Collection search - Woodhams, Mrs. F. - Interview

Record information – Brief

1

Woodhams, Mrs. F. - Interview

Item number (ISN):

379041

Series title:

[The Great War and Canadian Society]

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

1974-06-28

Item number (ISN):

379041

Link to related resource:

Type of material:

Sound recordings

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

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Record information – Details

Fonds/collection:

THE GREAT WAR AND CANADIAN SOCIETY PROJECT

Accession:

1975-0098

Media:

Sound

Part:

1 of 1

Production date:

1974-06-28

Production company:

Opportunities for Youth

Production credit:

interviewer, Lori Rotenberg

Description:

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An interview with Mrs. F. Woodhams of Toronto, age 76, who was born in Britain in 1898 and came to Canada in 1910. She talks about: her father’s job as a plasterer; her siblings; her family having enough to eat but not being well off; the family’s move to Canada in search of better prospects; being sick on the 14-day trip to Canada; her father’s building a house on Harvey Avenue; her attending Dovercourt Public School; leaving school to start work at age 13 making belts for Edwards’ Leather, a leather factory; working conditions at the factory; going to work for Eaton’s department store; lying about her age to get a job; her job as a parcel girl at Eaton’s; parcelling up goods to give to the sales clerk or putting it in a pile for delivery; her wages and working hours; getting a job as a Bell Telephone operator circa 1916; before there were automatic switchboards; wearing a headset while working in a long room; working conditions at Bell; shiftwork and her salary; leaving her job at Bell in 1925 when she got married; starting to learn how to use the automatic switchboard, which was just coming in when she left; the lack of time and energy for entertainment because of her long working hours and commute time when she was working; sleigh rides; going to the movies; going to the Canadian National Exhibition; going to Toronto Island with friends when they got a day off; housework; dating; going to church; more on working conditions at the leather factory and Bell; having to leave her job at Bell because she was getting married; going to a rally during the First World War; recruiting soldiers; the recollection that everyone had someone overseas during the war and did not like to talk about it; her brother enlisting at age 15 by saying that he was age 18; her father enlisting; decorating homes when the soldiers came back; the opinion that Quebecers were cowards for not enlisting; reading newspaper stories about the Germans and thinking that they were cruel; some nice German families she knew; the authorities checking up on German residents and putting some in concentration camps; people going wild on Armistice Day; registration cards; her father’s reluctance to talk about the war; her brother talking about different countries; the view that people were just doing their duty; the return of war veterans and the welcome extended to war brides; her future husband’s work in stockyards; recreational activities such as going to movies and attending dances and social evenings at the Independent Order of Odd Fellows’ Lodge; trips and picnics organized by the lodge; having to work on Sundays; looser morals after the war; soldiers’ meeting people from different countries and the consequent change in morals; the impact of the war on religious belief; the cost of living after the war; voting; her being more aware of the Second World War because she was older; the influenza epidemic of 1918 which struck her mother and brothers; and more on working at Bell.

Language:

English

Notes:

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1. The interviews took place in 1974 and resulted in the publication of a book entitled "The Great War and Canadian Society" edited by Daphne Read - copyright 1978 - New Hogtown Press, Toronto.~2. Release forms, data sheets, and summary analysis/transcripts are available in binders labelled Opportunities for Youth - War and Canadian Society in VSA's audio-visual section.~3. Part of a series of recorded interviews with elderly citizens who lived in Canada during the period of World War I. The interview material consists of their opinions and observations about the war, the war years, and the effect on Canadian society during and after WWI.~4. The interviewee signed an agreement giving consent for a recording of this interview to be placed in the Public Archives of Canada for the purposes of historical research and also signed a publication agreement allowing any transcribed portions of the interview to be used in the book under the condition that no full names, addresses or phone numbers would be published.
~5. Subject description is based on information found in the fact sheet, deposit agreement, publication agreement and summary analysis (the summary analysis indicates that there are 19 pages but only 7 pages received).
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

Open

Consultation copy number:

A1 2007-05-0060
A1 2007-05-0061

Restrictions on consultation:

No Restrictions / Pas de restrictions

Reproduction access:

With written permission of Copyright Owner / Avec la permission écrite du détenteur des droits d'auteur

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Date modified:: 2024-06-12