner consisted of turkey, potatoes, cabbage, turnips, carrots and pudding. There was always a turkey on the table for Christmas dinner. You would get more at Christmas than any other time of the year.

When Annie was about seventeen and eighteen years old she did attend a few dances. She worked at the Chinese restaurant, but only for a few days.

Annie was eighteen when she got married to Obediah Snow. They were married May 1st, 1958. They were married in the United Church in Port aux Basques.

Annie bought her groceries at Coleman's Food Store. She never made her own clothing because she never had much time. Sometimes she would knit. Her husband would say that it took her six months to knit one sock and six months to knit the other. She looked after her children while her husband was at work. She made sure that all their meals were on the table when they got home. She would scrub their clothing on a washboard. She had nine children and although her husband never had a lot of work, they always managed to live a good life. All nine of her children were born at the Cottage Hospital in Port aux Basques.

Annie wouldn't change anything in her life because she had a good life. She finds that today, people have everything. She sometimes thinks that if she had finished her schooling she would maybe had a job and be retired at this moment. She finds that the roles of women have changed. "When they get married, they might only be married for five months. Some is better and some is worst. In my days we did our best, I never went hungry or cold."

15

Annie Walters

Annie Walters was born on November 18, 1934 in the community of Margaree on the Southwest coast of Newfoundland. Her father, Peter BIllard, was from Margaree and her mother was from Burnt Islands. Her father was a fisherman and her mother was a homemaker. Her mother did all the housework and looked after the children while her husband was out fishing. Annie attended church every Sunday when she was growing up. She still regularly attends church today.

Annie recalled that there was not much to do for fun when she was a child. The only thing that she remembers doing for fun was going for walks. Christmas was a fun time when Annie was growing up despite the fact that compared to today children did not get a great deal. Annie remembered that she could expect to get a few candy or an apple in her stocking. She cannot remember getting many toys at Christmas as a child. She remembers getting a doll at one time. This doll was special and Annie got it because her father refunded a bottle.

Annie attended the local school in Margaree. She left school when she was thirteen years old when she was in grade four. When she left school, Annie went to work as a serving girl looking after four local fishermen and a sick woman. Annie had to do all the cooking, washing and housework. She was paid ten dollars a month for doing these chores.

Annie got married to Augustus Walters when she was seventeen years old. Their local minister married them. Annie lived in Margaree before she was married. After she was married, she moved to Fox Roost with her husband.

Annie's husband Augustus was a fisherman. He used to fish with his brother. They used to catch grey sole and codfish. Annie was a homemaker after she was married. Her responsibilities were to clean the house, care for the children and have her husband's meals cooked.

After she was married, Annie bought all of her groceries at one of the local stores in Margaree. She bought most of the clothes that her family wore as well. She made some of the clothes that the family wore. All of their clothes and groceries were paid for with cash.

After Annie was married, all the medical help that the people could get came from Port aux Basques. This was where the closest doctor was located. If the weather was too bad and the patient could not get to Port aux Basques they had to stick it out and hoped that they made it. Home remedies were used for minor ailments that did not require a doctor. One such remedy was goose grease that was rubbed on the chest to treat the flu. Another remedy was olive oil that was used to treat an earache.

Annie had a great deal of chores to do after she was married. Every day she had to clean the home, make bread and wash clothes. There were few telephones in Margaree after Annie was married. The only telephone that came to Margaree was in Annie's mother-in-law's home.

Annie and Augustus had five children. Her first child was born at a hospital in North Sydney. Her second child was born at the family home in Margaree. The rest of her children were born at the Cottage Hospital in Port aux Basques. Her mother-in-law helped her deliver her second child because the weather was too bad to reach Port aux Basques. While five children was not an incredibly large family for the time, Annie sometimes found it hard caring for them when money was scarce.

Annie got the water for her home from a nearby brook. Her family's clothes were washed on a scrubboard. The family home was heated with a coal stove. Kerosene lamps lighted the home. The home's bathroom facilities were a slop pail that had to be taken to the cove and dumped.

Annie feels that it was harder for her to grow up as compared to today. Annie says, "I say it was harder because we never had the stuff that they got now. We never had the money that they got today; it was harder when I was being reared up because you did not know where your next meal was coming from at some time." Annie feels that she had a good life despite any troubles she has encountered and would not change a thing. Annie feels that the biggest change she has seen is the coming of electric power and lights. In her opinion, these changes have made life, "Not as hard as it used to be."

16

Bernice Marks, date of birth: January 2, 1938
18 June 2003
Codroy Valley, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

17

Bernice Marks

Bernice Marks was born on January 2, 1938, in the community of Loch Lomond in the scenic Codroy Valley. Her parents were Mamie and Nicholas Luedee. There were eleven children in the family made up of six girls and five boys. Her father was a worker with the local section of the Department of Highways and her mother as a homemaker. Her father retired from his job at the age of sixty-five and her parents were lifelong residents of Loch Lomond.

Her parents lived in a five-bedroom, two-story home so there was lots of room for the family. The home was furnished with a mixture of store bought and homemade furniture. Oil lamps lighted the home and later the family switched to Aladdin lamps. "Dad also had a wind charger that would charge batteries and we would use it for light," says Bernice. After the Second World War, the family had a Delco to provide electricity. A wood stove in the kitchen and one in the dining room heated the home. Bernice remembered that her mother washed clothes on a scrubboard in a large washtub. After Bernice got older, her mother got a gasoline washer and later got an electric washer. The family got their water from a well using a hand pump. Bernice remembered that in the summer time if the well went low water was brought in buckets from a brook.

Nicholas supplemented his income by growing vegetables and raising animals. Bernice remembered her father growing potatoes, cabbages, turnips, carrots and beets in a little garden. She can remember that her father kept pigs and sheep. Her father would shear the sheep, and her mother would spin the wool for yarn. All the farm work like putting in the seed was done by hand.

If someone became sick, there were nurses in the area to provide medical aid. Only two of Bernice's siblings were born at home with the aid of a doctor. The rest were born at home with the aid of a nurse or midwife. Mamie used home remedies to doctor the common ailments of her children. One cure that she used was to mix Miners Liniment and molasses and make the patient drink it for a sore throat. Another cure for a sore throat was to make the patient drink a mixture of black current jam and water.

There was no mail service in Loch Lomond when Bernice grew up. Mail was picked up at the post office in St. Andrew's. The mail was brought to St. Andrew's on the local train. Bernice recalled that there were telephones in the area when she was growing up. These were wall mounted crank telephones. Bernice's father had a horse and cart, wagon, riding sleigh, but in 1946 he bought a 1929 car.

Bernice had to attend church service every Sunday with the rest of the family. The family attended the local Roman Catholic Church. Bernice attended school in the area. She can remember that she attended St. Kevin's School in St. Andrew's first and later she went to Loch Lomond School. Bernice got as far as grade nine then left to go to work. Bernice remembered that the last year she was in school there were four students in grade nine at the Loch Lomond School. There were all grades in one room with one teacher. Bernice recalled that school was not emphasized as much in her day as it is today because many parents did not have very much education themselves.

Bernice recalled that she had chores to do from the time she got up in the morning until she went to bed. There were chores like feeding the animals when she was up in the morning. There were chores to do when she got home from school. She remembered that there were more chores to do than there was time for study and play. She did recall that some of the chores that she had to do she really enjoyed. "We took enjoyment in berry picking; we couldn't wait to fill up the jug and get back and go again. A lot of chores we did we enjoyed."

When asked what she did for fun as a child Bernice replied that, "I went swimming in the summer time, played pippy and we made our own fun..."We were all happy and never got in trouble."

Christmas was a time for fun when Bernice was a child. Bernice can remember that her mother made pajamas as a gift when she was a child. Her mother also knit sweaters, mitts and scarves. Another time she can remember her father made her a sled for Christmas. Later when she got older, Bernice usually got clothes for Christmas. Bernice remembered that the family had chicken and vegetables for their Christmas dinner. Her father would kill a pig in the fall and there was pork for Christmas. Her mother made pies around Christmas because the family picked berries in the summer and fall. Bernice went mummering during Christmas and found this tradition enjoyable. She still mummers today.

Bernice recalled rationing during the Great Depression when she was growing up. People could only get a certain amount of items like flour and sugar. Bernice recalled that her family was lucky because her father always was able to provide enough for her family.

Bernice got married to Gordon Ryan when she was twenty-one years old. After she had left school, Bernice worked in one of the local general stores. Their local priest married them at the local Roman Catholic Church. Her first husband was a mechanic who worked on construction sites all across Newfoundland. Bernice and her husband lived in all different areas of Newfoundland when he worked construction. They even left Newfoundland for a while and lived in Manitoba for two years. They returned to live in Doyle's where he died in 1977 at the age of forty-eight.

Bernice and her family bought their groceries at the Co-op store in the Codroy Valley. All of the groceries were paid for with cash. Later after the roads went through Bernice traveled to Port aux Basques to buy groceries.

Bernice made some of her own clothing after she was married. She took sewing classes to learn to sew. She would get the material to make clothes at Style Mart in Port aux Basques or she went to Corner Brook to get it.

After her husband died, Bernice was remarried to Llewellyn Marks in 1986. They have their own farm and grow a variety of vegetables. They ran their farm as a business for years. At first they would grow strawberries and sold them on "U-pick". Then they started growing vegetables, which they also sold either as a package or by "U-pick."

Bernice recalled that in her opinion the community was closer when she was growing up as compared with today. She said, "Now you don't know your next door neighbor. Years ago you knew everyone... there is more trouble with teenagers today than in our day."

When asked how the role of women has changed Bernice says that, "Years ago women did not have a say. Women went along with what was expected. Now women are more educated and have a say because they are more independent."

Bernice recalled that she has seen great charges in the Codroy Valley since she began living there. "Years ago, everyone grew their own vegetables, had a little garden and a few chickens but today very few people grow a garden. It is easier to go to the store."

18

Betty Stockley, date of birth: June 12, 1932
11 June 2003
Codroy Valley, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

19

Betty Stockley

Betty Stockley was born on June 12th, 1932, in Woodville to Ethel Fiander (Collier) and Isaac Fiander. Betty has five brothers and five sisters. Her father fished as well as farmed for a living. Betty says her family was relatively well off for the times. Her mother, Ethel helped by raising the children, milking the cows, making butter, cooking, and cleaning. Both of Betty's parents lived in Codroy all their lives and Betty did as well, except for the two years she spent in Toronto. Betty went to school up until grade nine at the Holy Trinity School in Codroy. She came out to help her mother with the housework and the other children. Church was never missed and they went every Sunday. Reverend Canon Martin and Reverend John Marks held services.

For fun as a child, Betty says they would go sliding and skating and there were usually dances they could go to. "Summers you would work too hard to really have any fun." All the groceries were bought with cash at Irene Kendall's store in Codroy. Betty says she was sixteen years old before she got a store bought coat, otherwise her mother made most of their clothing with material she bought. The house Betty grew up in was a big two-story, green house, with six bedrooms upstairs, two homemade beds to a room. Most of Betty's siblings lived there at different times, because they were all different ages. The house also had linoleum floors and canvas, which would be painted. Betty says there were crank telephones at the time, but they did not have one. "We used the one at the post office." The mail came on Saturdays, usually by horse and cart, or in the wintertime, by dog team and sled. Betty says her chores were usually to milk the cows, feed the hens and the pigs and separate the milk and the cream in the separator every morning and evening. Betty had six cows to look after that had to be milked in the morning and in the evening each day. She also had to dig and weed the gardens.

There was no hospital in the Codroy Valley but the doctor would usually come to see you if needed. Otherwise, Betty says there were many home remedies. For cough and cold, you would boil cherry bark and molasses. For arthritis, they used miner's liniment. For earaches, Vicks was rubbed on the bone behind the ear.

Betty's parents raised horses, cows, pigs, hens, geese and sheep, as well as a small garden. They grew all of their own vegetables. The basic menu consisted of meat, vegetables and fish. All the vegetables were planted with a horse and plough and dug by hand with a hoe and a spade. Betty recalls one time when she wanted to go to a wiener roast, and her father told her she could not go until all the work was done. "I worked in the fields all that day so I could go to the wiener roast...and I went."

When electricity came, Betty recalls how amazed she was at how dirty the floors were once she was able to really see them. Her family ate meals made up of fish and potatoes, fresh meat, their own chickens, mutton and beets that Betty grew herself. Before electricity, kerosene lamps were used for lighting and wood and coal stoves were used for heat and cooking. These lamps had to be cleaned out every evening. Betty recalls the first car in the Codroy Valley. "Mr. Moore had a Model T Ford, it was like a stagecoach." Roads in the Codroy Valley were paved in the sixties. "I got my first washing machine in the sixties, for Christmas one year." Betty says she made lye soap by boiling animal fat and adding lye, then pouring it into molds and letting it harden. It was then cut into blocks and used for washing. Betty also says they used to shear the sheep, wash it, card it, spin it, and then knit socks and mitts with the yarn.

Betty married Pleamond Stockley, a miner turned lumber worker, turned superintendent for twenty-seven years. Betty worked briefly at Riff's Department Store in Toronto, during the two years she spent there. Betty and Pleamond had four children together.

Betty remembers the war because her brother had to go overseas. "I remember the rations. My mother had a little book of stamps and she would tear them out." Betty helped with the war effort by mailing knitted goods over to the soldiers. She also recalls the tragedy of the Caribou because she knew of a few men from the Valley that were on her. When the ferry Caribou sunk 147 lives were lost. She can remember some shipwrecks, like The Myers III and the Blue Wave in 1987.

One of Betty's memories of growing up on the Southwest Coast was out berry picking. She went with a man named Mr. Kendall and he walked too fast for them."

Betty remembers Christmas very well, because she would get things like dolls or a cradle made by her father. She usually got a pair of shoes with grapes stuck in the toes. She would get crayons, and there would apples, oranges and Christmas cake. "My brother got a rocking horse one time." Her mother always had apples at Christmas because there was always a barrel of apples in the cellar. Betty also says they went mummering quite often. "They always got dressed up and went visiting from door to door. It was simpler then because people trusted each other." She misses Christmas like it used to be because, "There was so much love in it, nobody cared about getting lots of presents."

"I think it was better then, because everyone was closer and things weren't as complicated as they are today."

When asked if it was hard raising her family Betty replied no, because she thinks it was harder for her mother. They had lots of food and clothes but not much money. "We never went on welfare but we had animals and vegetables." Betty said that if she could change anything about her life she would not change anything, "I enjoyed my life and wouldn't change anything." When asked if it was harder for women of her generation compared to today Betty said, "It was harder but we were happier and closer. We made our own fun."

20

Beulah Lane

Beulah Lane was born March 8, 1937, in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. At sixty-six years old, she currently resides in her own home, in Port aux Basques.

Beulah's mother, Augusta, came from Burgeo and her father, Kenneth, was from Corner Brook. Beulah's father worked in the mill in Corner Brook and sometimes went fly-fishing. Her mother stayed at home raising her six children. When her mother died her father remarried and her stepmother had four sons. Beulah was the oldest child of the two families.

Beulah's father would go lobster fishing, and like today, there was a special season. Her family had an oil range and a coal stove for heat. They didn't have a bathtub in the house. There were some telephones and cars in Corner Brook at the time but Beulah's family did not have one.

For fun Beulah played games and went swimming, and did all the things that you do in the summertime. She went to an Anglican Church regularly and there was a full time minister. Beulah attended school until grade ten. There were three schools in the area, a United School, a Catholic School and an Anglican School. There were about fifty students in one class. There were no calculators; all they had were pens and exercise books. Beulah says everything that they got they could get for Christmas. They always had a turkey with cabbage, turnip and potatoes for Christmas dinner.

In 1952 Beulah married Joe Lane who was working as a crane operator. She was sixteen years old when a Priest married them in Corner Brook. A few years later they moved to Port aux Basques. They lived in a rented house that always had to be painted or something had to be fixed. They did have running water and a wringer washer for washing their clothes. They bought their own furniture from Corner Brook with them. They got their mail at the post office located in Port aux Basques. She bought her groceries at Coleman's, which was called "Red and White" when they first arrived in Port aux Basques. She always paid for her groceries by cash. She made some of her clothing, but she did buy some clothes from catalogues. The Cottage Hospital was opened when they moved to Port aux Basques, so there was always a doctor available if they needed one.

Beulah had six children, she didn't find it too hard, but most of her chores included cooking and taking care of her children. Dr. Leamon helped birth her children.

Beulah has traveled to Halifax, Nova Scotia to visit family. She has a sister, cousins and nieces and nephews that she enjoys visiting. Beulah thinks that the way she grew up was harder than now, back then you had to work for everything.

21

Bridget Downey, date of birth: July 19, 1934
23 June 2003
Codroy Valley, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

22

Bridget Downey

Bridget Downey was born to Annie and Benedict Smith on July 19th, 1934, in Millville, located in the Codroy Valley on the Southwest coast of Newfoundland. She now resides in her home also located in the Codroy Valley. She had lived on the Southwest coast all of her life.

Annie and Benedict, Bridget's parents lived in Millville all their lives. They had thirteen children together, seven girls and six boys. Benedict was a fisherman and a farmer. Annie was a homemaker. She would do the gardening, planting, and weeding along with her household chores. She would also help harvest the vegetables in the fall of the year. In the summer, Benedict would be fishing, and in the fall he would be growing the vegetables. Benedict would fish using his own equipment catching lobster and salmon to sell and codfish, herring, and mackerel, for his family to eat. The fish would be fried; salmon and codfish would be salted or bottled for the winter. To keep the fish cold they would use ice junks and sawdust. Annie and Benedict lived in a two-story house using kerosene lamps and lanterns for lights. Most of the furniture was homemade except for the table and chairs. There were no toilets so Annie and Benedict had an outhouse. They did not have a bathtub so they would use a washtub to bathe in. Annie would wash her clothes in a washtub on a scrubboard. They would get the water from a well next to the house using a hand pump to fill up the buckets. There were no telephones at the time, but there was a post office that they could walk to, where they could pick up and send out the mail. One home remedy that Annie would use for the cold was mixing goose grease and Vicks together and rubbing it on the chest. "Some people still use it today, and it works."

As a child, Bridget would have lots of fun. Every evening she would play ball or some other kind of game. In the winter, she would go skating and sliding. Beside fun, there was work to be done. Bridget would have to milk the cows, and bring in the wood because she did not have any older brothers to do it. She would also have to lay the fish out on the mesh to let it dry. She would have to turn it over and let it dry on the outside then on the inside. Bridget went to a Catholic Church ever Sunday regardless of the weather. There was a Priest there ninety percent of the time. Bridget attended Millville school until grade nine, when she had to come out. There was no kindergarten and there was about forty or fifty student in one classroom. Bridget tells us that school was considered to be important but if there was work to be done she would have to do it. "I didn't really have a chance to go to school, I was sixteen years old and I had to help my mother. She had a child almost every year."

Bridget tells us that they would eat better back then than what people eat today. "Everything was natural. You have your own butter, milk, eggs, and potatoes. You would feed the animals the table scraps. There were no preservatives on the food."

When Bridget was a child, Christmas was a joyful time of the year. Most of the gifts that she would get were homemade. The girls may have got a little doll and the boys would get a little truck. The Christmas dinner would consist of chicken, goose, or duck. There was no turkey at the time. Bridget's family also had their own pork. Bridget also tells us that she would go mummering during Christmas.

Bridget worked as a serving girl at the age of fifteen making fifty cents for a day's work. She worked for people who were sick or having a baby. Her duties would include washing and putting out clothes, ironing, cleaning floors, making beds, etc.

Bridget can remember during the depression her family would get rations stamps which they called "Tags," "which you were able to use at the store to get certain amount of items. You were only allowed so many pounds of sugar and flour, and so much tea. They throw away more today than people had back then." Bridget did not have anyone belong to her in the Second World War, but she use to listen about it on the radio because it was interesting to know what was going on. Bridget can also remember when the old Caribou sank, she knew someone on that boat. She was on the way to school when she had heard the news that the Caribou sank.

Bridget was twenty years old when she married her husband, Alouishes Downey. The priest from the area that she lived married them. Bridget worked as a store clerk while Alouishes worked in the woods and then he was a farmer. Bridget had eight children and found it hard raising her family. Bridget and Alouishes did not have to buy many groceries because they farmed. "We had our own butter, eggs, and milk. We also had our own meat. We only had to buy sugar, tea, and stuff like that." Sometimes Bridget and Alouishes would barter to pay for their groceries, but most of the time they would pay cash when they would sell their vegetables or pulpwood. "Sometimes if someone had fish we would trade them for a sack of potatoes." Bridget made some of the family's clothing with materials from the store and sometimes she would take clothes that were too big and make them over.
If someone got sick, there was not always a doctor around but there was a nurse. There was not a doctor until Bridget got married. There was no hospital in the Codroy Valley; the closest hospital was in Port aux Basques. Bridget had two children born at home, some born in Port aux Basques hospital, and some born in Corner Brook. All the children were born buy a doctor. If there were no doctor or nurse available when someone got sick, they would have to go to Port aux Basques on train. Bridget can remember when she was fifteen or sixteen years old, she had to go to Stephenville Crossing to get her appendix out. It would take half a day to travel to Stephenville on the train.

Bridget would eat food such as beef, pork, lambs, and chicken. "We had everything, our own vegetables and my father was a fisherman so we had lots of fish to eat. We also use to bottle a lot of the food." Bridget would help in the fields doing the farming. She would remove the rocks, plant the seeds, and do the weeding. "It was a lot of work."

Bridget's most memorial experience of living on the Southwest coast of Newfoundland was when she was hit by a train. "I was driving a car and I didn't see the train. The train piled right up on top of me. I went to Port aux Basques hospital, I was the first accident victim in that hospital, that was in 1952." She was in the hospital wearing a body cast for a long time after that.

Some of the major changes that Bridget has seen in her life was electricity, telephones, roads, and cars. She can't remember who owned the first car but she can remember in the summer when it was to bad to cross the river to go to church they would go in the back of someone's truck. In the wintertime she would go on a skidoo that could take six or seven people at a time.

If Bridget could change anything about her life, she would have made it easier, even though she enjoyed her life. "Everyone was always doing something, it was natural." Bridget feels it was harder growing up then than it is for women growing up today. "Now you only got to put you clothes in a washer to wash it and dryer to dry it, back then you had to wash it on the scrubboard with sunlight soap and hang it to dry. You also had to boil the water on the stove." According to Bridget life was harder in those days, but it was better and people were a lot happier.

23

Caroline Pike

Caroline Pike was born November 5, 1933, in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. At seventy years old she resides in the Gateway Seniors Cottages in Port aux Basques.

Her mother, Ada Dominie was from Cape La Hune, a community that no longer exists, on Newfoundland's Southern coast and her father Cyril Melbourne was from Grand Bruit. They moved to Port aux Basques after they married. Her mother was a homemaker and her father worked first on the Caribou and then with the Canadian National Railway. Her father fished with her uncle, catching cod, salmon and lobsters. The fish would be brought home and salted. Since her father was away working, it left her mother responsible for everything around the house.

When Caroline was growing up, her house had no running water or electricity. They would get their water from a well and their main sources of heat came from two coal stoves in the kitchen and the living room. They used kerosene lamps for lighting. There was a washtub for washing and a slop pail for a toilet. Caroline's mother would wash their clothing on a washboard with sunlight or lye soap. She spun wool and sometimes made their clothing, although most of their clothing was store bought. Caroline did her share of housework washing dishes. They salted their meat and fish because there was no refrigeration at the time. Caroline was a teenager before the family got its first telephone.

Caroline went to the Wesley United Church, located in Channel-Port aux Basques regularly when she was growing up. There was a full time minister so they had church services every Sunday. She attended the United Church School, located where Home Hardware is today. It was a large school, with four classrooms, three grades to one class. School wasn't considered as important as it is today. She finished school and graduated with grade eleven. For fun she played hopscotch and ball, and played for hours in the cove. When she was younger she worked for George Battiste and Company as a clerk.

Caroline remembers when the first car came to Port aux Basques; it was a taxi. You could get a ride around Port aux Basques for twenty-five cents.

Caroline has good memories of Christmas. You would get one nice thing for Christmas and a socking filled with fruit and candy. They would have a tree decorated with cards and balloons. For Christmas dinner they would have goose, in later years they would have turkey. Caroline loved mummering, she says, "It was really fun."

When Caroline was younger she traveled to Halifax a few times on the Caribou. She liked Halifax because it was more modern. She remembers the tragedy of the Caribou; her father was on the boat along with her two uncles, she stills remember when she found out that her two uncles were safe.

In 1952, when Caroline was nineteen years old she married Robert Pike, who was a supervisor with Marine Atlantic. The Railway bought a lot of jobs to Port aux Basques and at one time it was flourishing.

Caroline and Robert had six children together. When her husband was at work she stayed at home cooking and cleaning and taking care of the children. Her children were born in the Cottage Hospital located in Channel-Port aux Basques by a doctor.

Caroline bought her groceries at George Battiste's or the Martin Brother's store. She paid for her groceries with cash or on credit. If someone got sick, the doctor was always available at the clinic. She remembers that there were three doctors in Port aux Basques. The first doctor was Dr. Barlow, then Dr. Parsons and the last one she could remember coming to Port aux Basques was Dr. LeGrow. You didn't go to the doctor for every little thing, you would use home remedies to fix it your self. One home remedy Caroline remembers is rubbing a person with camphorated oil when they had the flu.

Caroline tells us that she had a good life and she wouldn't change a thing. People where happier back then, and more content. Today there is too much peer pressure.

24

Clarissa Marshall, date of birth: October 18, 1932
19 June 2003
Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

25

Classie Marshall

Classie Marshall was born on the eighteenth of October 1932, to Julia and James Osmond. Classie grew up in Cape Ray, but left home at the age of fourteen to live with her sister in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. "It was no pay, I guess it was more to keep her company." Classie had eleven sisters and two brothers. Classie's father, James worked on the railroad and her mother, Julia, was a homemaker. Classie's parents lived in Cape Ray all of their lives. There was a lot to do in a house with fourteen children, so Classie was always busy.

Classie's parents grew all of their own vegetables. She remembers them having a big garden and growing potatoes, carrots, turnips, cabbage, onions, pumpkins, and also they had a rhubarb patch. All of the gardening was done by hand and the fertilizer was a mixture of animal manure and kelp. Classie says they always did keep animals when she was growing up. "We always had a horse and a cow, as well as a lot of sheep, hens and a few pigs." Classie says they never sold the vegetables, but they did sell the meat for additional income.

Classie remembers her parent's house; she jokingly refers to it as being a 'shack'. "It was half decent, a two-story house, with four bedrooms upstairs, one bedroom downstairs, as well as two kitchens...now you call it a living room and a kitchen, but it was two kitchens then, but only one stove." Classie says that the house never had a bathtub; there was no indoor plumbing. There was a washtub for washing, an outhouse, and a small pail that was used for an indoor toilet, which was emptied in the mornings.

Classie remembers that her mother used to make her own clothing as well as the children's clothing. "What you couldn't make out of material, you would knit with yarn." Classie says that her mother always spun her own yarn. "She would shear the sheep, process the wool, card it, spin it into yarn and then she would make garments from the yarn." All of the clothing was washed on a washboard, and scrubbed with homemade lye soap. This was made by boiling animal fat, then adding lye and ashes to the mixture. It was then poured into molds and left until it was hardened. Once cut into smaller blocks, this was an excellent cleaning soap.

Water was brought from a well in the front garden, but this was not for drinking water, it was only used for washing clothes and cleaning the rest of the house. " The well water was rusty, so we never drank it, there was a spring that ran down from the hill, so we used to go and bring it down in buckets...that was our drinking water."

Classie says her parents cooked old-fashioned meals. " We used to have something cooked every day, baked beans, pea soup, vegetable soup, salt beef and fish, you know, things like that." Classie says that her parents bought all of their groceries at Frank Short's store. They bought all of their supplies in the fall of the year, after working for the summer. You could buy in bulk what you needed for the year. " We all had our meats and all of our vegetables, there was lots of fish in those days, you dried your fish and in the winter you could go kill a bird or rabbits." Classie says her father came home in the fall and he always had a lot of money from working all the summer. " They would buy enough flour, sugar, tea, salt pork, whatever you could buy in bulk and then you were set for the winter."

Classie says you could go see a doctor if you were sick, in Port aux Basques. Unless it was a real emergency, then he might come to you. Usually you had to go to Port aux Basques by train. " If there was no train, you had to walk...many a time I had to walk to Port aux Basques, it was a good nine miles on the track." There was a mid-wife there, Classie says the woman was her aunt and that she helped birth every baby in Cape Ray for years. Classie also says there were plenty of home remedies in her family. " They used to make this salve out of turpentine from trees...and there were these poultices they would make out of sunlight soap and bread, they were used for boils...they worked, I've made them myself...and...there was their own fly dope, out of tar and kerosene."

For fun as a child, Classie says they used to play house and they used to make houses out of boughs and pieces of glass. " We used to go sliding and skating in the winter times, whatever you could do to amuse yourself, we never had none of the video games like they got today."

Classie says she had a lot of housework to do especially on Saturdays. This was the day when everyone had their chores to do. " Well, you had to wake up in the morning and make your bed, wash the dishes, there were a lot of dishes because there were a lot of us, then you had to sweep the floors, and finally before it got dark, you had to bring in the water and the wood. " Classie also says that the kerosene lamps had to be cleaned and refilled as well as the floor mats, taken outside and beaten clean."

Classie says they went to church regularly, or whenever the minister could come up from Port aux Basques. " The church was out by where the lighthouse is today, out there...it was a good walk to church on Sundays. Classie can remember her school; she went as far as grade nine. She says it didn't have a name, it was just the school. " I came out of school when I was fourteen." She can remember how many were in the class though. " It was about thirty or forty, all of us in the two rooms, they built on more later." Classie says that while school was considered important, it wasn't a necessity. " You never had to go, when you were old enough to come out, it was up to you."

Christmas was very different at that time, also. " We knew it was Christmas, but we didn't get anything. You might get an apple or something; there were no toys. I can remember one time there was a few toys but they were for everyone...when there were toys, they belonged to nobody in particular. When you got a big family like that, you couldn't afford to buy everybody something, you know, so everyone owned it." Christmas dinner was usually roast beef; there was no turkey. It was unheard of for most people at that time. There were always fresh vegetables with whatever meat they were having. " I can remember one time my mother making apple sauce and pudding. We used to have a lot of mutton too, but I never liked it, not because I ate a lot of it, I just didn't like it." Classie says they did a lot of mummering, and it was good fun. " Oh, yes, we went mummering, they don't do that much anymore, well, they might in the outport areas."

Classie says she can remember the sinking of the Caribou. " My sister was going away, and she was supposed to go on the morning train...but the train didn't go that morning, it didn't even come until that night...I can remember my uncle Charlie got killed overseas, and I can remember the day they all left to go, there was three or four of them that came down to our house before they left. I can recall the day it got over, I believe I was on the train, or was it the day of Confederation that I was on the train."

When Classie was nineteen, she married a young man she met at Harry Tom's restaurant, a once popular hangout for young people at the time. It was located where the Skylab Lounge is in Port aux Basques. Then it became Lukey's Boat Lounge, which it still is today. His name was Albert, and he was sitting on the rail of the restaurant when Classie walked by. Eventually, Classie and Albert were married, but they weren't married in Newfoundland, Albert was working in Toronto, so they got married there. They later moved back to Newfoundland, and Albert became a welder with the Department of Highways. He stayed there for twenty-six years until he retired. Before then he was a truck driver. Classie and Albert had five children together, and they lived on the Southwest coast of Newfoundland for the remainder of their lives, where they still are today.

Classie says she never made much of her own clothes or clothing for her children, but she knitted lots, and still does. " I'm knitting a baby sweater right now." She says she never found it hard raising a family, but imagines her mother did in her time. Four of Classie's children were born in the hospital in Port aux Basques. Her daughter, Lorna, was born in Toronto.

When asked about her life in general, Classie says she sometimes wishes she could change things, but is mostly very happy with her life. " Different things makes different people very happy...some was happy then, some more is happy now. We were happy enough, only if I had a lot more education available to me, I think things would have been different, but for the most part, I am very happy with my life...back then (in her mother's day,) the men was the boss, now the woman is the boss...no man would ever be boss over me."

26

Cora Mullins, date of birth: 1932
6 June 2003
Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

27

Cora Mullins

Cora Mullins was born in Channel-Port aux Basques in 1932. Her parents, Dorcas and George LeRiche were lifelong residents of Port aux Basques. Her father was a baggage checker at the Canadian National Railway and her mother was a homemaker. There were seven children in the family including Cora made up of six girls and one boy. George was a fisherman before he went to work at the railway.

Dorcas bought her groceries at one of the local stores in Port aux Basques. All groceries were bought at local stores in Port aux Basques. Dorcas paid for all of her groceries with cash. Some people in Port aux Basques were on "the dole" and had to get a letter from the government to pick up groceries. These people never received any cash but instead just got a letter. Cora remembered that her family ate a great deal of roasted meat and vegetables at this time. She never saw any hamburgers or hot dogs until she was married. The family bought their clothing at one of the local stores in Port aux Basques. The children often wore hand-me-downs from their older siblings.

Dr. LeGrow was in Port aux Basques when Cora was growing up to provide medical care. The only hospital Cora recalled was the old Cottage Hospital in Port aux Basques. In some cases, home remedies were used to cure minor ills that did not require a doctor. Cora was required to drink cod liver oil daily and if they got a sore throat, it was treated with a spoonful of Vicks Vapor Rub and sugar. Rubbing the patient's chest with a mixture of liniment and olive oil treated a chest cold.

Cora went skating, went out in boat a lot, and went swimming for fun when she was a child. When she was a teenage Cora went for walks along the rail bed for fun. Another thing that Cora did for fun when she was a teenager was joining Anglican Youth. Anglican Youth was an Anglican Youth Group that enabled her to travel to Corner Brook and other areas for meetings.

Cora was required to attend St. James Anglican Church in Port aux Basques. This was the local church in the area. The local Anglican Ministers such as Reverend Martin or Reverend Small conducted services there every Sunday. Cora attended St. James School in Port aux Basques until she finished grade nine. This was a local school with all pupils in one room sitting at long tables. The work was done using a pencil and a scribbler. Cora attended school until she completed grade nine because she left and went to work.

The family got their water from a well across the brook from their home. Water was carried across in barrels. The family brought the water into the homes in buckets. The family had a chamber pot and a chamber pail for bathroom facilities. The family had lamps to light the home. Telephones did not come to Port aux Basques until after the Second World War. Cora did not have her first personal telephone until 1959. There was a post office in Port aux Basques located in the basement of the courthouse. Her brother was one of the first people in Port aux Basques that owned his own car. This was an accomplishment to be proud of but there were not a lot of places to drive to because there was no highway built yet. All anyone could do was drive between Port aux Basques and Grand Bay.

Christmas was a fun time when Cora was a child. She had an older sister that was not married who lived in Sydney who would send her home presents. Cora can remember getting coloring books and crayons for Christmas. Her mother would give her one thing for Christmas usually clothes and maybe a toy if she were lucky. The family would have roasted turkey for their Christmas dinner. Cora recalled that fruit like apples and oranges were easier to get at Christmas then they were at other times of the year. Her mother would also make cakes, tea buns, and pies especially for Christmas. Cora remembered that Christmas was a great time for celebrations during Christmas. There were events in the local lodges every night during Christmas. People would visit from house-to-house and go mummering during Christmas. One treat that Cora remembers was saving her pennies to get a little box of cheesies as a treat.

Cora went to work at Raymond Leriche's store in Port aux Basques for seven years when she was sixteen years old. A store in this time was a true general store. Cora worked in the grocery section of the store where she served the customers, cut meat, and added up the bills. Later on after the store was expanded, Cora worked in the clothing section of the store. Cora finally worked in the office of the store balancing the books. It was common for young women of Cora's age to be working at this time.

Cora remembered that the Second World War was a stressful period for her family because he brother, Albert, was a prisoner of war. He joined the Royal Canadian Navy when he was eighteen and was taken prisoner by the Germans and was held in Algiers. The family had difficulty finding out about him at first because he was held as a French sailor because his last name was Leriche. Her mother contributed to the war effort by knitting socks to send to the sailors overseas. All of the news that they heard about the war came from the radio. One of the things that Cora remembered about the war years in Port aux Basques was that they would have church early on Sunday and that a blackout was enforced. Cora had a cousin that drowned in the sinking of the ferry Caribou.

Cora got married to Eric Mullins when she was twenty-three years old. He was originally from Recontre East. They had met at a wedding that Cora was standing for. Eric had a job working for the Canadian National Railway. Together Cora and Eric had six children. This consisted of three boys and three girls. All of her children were born in the local Cottage Hospital with the help of a nurse. Cora said that it was not hard raising her family and that things were better after she was married.

When asked if she would change anything about the way she grew up Cora replied that, "It was more fun back then. People were closer back then and talked to one another more." When asked if it was harder growing up then, Cora replied that it was because her generation had no computers or adders. When she worked in the store, Cora had to do all the adding in her head. When asked did people have more money Cora replied, " Everything was so cheap back then." She was getting fifty dollars a month working in a store and you could get a coat for ten dollars. "Back then there was no big difference between people because everyone had the same."