Interview with Ralph Trombal 1.1

Segment Synopsis: Ralph was born in Brokenhead, Manitoba which is about 50 miles northeast of Winnipeg. He was born on December 16, 1934. He was born in the home, though a doctor may have come out for the birth, but Ralph isn't sure. Ralph's father came from Poland near the Ukrainian border, but Ralph doesn't remember the name of the city. Ralph's mother was born in Beausejour, Manitoba. The parents met at a social event. Ralph's father came to Canada with Ralph's grandparents when he was about 10 years old and they settled in Brokenhead. Ralph's maternal grandparents came from Germany and Czechoslovakia.

Ralph became a teacher and taught in different schools, so he lived in different places.

Segment Synopsis: Ralph took grades 1 through 11 at Brokenhead school (which was a 3 room rural school) and grade 12 in Beausejour. He went to Normal School and then took University courses for 3 years before acquiring his Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Manitoba.

Segment Synopsis: Ralph considers himself first and foremost as Canadian. His ethnic background is Polish.

When Ralph was small, he used to play games with the other children in sand piles and other games. When World War Two ended, Ralph remembers there was a small parade and everyone celebrated. Catalogues during the war were lesser during the war years as all the valuable materials went to the war effort. The government also gave people food stamps to help ration out certain food during the war years. There were books of stamps for every type of food like sugar. It was rationing.

Ralph talks about how the rural area was well populated in those times. The rural stores supplied a lot of families because people didn't travel that far.

Segment Synopsis: They didn't buy much meat as they lived on a farm. People also had their own produce. They had chickens, pigs, or beef. Chickens also laid eggs. People only bought what they could not produce on the farm. Brokenhead had a store, a post office, and a school. Stores sold basic things and gas. Money in those days was tight and there were no credit cards, so people would trade things. For example, a farmer might give the storekeeper eggs or other products in place of cash.

Segment Synopsis: Ralph started school when he was 5 years old. Ralph happened to have the shortest distance to school out of all the children. As there was no transportation, kids had to walk to and from school. Once in a while, a farmer would come by with a sleigh and take the children to school, but that was rare. Ralph's school was a 3 room school.

The subjects were very basic, not as advanced as classes are today. Science, geography, history, mathematics, poetry and drama. Classes weren't divided like they are today (science being divided into biology, chemistry, and physics). School started at 9 and went to 4 with an hour and a half lunch. Winter was a 9:30 start with only an hour lunch. Textbooks were purchased by families, but the books were not expensive in those days. The courses wouldn't change much, however, so the books didn't have to change much. For 20 years, they used the same Health book.

Segment Synopsis: They spoke English at home. Ralph's parents would speak Ukrainian or Polish between each other. Sometimes visitors or people in the area would speak Ukrainian in the area. All the kids who came to school spoke English at home, so there was no trouble with language when speaking at school.

Ralph's father mentioned the priests in Poland being very strict, but they ran a good school. The priests wanted Ralph's father to stay in school as they hoped he would one day become a priest. The priests tried to stop Ralph's grandparents from taking Ralph's father to Canada.

Segment Synopsis: Ralph's family lived on a very small farm. His father was an assessor and would go around assessing the value of homes for tax purposes. When elections were held, he was in charge of distributing ballot boxes to different areas. He then had to collect the boxes and help count the ballots before sending the boxes to the chief electoral officer for Manitoba. Anyone who wanted to run for public office had to send the application to Ralph's father for approval or rejection. He also was in charge of tracking gravel deliveries for the roads in the area. This was all after the War.

Segment Synopsis: All the buildings on the homestead were wood buildings, but not log buildings; they were board buildings. They had a car garage for a single car as well as a granary. They had a car before the war. They also purchased a new car when the war ended. Ralph talks about the different cars they had. Ralph's father needed a car in order to travel around.

Ralph's mother was a housewife, so she was responsible for things around the house. Milking cows, washing clothes, washing the house, and other things like that. Ralph would help when he could. He hauled wood and looked after the animals.