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Archiver > NFLD-ROOTS > 2001-09 > 0999551655


From: Mildred FM Ilsley <>
Subject: Re: [NF-ROOTS] 'Women's Work'
Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 17:14:15 -0400




On Sat, 01 Sep 2001 09:28:34 -0230 Eric Stringer
<> writes:
> With an occasional exception, descriptions of the hard times in
> pre-Confederation Newfoundland tend to relate to 'men's work'. How
> they
> fished from 3 a.m. until 8 p.m.; how they chopped their own
> firewood;
> how they built their own homes, fences, stages and flakes, and
> furniture; grew their own vegetables; and on and on. Anyone who has
> had
> even just a distant connection with that way of life can appreciate
> the
> great effort required. Generally speaking, these activities related
> to
> outdoors work.
>
> I think it would be of some value to see some discussion on the
> 'role
> and duties' of the women and older children in these 'olden days',
> to
> see how it compared around the different parts of Newfoundland.
> With
> the number of children in some of these earlier families, how did
> these
> women ever get to do not only their in-home duties but their outside
> ones as well? Because they were also a key part of cleaning and
> curing
> the fish, working in the vegetable garden, and such.
>
> The headwear referred to on this list recently should have been
> halos.
>
> Respectfully!!!
> Eric Stringer
>
>
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