Interview with Joan Margel (née Bayers) 1.7

Partial Transcript: 1. Did you ever order clothes from catalogues? (e.g., Eaton’s) When? What did you order?
2. What kind of clothing did you wear? In summer? In winter? What kind of clothing did others in your family wear?
3. Comments about Ukrainians trading food for clothes with Indigenous people.
4. Comments about winter clothes and walking to school in winter.

Segment Synopsis: They talk about Joan's family ordering clothes from the Eaton's and Simpson's catalogue. They ordered warm clothes for fall, including long underwear for the men working outdoors. They also ordered and wore fleece bloomers for girls, wool pants, heavy coats, toques, and mittens knitted by Babkas in the winter. Joan says that they had heavy boots in the winter, but the kids around Rycroft also wore moccasins that they got for trading with the local Indigenous population. She says there was a lot of trading between the Ukrainians and Indigenous, more than there was with the English. By her time, the Indigenous population had either moved away or died in the 1918 flu epidemic. Joan says that there were thick moccasins that she used to get from the Eaton's catalogue, and talks about walking to school through deep piles of snow. They would make one main trail and follow one another in a path to school, and clean each other off once they arrived. In spring they wore rubber boots because it was very wet. Joan notes that in the winter they didn't cover their face because it would get too hot inside. She says that her mother gave them instructions in case they were walking and got too cold. Joan recounts a story where she was with her brother and they had to return home because they were scared of freezing. She continues to talk about the community kids and the ways that they took care of each other and got to school.

Partial Transcript: 1. What did you/ your family wear for special/ festive occasions? What occasions would you dress up for?
2. What were your best clothes?

Segment Synopsis: Joan says that at Christmas the girls would get a nice dress for the concert, and then for visitors. Joan got a new dress every year, but they were not well made. In the spring, she would get an Easter outfit. She mentioned celebrating two Christmases and two Easters: Ukrainian and English. She says that kids had about three or four outfits, as well as seasonal attire like coats and toques. Joan talks about how her best clothes were hand me downs from the Johnson family in Rycroft, and says that the clothes originally came from Nova Scotia.

Partial Transcript: 1. What kind of makeup did women wear? What cosmetic products did they use?
2. Tell me about personal hygiene of people at that time?

Segment Synopsis: They talk about makeup, and Joan says that her generation of girls wore lipstick. She says her mother wore coal cream on her face her whole life, and notes that her mother's good complexion lasted her lifetime. Joan's mother would work all day, but at night after she made a big supper she would make herself a sponge bath and clean herself with two towels. Her mother also used face cream and powder, and then rouge and lipstick and jewelry. She says that most women tried to look nice for supper, and that the men would also wash up before supper. Joan talks about how people were very sanitary and washed themselves often. She talks about how her mother dyed her hair, but Joan didn't, and sometimes people confused their ages. In the summer, the kids were barefoot or wore running shoes. They talk about how Joan wore different clothes to school than she did on the farm.

Partial Transcript: 1. Did anyone in your family make clothes? Did you have a sewing machine?
2. Where did you take sewing classes?

Segment Synopsis: Joan talks about how her mother did not really know how to use sewing machines, so they ordered clothes. Sewing machines were relatively new in the area at the time. They talk about how the machine was more for patching things up, and she says that her mother was just getting into sewing and her Babka liked knitting. When they moved into town, she says things changed. They talk about home economics at school in Spirit River, and Joan says she learned how to sew at school. She talks about how the students from Rycroft were smart, and says two of them became Rhodes Scholars. The girls took home economics, and learned how to use patterns and cook at school. Joan says that the boys took agriculture instead.

Partial Transcript: 1. Tell me about your school?
2. Building requirement for schools.

Segment Synopsis: Joan says that she was a student in a log school and taught in two log schools. She is also writing a book about her experiences. She talks about a teacher named John [Zarek] who documented the old life in pioneer times. Joan learned that if you were building a school it had to be away from water, but it still had to provide water. She says that her school and other northern schools had ice houses instead. Joan also recounts a funny story from when she was younger involving the school superintendent.