Paper Trail

Researchers have long known the benefits of reading through old issues of newspapers and periodicals for information about historical subjects. Items that were once "everyday news" help to back up primary research in a variety of topics. Whether your interest is genealogy, local history or other, more specific subjects, the publications from days of yore are bound to have interesting tidbits of information.

It isn’t necessary to have access to the actual newspapers or magazines. Microfilmed or digital copies of publications are often available for reading in museums, libraries and other research centres. They can sometimes be requested through inter-library loan. Of course, nothing truly compares with the sensation of reading original documents. One of my most thrilling research moments, when in university, came with the opportunity to read bound copies of original issues of "The Gentleman’s Magazine", which was first published in 1731, in London. Contrary to the implications of the title, it was a periodical that had a variety of articles, none of which were of a dubious nature. My quest for information had to do with an early archaelogical dig of Henry VIII’s castle of Nonsuch. Reading about the castle ruins, in dated language, helped to put me "right there" and I loved it.

This leads, however, to one of the perils of archival research. Unless you are particularly gifted with a strong sense of focus, your eyes will stray to interesting bits of news that have nothing to do with the topic at hand. Sometimes the curiosities of the day will strike a responsive chord; the best advice is to bring plenty of paper, or make a special file in your computer, to record snippets too good to be missed.

Two such instances were found during the course of other research:

From the "Digby Weekly Courier" - February 2, 1906
Fish Story: Smelt Swallows Bottle Contains PEI Man’s Note

New York, Jan. 31. While cleaning a large bloater smelt that came in a consignment of fish from New York this morning, Fred Ivamy of West Second Street found in the fish’s stomach a bottle about the size of a man’s thumb. It was securely corked and contained the following message written on a small piece of paper. "Whosoever gets this note will confer a favour by replying to undersigned. Harry Durant, Margate, Prince Edward Island, Canada, January 4, 1906."
The bottle holding it was stamped with the firm name of the T. Eaton Company Ltd. Toronto and though almost as large as the smelt’s mouth could easily have been swallowed by it.

From the Lunenburg "Progress-Enterprise"
September 29, 1909
One day last week while D. V. Richard, of West LaHave Ferry was fishing about seven miles off Indian Island, he captured a seven foot shark. When the shark was opened he found a French briar pipe half full of shag tobacco. What an awful thing the tobacco habit must be when even the fish of the sea cannot keep clear of it, or is it possible the tobacco trust is looking for a new market?

March Break Ahead!

Hello Everyone,

Glimpses of sunshine and a renewed freshness in the air give hope of springtime, even when we are going from pillar to post between snowstorms.

The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, is making plans to celebrate during next month’s spring break for school students. The March Break takes place between March 10 - 14, in Nova Scotia.

Special events will be held each day, at the Museum. Highlights include building your very own Styrofoam tugboat with the help of the South Shore Ship Modeller’s Guild. This enthusiastic group of volunteers will be at the Museum on Friday, March 14, with the programme running at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Other activities will include films, crafts and stories. Our aquarium, as well as other exhibits, will be open to the public, ensuring that there is something fun for everyone!

Please check our website, http://fisheries.museum.gov.ns.ca for updates for the March Break Special Events. Pre-booking for registration will ensure that you have a space. Registration can be done by email, smithls@gov.ns.ca or by calling the Museum at 902-634-4794.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

Under the Seas!

Hello Everyone,

The aquarium at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, gives visitors a chance to get up close and personal with a variety of species that are important to the east coast fisheries.

The centrepiece of the display is a large vista tank, which holds 22,706 litres (6000 gallons) of water. It is home to a variety of salt water species, all living in harmony with each other. It’s not unusual for visitors to see a haddock or cod come to the surface, to take a look around! If you look closely, you are apt to see a large lobster nestled into the rocks, at the bottom of the tank.

Fishermen sometimes help us with the most interesting examples of lobsters. Over the years, blue lobsters, white albino lobsters and those that are half green and half red have resided with us, all courtesy of enterprising fishermen who decide to donate their freshly caught crustaceans to the Museum.

The aquarium is one of the largest in Atlantic Canada, with eleven salt water and three fresh water tanks, operating with three enclosed water systems.

Popular with all ages, the displays of fish and shellfish are augmented with colourful, descriptive panels of text and images. Museum staff are stationed in the area, especially during the full open season from May to October, and provide lively talks and detailed information about the species.
Interactive touch screens allow visitors to explore the underwater world. Tantalizing questions such as: "Do fish sleep?" "How can you tell a cod's age?" "How do lobsters grow?" combine with modern technology to make learning highly entertaining.

The inhabitants of the aquarium live in a calm, tranquil environment that offers a pleasing area for contemplation and enjoyment for visitors to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

Looking into the Past

Hello Everyone,

Lunenburg is lovely in all seasons. This morning, the beauty of the harbour and the skyline was breathtaking. Overlapping strokes of lavender and blue nestled together, painting a picture that renewed spirits in this last week of January!

It made me wonder how many eyes have looked to the mouth of the harbour, and the many scenes that were observed over the years.

The old time schooner fishery of Atlantic Canada saw schooners that were away from their home ports for months at a time. Families had a vague sense of when their loved ones would return, but it was far from an exact science. The summer trip, which was the longest, easily stretched from June to September. Vessels could return to port in the first days of September, or circumstances might keep them away until October.

There was no method of direct communication from ship to shore. Letters could be sent back and forth, but that was only from one vessel to another, if one of the schooners was headed to port. If the fishermen had to stay at sea to get more fish in their holds, they often stayed.

The uncertainty at home was keenly felt. The delay could mean one of two things: the vessels could be engaged in fishing, or they might have been caught in a storm or cut down by a steamer.

When schooners rounded Battery Point and entered Lunenburg’s front harbour, the sigh of relief would have been palpable. The only added hesitancy would have come if a schooner had their flags at half-mast. This would indicate that the vessel had lost one or more of its crew.

Many eyes have been drawn to the Lunenburg harbour, for many reasons. It is ever changing in its beauty and is a picture that is worth more than just a thousand words!

If you have an opportunity to visit the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, you’ll be captivated by the exhibits and the people. It’s a true showcase of Atlantic Canada’s heritage. Come to see the waterfront for yourself!

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

When Cod was King

Cod.

For some of us, the word "cod" evokes a series of images that are reminiscent of Kipling’s Captains Courageous. Men working with and against the cold North Atlantic, engaged in backbreakingly hard work. The all important daily catch of fish. The careful salting and preserving of it. The race homeward, to get the best prices and to see loved ones, after months on the Banks.

Around here, the cod were so important that if you said the word "fish", you were actually talking about cod. Lunenburg was at the centre of an economy that saw hundreds of schooners set sail every year and sent thousands of quintals of salt fish to the West Indies. The economy was international and flourished for more than 200 years.

Until the collapse of the fisheries, due to over-fishing and mismanagement of the natural resource, cod were the mainstay of the industry. The expression "Cod is King" was more than just a saying; it was a mantra for a way of life.

Fishing for cod, whether aboard a colonial schooner or in the dories that came later, was hard work. Unlike the thrill of a sport fishery, once you catch your cod you don’t have to fight to bring the fish to you. Cod are normally found within six feet of the bottom. Due to the change in water pressure, the fish immediately loses any resistence. The difficulty, back in the old days, was in the weight of the fish. It was not uncommon to have to haul, by hand, a cod that weighed 100 to 300 pounds ... a complete deadweight.

With the freezing spray of the North Atlantic hitting the fishermen and a good chance of being bathed in a thick fog, fishing for cod was never easy.

The cod were salted in the hold of schooners, like the Fisheries Museum’s Theresa E. Connor, and when the hold was full, they returned home. On land, the fish were dried and carefully preserved. Fish that were landed at Lunenburg in September would eventually find their way to various places, including the West Indies and Portugal, by December or January.

Although the captain, the cook and the mate were all paid in September, the remainder of the crew had to wait until the proceeds from the sail of the salt fish arrived home. This meant that the labours of work from March to September were often not rewarded until February of the following year.

Once the bills were paid, the families of fishermen continued to live their frugal existence.

The stories of fishermen and their families are part of the reason for the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. Our retired fishing captains, aboard our schooner Theresa E. Connor and the trawler Cape Sable, share their experiences with visitors. Museum interpretive staff share their knowledge through programmes and conversations. Exhibits chronicle the best of times and the worst of times, from times of prosperity to occasions of losses at sea.

We will always remember.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather

Old Town Lunenburg

Hello Everyone,

We talk about the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, here in Lunenburg Nova Scotia, but we haven’t really said very much yet about the town of Lunenburg.

The community was founded in 1753. The first Lunenburgers were called Foreign Protestants by the British, who brought us here to settle the land.

Most of us spoke only German; we were from the same areas as those who became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. In fact, it was because the Pennsylvania Dutch were such good settlers that caused the British to advertise for more of them, approximately twenty years later!

If those first Lunenburgers could return today, there would be aspects of the community that would be familiar to them. Lunenburg is the only colonial settlement to have retained the grid pattern that was used by British military planners, when creating a new town or city. The architecture, mostly of wood, reflects the entire evolution of the town; there are buildings from the 1700s right through to the present time.

In 1995, UNESCO designated Old Town Lunenburg as a World Heritage Site. If you check the UNESCO link on this page, it will take you to more detailed information about the designation.

Most of all, though, Lunenburg is a vibrant, living community at the edge of the sea. We’re not trapped in a bell jar; time has not stood still in Lunenburg, although the chapters of our history have been carefully noted and preserved.

Lunenburg captures the essence of seafaring Atlantic Canada. Beauty, charm, industries and celebrations are in full abundance. The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic is located on the historic waterfront, in Old Town Lunenburg.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Lunenburg "hung on a fish hook"

Hello Everyone,

There’s an old saying that Lunenburg "hung on a fish hook". It means that the future and good fortune of the town relied completely on the success of the fisheries.

For most of our 255 year history, this has been accurate. The first generation of Lunenburgers consisted mostly of farmers. By the time of the second generation, we were well established as a place for shipbuilding and for fishing.

Like many coastal communities in Atlantic Canada, we starting fishing close to shore, then moved out towards the various fishing banks of the North Atlantic.

Canada’s oldest saltbank schooner, Theresa E. Connor, is the flagship of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. Launched in December 1938, the schooner was born into a time of danger on the Banks. The Theresa E. Connor did not start fishing until the first months of 1939; in less than a year, the world was at war, again.

Fishing schooners were in danger from enemy U-boats as well as from convoys and large shipping vessels. Torpedoed and cut down, men and vessels were lost at sea.

Theresa E. Connor survived the war years. Equipped with an engine, as well as sails, the men fished from little dories and salted their catch in the hold of the vessel. Eventually the Theresa E. Connor went fresh fishing, as well. This meant that the men still fished from the dories, but the fishing trips were shorter, as the catch was put on ice in the hold. Since the fish were not salted, they were "fresh".

The spirit of adventure has not dimmed along the Atlantic coast. A visit to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic guarantees memories of the best of Nova Scotia!

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Where Down is Never Up

Hello Everyone,

Planning a visit to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia? You’ll find that the folks are generally very friendly, the food is incredible, the tours of the town are fun and the museums are fabulous. We’re also one of Atlantic Canada’s leading cultural communities, with 19 art galleries. Old Town Lunenburg maintains its charm as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This all takes place within a community of 2,300 people!

Superstitions have had a way of creeping into the lives of Lunenburgers for as long as memory can recall. Although some of the habits seem comical, it’s important to realize that the superstitions originated as a way for people to feel that they had control over uncontrollable aspects of their lives. In the age of sail, when loved ones were away from home for months at a time, families would do anything that they could, to protect those who were on the North Atlantic.

In my childhood, I watched my mother carefully follow the same ritual, each time she baked bread. The hot loaves would be carefully tipped, partly to one side, and eased out of their pans. They were then put upright, on cooling racks.

This didn’t seem odd to me. It was only after I began working at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic that I discovered that it is an age-old tradition. Whenever there were friends or family at sea, the women would never turn a pan upside down ... nor would they turn a loaf of bread upside down. The fear was that if they did, the schooner on which their loved ones were sailing would be caught in a storm and would capsize.

As I said, this was a way of dealing with daily fears. A strong belief in the superstitions gave a sense of control in lives that were forever fraught with uncontrollable elements of nature.

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,
Heather

Our First Blog!

Hello Everyone,

The title may not be original, but the project is totally new! This is the first blog for the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, in Lunenburg Nova Scotia. (http://fisheries.museum.gov.ns.ca)

The Museum is a multi-faceted site, with exhibits, a stunning aquarium, Canada's oldest saltbank schooner, a theatre and lots of activities. We're open year around, with full programming available from 17 May to 18 October, seven days a week.

Over the coming weeks we'll be talking about special events for 2008, as well as offering general ramblings from the Museum's historian. Check back here for curious stories from our past, as well as features like "Learning the Lingo" of fishermen and those who live by the sea!

Wishing you smooth sailing,
Heather