Nicholson Family Saga: Letter 2. Mangling the Lawn and Baking Bread

Margaret and Flora Nicholson 1910
Dufferin Street,

June 6, 1911

Dear Norman,

Your letter with your address just recd this evening so I thought I must write at once.

Seems such a long time since you left.

I also recd a letter from North Bay and one also from Cochran. You certainly have done very well about writing, only I was longing for the address.

I came home the Sunday after you left, came out on the late train. Edith and Flora had retired but they were not long in coming to the door.

It had been a very hot day in Montreal but when I got here it had rained and was quite cool which was a pleasant change.

Came up in the bus.

I stayed with Marion all the time in Montreal (Boarding House on Tower) and only stayed at the Cleveland’s the day you left. Dr. C. said he had not seen you for such a long time.

I am very glad that you are to be on the rails (and not 50 miles into the bush). Hope you will like the Scotchman better than the last (supervisor, an Englishman). You will because he is Canadian.

I have figured the distance.. over seven hundred miles.

Still, I see this letter recd tonight is stamped Cochran the 5th was not long in coming that distance, the delay was East of Cochran.

I have not heard from Herb since you left. I am looking for a letter in two days as he would likely write Sunday.

Although, he missed writing one Sunday.

I wrote him after you left, but you better write and send him your add. Anything I get will mail to you.

I have not heard from Marion since I came home. I think she will come to Richmond as soon as school closes.

I got the cheque for 10.95 from your man. Edith took it to the ET Bank and had it cashed so we will be all right for a while. I also got receipt for money sent for Westminster and Presbyterian. (Magazines, both Presbyterian.)

Sorry you forgot the mirror. The other things I will mail you at once.

The weather has been cool here just as you have it there.

Evenings we are glad to sit in the kitchen. The days are fine to wash so we have got our washing and ironing done.

We could not get a man to cut the lawn last week so Edith, Flora and myself thought we would try it on a nice cool day. We mangled the front but could not attempt the back.

Charlie Moore did the back lawn Saturday and is to do the front tomorrow night. He has promised to do it once a week in the evening as he works in the Boston and Last Factory. (With Grand Trunk Railway the major employer in Richmond.)

We really were too tired, we will not try it again. I don’t think.

Tonight Flora and I went up to Bella’s (Sister, Isabella Hill, around the corner on prestigious College Street). Edith walked down to the mail. Clayton (Isabella’s husband) took us down to the mail in his auto, then brought us home. It is running fine now.

He was out in Kingsbury Sunday. William left Monday on his trip out West. He has a ticket on the CPR. He came down to bid us goodbye, did not know you had gone till he came to the house. Seemed disappointed he really seemed so lonesome going. Too bad he was going alone. I told I wish you were going with him. I gave him Herb’s add (ress).

Montgomery (next door neighbour) is working at his house (renovations). Says he has all the men he wants now. Skinners (other next door neighbours) are having the same pleasure in their auto. Going all the time. Earnest and wife left Monday for Montreal. We had them in for tea. Saturday eve then we went over and played cards until near Sunday morning.

They took Edith to South Durham one day last week, stayed for tea there. They all seemed to enjoy our tea as they are all fond of my home made fresh bread.

Now I am glad that you are particular about your diet and that you are feeling well. I trust you will take good care of yourself around and about the trains.
Tell me how you like this work.

Flora is keeping very well. She comes home every afternoon at 3 o’clock studies for a change and stays out on the veranda. The vines have filled in so we can sit there the whole afternoon.

Our Church sale is Wednesday and Thursday so they will be by about that this week. Edith is feeling well and is getting with the housework all right…Later….

Miss Denton called me to go down to the hall at 9 am. I thought Edith would finish this letter and send it on. Sorry it was delayed. The great crowd that was expected did not turn out. We are going back this afternoon will tell you how much we make.

Had a letter from Marion said she got your letter.

Hoping to hear from you again very soon,

With much love Margaret.

Town life for women in Richmond, Quebec, in the 1910 era, consists of walks to the mail, afternoon teas, both given and received, and a long list of daily household chores, if you weren’t lucky enough to have a servant. (Margaret was a gifted homemaker who won prizes for her baking and crafts at the local fairs. Indeed, the family genealogy has this fact written after her name.)

There are also card parties and church socials. And church, of course. A person could go twice a day if she wished.

Daughter Edith, 27, is back at home, from her teaching job in the city. She has been employed, for two years at French Methodist Institute in toney Westmount. Edith has no diploma and works for a small wage of $250 a year. Flora, the youngest daughter at 19, is in the crunch year at St. Francis College, a distinguished local institution, which, until 1900, had been affiliated with McGill University. Flora must pass her exams if she is to be accepted at Macdonald Teachers College and earn a diploma and a decent living as a teacher. The problem, she freezes from nerves at exam time.

The Nicholsons live in a posh area of town, which explains why both neighbours – as well as the brother in law – have brand new automobiles. Motorcars in 1911 could cost as much as a house ($2,000 range) and you couldn’t get them on credit. But they were definitely, the “in” thing, especially in towns like Richmond, especially with middle class men. And everyone seemed to enjoy car rides, men and women alike. The Nicholsons are in no position to buy an automobile. Their financial situation is extremely precarious. Well, they are broke, basically, and ‘house poor’ as they owe a large mortgage on Tighsolas, their charming brick Queen Anne style home, built in 1896, the year Wilfrid Laurier and the Liberals came to power, by Norman for 2,718.00.

In 1909, when Margaret first learns that her neighbour is looking to buy a ‘motor’ as they called them, she writes to her husband “Mr Montgomery is going to buy an auto. Nothing but will satisfy him now. He is going to sell his horse. Mrs. Montgomery doesn’t want to buy one. Too bad he is so foolish.” In 1911, brother-in-law Clayton Hill’s new auto is breaking down a lot, which amuses Margaret greatly.

The Clevelands are family friends who live on Lorne, east of McGill University. Mr. is a dentist so referred to as Dr. C.. The Clevelands are are the descendants of a handful of pioneering families in Richmond County of the Eastern Townships.

These Clevelands are wealthy enough to have a live in maid, a young English woman, newly arrived from the UK. The 1911 census reveals that most people on Lorne had maids. Still, there was a serious servant problem in 1910 in Canada, which was worrying the upper crust and forcing the middle class to increasingly make-do.

The 1911 Census reveals that only two families living in the Nicholson’s Richmond neighbourhood have a live-in maid. (Not the Hills or Montgomerys or Skinners. And certainly not the Nicholsons.) But in 1901, according to that Census, virtually everyone on the street had a live-in domestic, including the Nicholsons. (Maggie Mclean, age 58)

Something changed between 1901 and 1911 – and it is affecting the Nicholsons.

The Nicholson Family Saga: Letter 1: A Toothpick and a Silver Bowl

Margaret Nicholson, Edith and Flora and Neighbour. Home alone.

North Bay, May 27, 1911

Dear Margaret,

You will see by heading of this letter where I am today.

This is a town of about 8 thousand situated at the end of Lake Tamiskaming. Flora can look it up for you on the map in the secretary.

I left Ottawa at 12 50 PM. Arrived here this morning at 9 am.

When leaving Ottawa last night they gave me a ticket over the CPR for here, also a berth ticket which I enjoyed very much. The porter made me a nice bed in one of the lower berths.

I got up this morning at 7 o’clock. Went into the diner and had breakfast which comprised 3 eggs, one baked potato, 3 rolls, and a glass of milk. And a toothpick served on a silver tray for my entree where I washed my fingers in a silver bowl.

All at the expense of the Transcontinental Ry.

On arriving here I went and saw the transport engineer and he sends me to Cochrane where the Tamiskamming and the Northern Ontario intersects–with the orders for my destination about 50 miles east of Cochran on Division D.

But I will be on the rails and I will be pleased not to have to walk. I leave here tomorrow at 5:20 am. Will stop at Cobalt for three hours then proceed to Cochrane. I am supposed to get to Cochrane at eight tomorrow morning.

I will try and write you from there, Now the distance from Ottawa here is 123 miles and from her to Cochran is 252 miles from Montreal to Ottawa is about 120 miles with 76 from Montreal will give you some idea of how far I am from home.

But I can cover the distance quicker then when I was in La Tuque, only it will be more expensive to go home when I do.

When I arrive at destination I will try and give you a better idea of where I am.

But so far they have treated me fine. I only saw Parent for a few minutes, he had arrived from Chicago and was busy in his office. He said he thought I would be suited with my change.

Will tell later. Hope you had a pleasant time in Montreal with Marion. I will send you address to write to as soon as I arrive. And will try and write you tomorrow from Cochrane.

I am taking things cool and intend to do so, do not worry about me.

I am feeling fine and the Commission is paying the bill as I go so I am not worrying about it in the least. I cannot think of any news so I will close for this time.

You will have quite a time to read this letter as I am writing in a hurry along with being a poor writer. Love to Edith and Flora also to yourself.

Your affectionate husband, Norman.

…In May 1911, Norman Nicholson, 60, former dealer in hemlock bark and leading citizen of Richmond, Quebec, leaves for a second stretch as Inspector on the Canadian Transcontinental Railway, a Laurier Government initiative.

He had been fired in May, 1910, from his first assignment working near La Tuque, Quebec, for going absent without leave.

At that time, Norman, a devoted family man, had been overcome with worry, mostly generated by his only son, Herbert, 26, who had just been caught ‘borrowing’ sixty dollars from of the Eastern Townships Bank where he was employed as a teller.

Norman had been working away in the Quebec bush, inspecting railway ties for 2 1/2 years. He was hired shortly after the the collapse of the Quebec Bridge, and that was likely no coincidence.

In early 1907, with his bank book balance at $33.00, Norman applied for work with the CTR.

In July 1907, despite having area Liberal M.P. E.W. Tobin as a patron, he was informed by a letter from the CTR’s head office that they had their full complement of inspectors.

Then, on August 19th, came the infamous bridge disaster that made headlines around the world. The bridge was “one of great engineering undertakings of the century” …”a topic of universal discussion” according to Technical World Magazine. Close to 100 men perished, most of them employees of the US contractor and Mohawk labourers from Caugnawaga, south of Montreal. (Kanewake).

The bridge was also a component of the Canadian Transcontinental Railway.

Suddenly, there was a need for inspectors at ‘end of steel.’

Women Weaving (Montreal)

I forgot I had this posted on my website. I purchased this picture, a Keystone stereoscope card of Montreal Women Weaving, a few years ago. That’s why it is double.

It does not look Sweat Shopish, does it?

No doubt, the photo was factory sanctioned.

They also provided a description of the work.

Linen is a cloth made from the fiber of flax. When flax is used for its fiber, it is cut before it is ripe. The flax is pulled and the seeds are pulled off. The bundles are laid on piles and rotted until the woody portion has decayed. The freed fibers are then shipped to spinning or weaving mills like in the picture.

The first step is to heckle the fiber, combing the long fibers from the short. Then the fibres are sorted and coiled into bundles known as slivers. After the fibers are drawn to proper length they are placed in the roving machine here. You see the hanks of roves hanging on the right. The woman on the left is placing one of the hanks in the mill on a spindle. From the spindle the thread is wound on the bobbins. You see thousands of bobbins on top of the machine. The white ones are full of thread, the black are empty.

A List for the Laurier Era in Canada (and earlier)

Girl’s boot from the 1899 Eaton’s catalogue on archive.org.

On an earlier blog I have a picture of what is supposed to be King Arthur’s round table, from a castle in Winchester, UK. I mention how Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, ie. iron from ore. It’s an iron age myth. (So Joseph Campbell says.)

Well, I want to do the same thing for the Laurier Era. I want to pull stories from the ‘store list’ Norman Nicholson left behind.

I’ve transcribed 12 months from 1895, when the Nicholson’s were a young family, when Flo, of Flo in the City, was two here: One Year’s Expenses. I have the entire list from 1883, when Norman and Margaret married, to 1921, two months before he died. He even managed to keep some kind of list in the 1908-1913 era, when he was away working on the railroad.

Like every family’s list of expenses, it is very repetitive. I had to write “Minister’s Stipend 40 cents,”52 times. And every once in a while 4 gallons Coal Oil, for that’s how they lit their home, until 1913, when they got electricity. And 1 llb (bushel) of flour, for about 4.75. Margaret baked A LOT.

And like every family’s list, every once in a while a ‘new item’ gets on the list, Keen’s mustard starts around 1895, or an unique purchase, like Kodak 5.00 in 1904.

Around 1900-1910, some of the most famous ‘brands’ of the 20th century, were being promoted in popular women’s magazines, Jello, Heinz beans, Quaker Oats, etc etc. (I’ve noticed that the brands that did advertise heavily, like Ivory Soap, were the brands that caught on…so advertising works.)

In fact, the very first item I pulled from the Nicholson trunk in 2003 was a Direct Mail advertisement for Crisco, from 1916. It was addressed to M. Nicholson, and I had no idea who she was! Margaret Nicholson. My gosh, I know her well, now.

I’m a former advertising writer, so I recognized the angle and style of the copy. Very polished and professional. In fact, I later learned it probably was written by a legendary woman advertiser, I forget her name, for J. Walter Thompson.

I guess way-back-when someone had the brainstorm that if you want to reach women in the home, you should use women copywriters. And then they realized that there was big money to be made working in advertising, so they fired all the women And now we have Madmen, in the 60′s, with the one woman struggling to get ahead. And me, in the 70′s, just out of school, being told at a job interview at an ad agency, that I would have to start as a receptionist and then move up to secretary, 2 years at least in each position. The woman who interviewed me was nuts, strung out and not inclined to be generous with career advice.

The ad in question is 6 by 11 flyer, in cardboard, folded in three with a fake letter on one side from a local merchant and cute Norman Rockwell style image of a child sneaking a bun off a plate. And one third of the flyer once contained a ‘coupon’ to bring to the grocer for a free sample.

MacRae Brothers
Pure Food Products (PURE was certainly the buzzword back then, for a good reason. That will be one episode of my series.)
Table Luxuries and Groceries
Richmond, Quebec, Canada

Dear Mrs. Nicholson,
Do you feel that breakfast seems incomplete without a hot bread of some sort? (I’ll answer for her: “NO, we’re Scots. We eat oatmeal. My grandmother lived to 99 on a diet of oatmeal…” Actually, Margaret was a great baker, as were all the Canadian Scots, I have read.)

Just break open a hot biscuit made with Crisco….Crisco costs half of what ordinary butter costs (war years!)…There’s no waste with Crisco, because it doesn’t turn rancid like lard….Hundreds of thousands of experienced bakers have adopted Crisco.”

Well, Margaret never did adopt Crisco, I have her 1917 butter bill. But my own mom did. I grew up eating cakes and muffins baked with Crisco. And the other day, I pulled out this old family recipe for my favorite cake in childhood, Chocolate Mint Dream, which called for Crisco, of course, so I had to go buy some. The cake turned out awful, I can’t bake, and I still have one block Crisco, which will stay in my cupboard until I throw it out. I use canola or olive oil for everything. Times change. I’m not alone: the baking section in the grocery is tiny now. But there’s a fresh sushi section and I think they are trying to genetically modify tilapia so that the fish has blueberries in its blood.

I wonder how I can format these Nicholson ‘store’ stories. I’ll try to imitate BBC radio four. They do great popular and social history.

And I might start at the bottom: one thing that struck me about 1885-86 was how much the family spent on buying shoes, boots and rubbers and getting the same mended. Even baby shoes seem very expensive, 1,00.

I guess, that’s the same for every middle class family. Kids’ feet grow.

The Paul Thompson book The Edwardians, that I am reading right now (on a Kindle) claims that poor Edwardian children went barefoot. No kidding.

Which accounts for my mother in law’s complete disdain for bare feet. She’s Marion Nicholson’s daughter and like most women born around 1920, who lived through the Depression, she thought going barefoot was a horrible thing. It meant you were poor! (And the next generation, born in 1950, when times were good, floors warm and Hippies part of the culture, liked bare feet.) I’m barefoot now. I seldom wear shoes in the house. And I’ll put a pair of socks on if my feet are cold, not slippers. My own mother, natch, had the same attitude towards going barefoot as my mother in law, but she tried to convince you that going barefoot deformed your feet or something.

Laurier Era Optimism.

Edith, Herb, Marion around 1889.

Hmm. I just found this photo. It’s of the kids, with Herb wearing a skirt, as was the fashion for young boys. Edith, who was tall for her age, is clearly perched on something,which might account for her wary expression.

I’ve been reading the Store Accounts, literally ‘reading’ them, to get a sense of how the Nicholson’s lived outside the time frame of the letters. I do have letters from this time period, but only when Margaret is away on a vacaction.

Anyway, I was reading the 1896 book, the year Tighsolas, the house, was built and the year Laurier came to power. Norman bought cigars for the election.

They moved in at the end of the year, I can see. And they bought 64.00 of new furniture, including two new bedroom sets. As it happens, I have the invoice for said purchase from H.A. Wilder and Company (which did not last in to the century) with warehouse on Anne street, in Griffintown, near where Flora would teach at William Lunn on William and an uptown location on St. Catherine.

They bought an oak bedroom set and an elm bedroom set as well as a wool mattress, some cane chairs, a bamboo table and an elm table. I wonder whether this is the elm table I have, that I have inherited from Tighsolas. This one is a livingroom one, about 2 feet square and decorated with ionian flourishes.

All to say, it shows what an optimistic era this was!

Oh there was a huge doctor’s bill that year. Norman had typhoid.

My reason for going over the store books, was to see how I might use them to compare ‘the carbon footprint’ of this family to a family today.

But that will not be an easy task, even if I do have all the info I need.

I know how the house was built, how they heated and cooked. How much wood they burned for fuel. How much coal oil they burned for light.

I know what they ate and when they took trips. But what a task!

I am surprised to see that Margaret had a lot of help in those days. No maid, but someone named Myrtle who was paid 7.00 a month. I wonder if that was the wage of a maid. They also had someone to wash and someone who split the wood for them.