Ah well they weren't weekly, maybe once a month. And then at the school we'd have tea dances, which would- like started at four-o'clock and they'd- we'd dance in the auditorium of the new school, but before that it was Teen-Town, and um also there was ah I don't know what some- like we were always seemed to be with all the other kids.

But you see even in like in high-school at- at B-C-I, they had dances, what they call tea dances, and they'd get a little orchestra in, in the gymnasium and everybody would dance.

I don’t know. I s-- I can’t even remember if we had one at B-C-I. We used to have tea dances after school but I don’t remember what we used for music. Must’ve been a jukebox or-something.

Oh there's dances, we had afternoon tea dances and dancing- dances at the night. Not late dances or-anything-like-that, but they had quite a few formal dances. And um I debated and I and I- I can't- I- I think- I did a few things, but I- oh I- I was in ah one- I was in ah Romeo-and-Juliet, I had a taste of acting and I loved.

Yeah. And um- oh we used to have tea dances. We called them tea dances. Started at five in the afternoon and you got all dressed up. I remember some of the dresses I had and the hairdos I had and I always liked to dress up nice and ah um- and then we'd have ah- Friday afternoons

Yeah. And um- oh we used to have tea dances. We called them tea dances. Started at five in the afternoon and you got all dressed up. I remember some of the dresses I had and the hairdos I had and I always liked to dress up nice and ah um- and then we'd have ah- Friday afternoons

Interviewer: Did you ever go on a church picnic? Speaker: Yes, every year they had a Sunday-school or church picnic, every year. But the big event in Cushing was the winter one called the Tea meeting and that was something we all looked forward to. It was a great event because people came from many miles around even came from Montreal, not only one or two to entertain but to attend the supper. Interviewer: What would they do at a Tea-meeting? Speaker: Well, first of all they would have a grand supper.

Interviewer: Ah what kind of work would the Lady's-Aid do? Speaker: Oh they had all kinds of ah um- they used to had bazaars and tea meetings and-all-that-kind-of-thing.

Apart from- now in the church we had, ah, every fall, they called it the tea meeting but it- it was really just, ah- we, ah- like, every family would take a basket. And, ah, they'd go and they'd go to this hall or church hall and, ah, the- the mothers would make a dinner and everybody went.

Speaker: They called it the tea meeting. And that- Interviewer: Why do they call it tea? Speaker: We had that every fall. Interviewer: Why did they call it a tea meeting if you- if your mothers made dinners? Speaker: Well, ah, I don't know why they called it the tea meeting. Interviewer 2: 'Cause the- 'cause the next meal is your tea isn't it? Speaker: Mm-hm. Interviewer 2: (laughs)

Speaker: But, no, ah, it was the tea meeting and we all went and- and we would go, like, for supper. And then they'd have a program after that. Interviewer: Oh, I see. Speaker: A Christmas program. And it was always in the fall. But when- you-know, when- and it wasn't a tea. It wasn't a meal like what you have now. We- we would have baked bean and- and potatoes and- and you never heard of a solid or-anything-like-that, you had pickles or Jell-O, you-know, that's a way back.

Speaker: Well my mother would take and cut that down the middle. ... And those would be hemmed for dish towels. We girls, my sister and I learned first the running stitch on making tea towels. Then we got- Interviewer: Is a tea towel the same as a dish towel? Speaker: Yes. ... Yes. A dish towel. ... And- and then we got to hemming. We used to get fine salt in little sacks and my mother would bleach the lettering out of those and we hem- hem- we learned to hem them ...

Interviewer: What was in there? Speaker 2: Suet and flour and- ... It was just a heavy dough. Interviewer: Ew. Speaker: You wouldn't believe it. You wrap that in a tea towel eh? And you tied the top of it and you put it on a dish and then you put- Speaker 2: And steam it. Speaker: Put it down inside of a pot eh of boiling water.

Interviewer: What other kind of things did you sell? Like, did you sell clothing in the store? Speaker: Yes, men's clothing. ... And boots. And, ah, t-- dish towels and dish- tea towels and some pillow cases and just, ah, knick-knacks. At that era- ... I couldn't keep knick-knacks in the store.

Speaker: ... the surprise visits from the health inspectors were always interesting, you-know? ... And um, you-know, a-- b-- tea towels, I remember they- you-know, the tea towel h-- was moved because it was in the wrong spot or-something inside- Interviewer: Wow (laughs), oh like to pass to. Speaker: What does that have to- no we- we never once failed. Interviewer: No no no I mean like that particular- the tea towel place test- Speaker: Well I- I-think it was a matter of it may have been a finger towel- ... And- and was maybe where- somewhere over where they did toast or-something. I don't even remember. I just remember that towel being scooped out of there.

And, ah, they pushed the desks back, and they had a dance and the ladies all brought lunch and they had a- like a community shower for them. Which was, ah- if it was a girl- ... Then they would have a regular shower, where, well all the women brought tea-towels or-anything, like, along the line that they were going to need to set-up house- ... And if it was a guy, somebody would go around and take-up a collection and ah, they'd buy them something.

... they had nothing to do so they were embroidering on everything, like eh? Tea-towels and any white blouses you had, they'd put something on it, eh? To- there'd s-- be something on it, like eh?

Speaker: Usually they had a big camp for the- for the main men and uh, for the- the- the workers- ... And then they- they'd uh, for the teamster's? they had a- what they called a teamster-shack. ... And the- the teamster's are alone and uh the cookery, it was- it was by itself. It was a big cookery.

... how I come to move up here was my dad was a teamster. If you don 't know what a teamster is, he has horses and he always figured that one day the city would outlaw horses, so he bought the lot over on Lindsmore where I built my house ...

Well my dad being a teamster and you-know this is in the Depression times, and nineteen-twenty-eight the Union-Station was all rebuilt or something, and in- in doing that, they had to move a lot of earth from one place to another and that, and of course in those days, you done that with a horse and wagon mostly.