The Victoria Community Development Corporation
Clarence Collins

"We wouldn't have a Christmas tree."

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There were only my mother and I in my family. I suppose the women worked harder back then than they do today.

I worked for Bill Clarke in 1948 or 1949. I worked for him until 1952. Then I went to Labrador with Henry Button on the Kyle. I came and went until 1961. Then I married and settled down. I also drove the mail truce here in Victoria for two years. That was 1962 or 1963.

The house I lived in wasn't like houses are today. We had a Waterloo stove and the iron kettle would fit down the damper. There was no running water or plumbing or electricity. We got running water in 1961. We got our first TV when we married in ‘61. Bill Clarke used to sell Slivertone radios.

We grew our own vegetables. We grew cabbage, turnip, and carrots. We didn't keep animals as a source of food. Sometimes we had jelly. We would put the jelly in a bucket and put it in the well to set.

The only thing I can remember about gatherings or celebrations is that my uncle went over to Heart's Content for the Harvest Festival. There were a lot of differences in the way Christmas is celebrated now. People would go jannying and we wouldn't have a tree.

I went to two schools. I went to a little church of England school. Then I went to the United school. There was a pot belly stove in the classroom. Some was all in one classroom, but other were not. To do my school work, I used a slate and chalk and a little bottle of water and a cloth to wipe out my mistakes.

Everywhere I went, I had to walk because I didn't get a horse until the ‘50s. There was a doctor in Carbonear by the name of Dr. Stanford. After he left, Dr. Kennedy came. We used to take black current jam for a sore throat.

Click here for a PDF version of Victoria: Recalling Our Heritage.

Stories

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Power Plant | Victoria's Birth | Prison Camp | Midwifery

Special Memories

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Josh Antle | Eva Ash | Samuel Burke | Doris Clarke | Ester Clarke | James Clarke
John Clarke | Nathaniel Clarke | Reg and Emmie Clarke | Roy Clarke
Beulah Cole | Mark Cole | Steve Cole | Clarence Collins | Nina Curnew
James Dean | Helen Higdon | Leonard Inniss | Fanny Inniss | Millie Langer | Virda Layden
Hazel Peckham | Violet Parsons | Norman Penney | Rosalie Penney | Harold Priddle
George Snooks | Sarah Snow | Jean Stephenson | William Stephenson
Lillian Vaters | Maxine Vaters | Annie Whyte | Cyril Whyte