Thursday, June 30, 2011

Root Cellar Typology for Newfoundland and Labrador


We are digging away on our root cellar project, documenting different root cellars, taking photographs, making measurements, and interviewing people about root cellar traditions.

One idea we've come up with is to create a map of root cellars across the province, to see what kind of root cellars are most common where. So, I've taken a first stab at creating a root cellar typology, listing out the different kinds of root cellars we've found to date.

If you know of a different kind, or have a suggestion for a root cellar for us to look at, or root cellar owner to interview, contact Crystal Braye, our down-to-earth folklore co-op student, at folklore.coop@gmail.com.

Dual Entrance Cellar - set into the ground and lined with rocks/concrete. A shed is built over top of the cellar, with its own door. Access to the cellar is through a ground-level door into the cellar, and through a hatch door incorporated into the floor of the shed.

Hatch and Shed Cellar - set into the ground and lined with rocks/concrete. Beams and planks are laid over the hole, with a hatch door incorporated into the ceiling/floor, along with a ladder for access. A shed is then built over the top of the cellar.

Hillside Cellar - dug out of a hillside, lined with rocks or concrete, and then a ceiling is attached to overhead beams. Access through a ground-level door on the front.

Above Ground Cellar - freestanding cellar, covered thickly with sod on the outside, lined inside with rocks/concrete, with access through a ground-level door on the front.

Above Ground Hatch – like the Above Ground Cellar, but with access from a hatch at the top.

Walk-in Cool Room – Insulated room, part of a house or outbuilding.

Barrel Cellar – A small root cellar made of a converted barrel or drum.

Unidentified Ruin

Others?

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Ghost stories and legends from Cape Broyle, Bell Island and Grand Falls-Windsor

I posted a few of the stories recorded by participants in our Young Folklorists Program yesterday. Here are three more, with tales from Cape Broyle on the Southern Shore, Bell Island in Conception Bay, and Grand Falls-Windsor in Central Newfoundland.

Stacey Challinor, Baltimore School - The Legend of Peggy's Hollow


Nicole Doyle, St. Michael's Regional High - A Bell Island Ghost Story


Tayler French, St. Peter's Junior High - The Phantom of the Arts and Culture Centre

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Supernatural Stories from the Young Folklorist Program

Earlier this spring, the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador hosted its first Young Folklorists Program. Students spent two days learning about local folklore, doing interviews along Water Street, and researching and learning local stories.

The students chose to work on superstitions and ghost stories, and each student recorded their story on the second day of the workshop.  All of them will be added to our oral traditions collection as part of the ICH Inventory. Here are the first three!  I'll put out a notice when the rest are uploaded to the Inventory.


Amanda Brace, St Peter's Junior High - A ghost story from Victoria Street


Ashley Brace, St. Peter's Junior High - Phantom fires in St. John's

Emma Burry, Leary's Brook Jr. High - The Sunshine Park Killer - An Urban Legend

Digital Root Cellar storing memories as part of Memorial's Digital Archives Initiative


This abandoned root cellar, located on Thorpe's Road, St. Phillip's, is one of the root cellars that will be documented as part of this summer's Seeds to Supper Festival.  This year, the province's third annual folklife festival will celebrate agricultural traditions past and present.

The root cellar research project is being conducted by Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) folklore coop student Crystal Braye, and Agricultural History Society intern Julie Pomeroy.  The pair will be photographing, measuring, and drawing cellars wherever they can root them out, as well as conducting interviews with root cellar owners and farming families.

All collected photographs, drawings and audio interviews will be stored, nice and cool, in our digital root cellar, as part of Memorial's Digital Archives Initiative and HFNL's ongoing Intangible Cultural Heritage inventory.  The research is funded in part with grants through the Department of Tourism's Cultural Economic Development Program, and the Helen Creighton Folklore Society.

If you have a root cellar and are interested in participating, or for more information, please contact Crystal Braye via email folklore.coop@gmail.com or telephone at 709-739-1892 ext. 5

Monday, June 27, 2011

Zombie Invasion! Flee!

Following yesterday's post on Bigfoot along the Trans Canada Highway, CBC reporter Cecil Haire  today terrified CBC listeners with news of the zombie apocalypse.


Apparently, someone has reprogrammed a traffic sign near Windsor Lake to warn motorists of a zombie invasion and impending doom. The sign also flashes that people should save themselves and reminds people of the movie folklore that you should never be overconfident about a zombie's demise.

Happy motoring!




UPDATE: CBC web article

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Newfoundland Bigfoot: Help me in the hunt!

As you drive along the Trans Canada Highway, motorists on the lookout for a large, hairy animal may find themselves staring at something decidedly more cryptozoological than your average Newfoundland moose.


As I was driving back to St. John's from Bay Roberts on the Trans Canada Highway earlier this week, I spotted something just east of the Salmonier Line turnoff.

"That tree stump looks just like Bigfoot," I thought.  Then, as I came closer, "My God! It IS Bigfoot!"

Some genius prankster has put up a plywood cutout of a sasquatch-looking creature just at the edge of a pond, 60 meters or so off the highway.


Folklore junkie that I am, I immediately recognized the outline of the monster captured in the controversial Patterson film of 1967.

I returned today, and crept close to the monster cut-out, snapping a series of photos, now on Flickr.

I'd love to know who created this, and why! If you have ANY ideas as to who made it, email me at info@hauntedhike.com or text me at 709-685-3444.  If the creator wants to remain anonymous, I'd be happy to oblige, but I'd love to interview them about their monster, and the story behind it.

PS  - Here is an article I wrote about Bigfoot in Newfoundland in 2007.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Life Beyond the Overpass





The Overpass before (upper photo by Cecil Haire) and after (lower photo by David Cochrane)

Donovan's Overpass has been demolished as part of a redesign of the highway system in and around the St. John's area.  A demand for highways that are both wider and faster for commuters has been given as the reason for the structure's demolition.

The structure entered into the provincial vernacular, with the expression "beyond the overpass" coming to mean anything in the province that was outside of St. John's.

Like the similar expression "beyond the pale," the phrase "beyond the overpass" always seemed to imply a certain cultural superiority. The structure, and the phrase, generated a certain emotional response, and while the concrete bridge was perhaps nothing exceptional architecturally, it is (was) imbued with a level of cultural meaning perhaps unique in the province.

The Telegram called the structure "infamous," while VOCM referred to it as a "cultural icon." CBC News said the bridge "symbolized the divide between St. John's and the rest of the province." As CBC's David Cochrane said today on his twitter feed, it was "our Berlin Wall."

Love it or hate it, the overpass is no more. It will be replaced by a six-lane road on the Topsail Road stretch, and a four-lane "structure" serving Kenmount Road.  I suspect the phrase itself will linger on, long after the $5.6 million to replace the overpass has been spent.

Just added: Good Bye Overpass Video

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

UNESCO on iTunes U

By joining iTunes U, a dedicated area of the iTunes Store that offers free audio and video content from leading educational institutions, UNESCO is reinforcing its efforts to reach out to young men and women around the world, providing multilingual audio, visual and printed materials in education, sciences, culture and communication.

Collections containing several hundred movies, podcasts, and documents are available in three languages (English, French and Spanish), ranging from training support materials, to policy reports and journals, and lectures, interviews and documentaries which can be downloaded for free to a computer, iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. The collections will be regularly updated with new content from UNESCO’s programmes as well as from its 65 years of archives. Featured collections at launch will focus on UNESCO activities around Girl’s Education, Biosphere Reserves, Africa, and Heritage.

"UNESCO has an incredible wealth to share, and joining iTunes U is a fabulous way to do this,” UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova declared. “UNESCO has a long and deep commitment to Open Educational Resources and to making knowledge widely accessible to all . We see this as a foundation upon which to build the ‘knowledge societies’ that we need today – where information is transformed into knowledge and contributes to the welfare of the whole of society, where none are excluded and all voices are heard,” she said.

http://www.unesco.org/new/itunes/

Monday, June 20, 2011

Windows on the West End - Heritage Tourism in St. John's, Newfoundland

The City of St. John's is holding a special celebration during St. John's Days to celebrate the heritage of the Downtown West End! It's going to be a great event with lots of exciting entertainment all day long, including Irish step dance and belly dance performances and tutorials, juggling, aerial silks, a fire show, tours of all historic locations participating, informative walking tours, face painting, caricatures, and much, much more!

Windows on the West End: June 25, 2011- 10am to 5pm. An introduction to the St. John's downtown historic west end. Take part in our walking tours (11am and 2pm) and collect stickers on our scavenger hunt to win prizes! Venues include: Railway Coastal Museum, City of St. John's Archives, Victoria Park, Wesley United Church, St. Patrick's Parish, Tommy Ricketts Monument, Apothecary Hall, Newman Wine Vaults and George Street United Church. Come out and enjoy lots of entertainment, food ($5 lunch) and prizes. All Attractions are open FREE of charge and will be ongoing from 10am to 5pm.

Full event listings can be found at the St. John's Days Celebrations.

Newfoundland and Labrador Root Cellar Bibliography now online


As part of this summer's Seeds to Supper festival, folklore co-op intern Crystal Braye has pulled together a bibliography about root cellars in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The resource includes a list of articles and reference materials concerning root cellars in the province, as well as links to do-it-yourself, how-to articles, for those who might want to make their own root cellar.

http://www.mun.ca/ich/inventory/rootcellarbibliography.php

If you know of a published article on Newfoundland and Labrador root cellars that we've missed, let us know and we'll add it to the list.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Seeds to Supper Festival logo launched

Here it is, the logo for the 3rd Annual Folklife Festival of Newfoundland and Labrador - Seeds to Supper! Design by Graham Blair.

Seeds to Supper Community Meeting 7pm, Sobeys, Merrymeeting Rd

HFNL to host Agricultural Heritage Festival Community Meeting

For the past 3 years the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador has supported a local folklife festival in the province. This year we hope to coordinate events with a number of the groups in the greater St. John’s area to promote the historical background of agriculture, and the contemporary movements that are active in the area. We wish to highlight the agri-culture that comes from the past but remains contemporary.

Participation as a part of the 2011 Folklife Festival, Seeds to Supper, will be of no cost to any groups wishing to hold an event however, all participating groups are responsible for their individual event. If you are a group, or individual, who would be willing to host an event during our Seeds to Supper festival we would like you to come to our community planning meeting on Wednesday June 15th, 2011 at 7pm at Sobey’s on Merrymeeting Rd., St. John’s.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Mummering included in latest historic commemorations



Latest Historic Commemorations Designations Announced
Six new designations under the Provincial Historic Commemorations Program were announced by the Honourable Terry French, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, during a ceremony held at The Rooms.
The latest designations were made under the following categories:
Places of Provincial Significance
• The Bonne Bay Cottage Hospital
• The cultural landscape that includes The Beaches and the Bloody Bay Cove Quarry
Distinctive Cultural Traditions and Practices
Mummering
• The rescues associated with the wreck of the Waterwitch
Event of Provincial Significance
• The U-Boat attacks on the Bell Island ore ships in 1942
Person of Provincial Significance
• Edward (Ted) Russell
“The tangible and intangible heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador plays a vital role in the province’s history,” said Minister French. “Through the Provincial Historic Commemorations Program, we have honoured an additional six designations for the important and lasting impression each has made in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
The Provincial Historic Commemorations Program is a citizen-driven program administered by a six-member board. The program welcomes individuals or groups to nominate people, places, events and traditions they feel are provincially significant and worthy of official commemoration.
“During our first two ceremonies, we made five designations of significant places, events, and traditions,” said Françoise Enguehard, Chair of the Provincial Historic Commemorations Board. “This ceremony makes 11 designations in total, but as with any new program, there are still many opportunities for future nominations – especially in the categories of significant people and traditions.”
Past designates include: Kelly Russell, Dildo Island, the founding of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, the Tsunami of 1929 and rescues at sea, rescues made by Ann Harvey and her family in 1828 and 1838, rescues associated with the wrecks of the USS Truxton and USS Pollux in 1942, and a rescue made by Captain William Jackman in 1867.
For more information about the Provincial Historic Commemorations Program, including further information on these new designations as well as nomination criteria, visit: www.seethesites.ca/commemorations  or contact the Commemorations Office at 709-729-6901.
Establishment of the Provincial Historic Commemorations Program was among the objectives outlined in the province’s cultural strategy, Creative Newfoundland and Labrador: The Blueprint for Development and Investment in Culture (2006). Since the launch of the strategy, the Provincial Government has invested more than $56 million into the arts, culture and heritage sectors.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Root cellars, young folklorists, and Seeds to Supper Festival launch

In this edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador, we turn the sod on our Seeds to Supper Festival, the province's third annual folklife festival; young folklorists hit Water Street and work on heritage fairs projects; we explore the tradition of root cellars; and the Heritage Foundation takes on a new public folklore co-op student.

Download the pdf.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The Royal Readers-- Victorian-era textbooks online


Today, I was looking at some of our ICH collections on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative.  While poking around, I found that the Library has digitized The Royal Readers, a series of elementary school textbooks which are often mentioned in local oral history and folklore interviews when old-time school days are discussed.

The Royal Readers were numbered, representing ascending reading levels, and included illustrated prose pieces and poetry, word lessons,  rhetorical passages with sections on useful knowledge, great inventions, the classification of animals, punctuation and world geography, as well as information on British history and  the British Constitution.

This from the Digital Archives Initiative:

"The Royal Readers, produced in Britain, were used in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador from the 1870s until well into the 20th century. The 8 books in the Royal School Series, including the primer and the infant reader, covered the subjects reading and spelling from the commencement of schooling to final matriculation."

The books were used in a number of British colonial education systems, including Australia and Guyana.  In Australia, the books were used throughout Queensland and New South Wales.  According to the Queensland Department of Training and Education, "the Royal Readers or the Blue Readers were introduced into Queensland schools in 1892.... The Royal Readers had been prepared especially for Victorian schools and featured some Australian content. The authors made great use of the natural world as well as incidents and common daily events to attract children to the stories. Teachers were encouraged to teach children not only the 'art of reading' but also a 'love of reading'. Illustrations were used effectively to attract children 'through the eye' to the stories and to help them understand same." 













Friday, June 3, 2011

Barbie vs Body Shop - Truth or Fiction

Over the past few days, this photo and accompanying text has gone viral on Facebook:



"This was an ad made by bodyshop. But Barbie INC. found out about it and now it’s banned. Repost if you think this ad deserves to be seen."

The advertisement is a real one, part of the "Ruby" campaign designed in-house by the Body Shop, back in 1996 (read the case study here).  I love the message, and the ad campaign was certainly effective when it was launched, 15 years ago. The fact that it has gone viral, now, indicates that its message still resonates with the general public.

But is the text that goes with it correct? When something like this gets posted and re-posted willy-nilly all over the internet with one click, it makes me wonder.

I did a quick search for references to the supposedly "banned" campaign, and found lots of references to it, most of them word-for-word reprints of the text above, or text worded in similarly vague fashion. Barbie INC isn't a real company (Mattel, however, is) and online sources are rather evasive in saying when, where, and by whom the ad was actually banned.

A 1997 New York Times article gives an overview of the campaign, but doesn't mention a ban. The only websites I could find that do are blogs or personal opinion sites (like the one you are reading now).

This doesn't mean that the ad wasn't banned somewhere. If someone has an actual news source, a printed journal reference, or a court record that shows that a ban was actually in effect, I'd love to see something that references where and when a ban took place. I'm still waiting for the Snopes.com article.

I think there is something ironic in the way the ad has resurfaced, a decade and a half later, with its new text.  The campaign suggests to us that we should think critically about issues like body image, and truth in advertising. Thinking for ourselves, critically, about what is true and what isn't, is probably something we should ALSO do before clicking the "share" button on an internet meme.

But then, maybe, folklorists like me would be out of a job!














Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Turning the Sod on the 2011 Folklife Festival - Seeds to Supper

HFNL to host Agricultural Heritage Festival Community Meeting
Wednesday June 15th, 2011
7pm
Sobey’s on Merrymeeting Rd.

For the past 3 years the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador has supported a local folklife festival in the province. The goal of the festival is to celebrate these otherwise unspoken traditions that may be taken for granted. This year’s theme has an agricultural focus. When we surveyed a couple of community groups in the greater St. John’s area, there was a large concern about the loss of agricultural knowledge and practices.

This year we hope to coordinate events with a number of the groups in the greater St. John’s area to promote the historical background of agriculture, and the contemporary movements that are active in the area. We wish to highlight the agri-culture that comes from the past but remains contemporary. Participation as a part of the 2011 Folklife Festival, Seeds to Supper, will be of no cost to any groups wishing to hold an event however, all participating groups are responsible for their individual event.

If you are a group, or individual, who would be willing to host an event during our Seeds to Supper festival we would like you to come to our community planning meeting on Wednesday June 15th, 2011 at 7pm at the Community Meeting Room, Sobey’s on Merrymeeting Rd., St. John’s. If you are interested in participating we can help you promote your event and be a part of Seeds to Supper. This meeting is for the initial planning stage of the festival so that we may coordinate the who’s, what’s, and when’s.

Please contact Mel at 1-888-739-1892 ext 3 to register or email : ichprograms@gmail.com for more information.