Ryley: What was education like years ago?

Nan:  We went to a one room school for grades one to nine and we only had one teacher for all those grades. We didn’t have exercise books; we wrote on slates with slate pencils and wiped the slates clean with a wet cloth.
                                                                                                                                           Ryley: What kind of health care did you have years ago?

Poppy: The closest doctor was in Lewisporte and the only way to get there was by boat in the summer and by horse during the winter; a lot of times people died because they didn’t make it to the doctor in time. There was a hospital in Twillingate but certain times of the year you couldn’t get there because there was no causeway yet.   Pregnant women usually gave birth at home with the assistance of a midwife and the midwife stayed with the mother and baby for 9 days afterwards and all for a fee of $9.00.
                                                                                                                                           Ryley: What was Halloween like years ago?

Poppy: When I was growing up, there was no such thing as Halloween; it started approximately in the late 1960's or early 1970's.

Ryley:  What was bonfire night like when you were growing up?

Nan:     Roman Catholics didn’t celebrate bonfire night because they felt that it symbolized the burning of Catholics; this changed in later years but I’m
not sure exactly when..
                                                                                                                                             Ryley: What was community living like years ago?

Poppy: The only transportation years ago was horse and sled during the winter and in the summer we travelled by boat; sometimes in early spring or late fall we had no way out of the community at all. People grew their own vegetables and raised pigs, hens, goats, cows, and chickens for their meat and poultry ; we couldn’t keep any perishables in the summer because we didn’t have any electricity. Our only source of heat was a wood stove and our source of light was a kerosene lamp. We didn’t have a television obviously, but we had a battery-operated radio. Our entertainment was playing cards at each others houses and cooking up a scoff; at certain times during the year we would have a “garden party” or some form of party at the church hall.

Ryley: What types of employment was there years ago?

Nan:   Mostly people were either fishermen or loggers and some people did a little farming.