The Archive and Artefact The Archive and Artefact Bleed Advent and Merry Chritma! Welcome to the Winter iue of The Archive and Artefact. In thi edition of the newletter, we are viiting Halifax in the late 19 th and early 20 th centurie. Specifically, we will hare piece of hitory from United Memorial (Kaye St. Methodit/Grove Prebyterian) and J. Weley Smith Memorial (Charle St. Methodit). December 6, 2017 i the 100 th anniverary of the Halifax Exploion. Thi diater had tragic and profound conequence for many people. It alo affected many churche and their communitie. We will be telling piece of the hitory of the churche that joined to become United Memorial. It i a tory of great grief, but alo one of reilience. For artefact in thi iue we will focu on item from J. Weley Smith Memorial that are ilver-plated and touch on ome concern related to polihing ilver and ilver-plated object. We will alo explore the quirk of early 20 th century ephemera and dicover that the more thing change, the more they tay the ame. Some utenance with reading i alway nice. Thu, thi iue trip to church kitchen will take u from Halifax to Boton and back again. Table of Content Introduction Letter 1 Contributor Info 1 From The Archive 2-3 Engraved in Silver 3-4 To Polih or Not to Polih 5 Congratulation 5 Curioitie of Church Ephemera 6 From Church Kitchen 7-8 Children Corner 8 Contributor Info Columnit: Julielynne Anderon (Chair, Maritime Conference Archive Committee), Reearch Aitance: Sarah Wallace (Maritime Conference Archivit) Editor Julielynne Anderon and Cora Krommenhoek All modern photo taken by Julielynne Anderon, Sarah Wallace, or Maritime Conference Archive Staff and Volunteer. Archival image and photo are part of the Maritime Conference Archive collection. May the peace of the eaon be with you all. Julielynne Anderon, Convenor and Chair, Maritime Conference Archive Committee 1
The Archive and Artefact From The Archive Grief and Reilience: A Story of the Halifax Exploion By: Julielynne Anderon (With reearch aitance from Sarah Wallace) December 6, 1917 wa a day of devatating lo and detruction for anyone who lived or worked near the Halifax Harbour. In the century ince the Halifax Exploion occurred, many torie both of tragedy and recovery have been told. Many more have not been hared enough. In thi iue, however, we focu on torie of Grove Prebyterian and Kaye St. Methodit, which after the Exploion became United Memorial. A thi newpaper clipping now held by the Maritime Conference Archive demontrate, churche from variou denomination uffered loe. Indeed, a another newpaper clipping how, Methodit in le damaged part of Halifax placed a meage to ALL Methodit who needed help. Special mention, however, wa made of Kaye St. attendee. Why? Becaue Kaye St. and Grove were in Richmond part of the Devatated Area after the Exploion. The following picture how the devatation wrought by the Exploion on the propertie of Grove and Kaye St. They come from A Common Sorrow and a Common Concern: Being a brief tatement of the Halifax Diater and the affair, pat and preent of Kaye-Grove Church (1920) by Rev. C.J. Crowdi miniter of Grove at the time of the Exploion (and later miniter at United Memorial). A copy of thi booklet i now held by the Maritime Conference Archive. In A Common Sorrow, it i noted that 239 people who had attended Grove or Kaye St. perihed. A een in archival letter, the loe were known and acknowledged. 2
The Archive and Artefact The remainder of the congregant from Kaye St. and Grove, however, howed reilience. They combined their memberhip and became a uniting church everal year before there wa a United Church. The hierarchie of the Methodit and Prebyterian churche even approved! The completed permanent tructure for the combined church by then called United Memorial wa dedicated on September 18, 1921. United Memorial joined the newly formed United Church in 1925. A ome food for thought, a remarkable nippet i found in a 1920 fundraiing appeal for the new church building. It read: The tory of Kaye-Grove/United Memorial after the Halifax Exploion remind u that even after great tragedy there can be hope and reilience. It alo illutrate, a a threeyear old child once proved, all of u can do our part to rebuild after a time of trial and hine a little light into the world. Engraved in Silver By: Julielynne Anderon (With reearch aitance from Sarah Wallace) Sometime the hitory of artefact become lot for a variety of reaon. Hitorian and church member of today may, therefore, be left wondering what the ignificance of an hitoric object i. If a reearcher i fortunate, there will be record to go with the object that are not hard to find. If there are not record, however, mark, engraving and etching might provide ome imformation. The Maritime Conference Archive ha everal ilverplated artefact from J. Weley Smith Memorial United Church (Halifax) once called Charle St. (Meth0dit). Amongt thee ilver-plated item are both communion ware and offering plate. While object uch a a chalice are often intuitively related to communion in a church etting, offering plate might be confued with communion bread plate and pitcher intended for communion could be interpreted to be for filling a baptimal font. Thank to the incription Give Alm of Thy Good-God Loveth a Cheerful Giver on the offering plate and Thi i My Blood on a pitcher, in thi cae, we can pecifically identify the intended purpoe of thee artefact. 3
The Archive and Artefact There are other incription on thee artefact that help a reearcher identify when thee item were made. Reearching the tory of the maker of thee piece might help with dating, but in the cae of everal piece from J. Weley Smith Memorial they have another indicator of date. They are marked: Charle Street Church. The name wa officially changed from Charle St. to J. Weley Smith Memorial in 1904. Today, we can approximate that thee piece were obtained ometime between when the church wa etablihed in 1871 and 1904. We mut, however, add a caution to that dating. Etablihing the age of artefact i rarely an exact cience. Engraving alo have their limit a ource of information. Engraving would not tell omeone that in thoe communion pitcher might commonly have been grape juice (or unfermented wine) rather than wine with an alcohol content. Many Methodit of the late 19 th and early 20 th century were taunch advocate of temperance. Thee included member of Charle St./J. Weley Smith Memorial. A Pledge of Abtinence from Alcohol (1900-1917) record (now in the Conference Archive) demontrate thi. In other cae, ometime engraving on artefact and record can work together. Thi i the cae with a ilver-plated pitcher preented to Charle St. miniter in 1874. The incription on the above pitcher read: Rev. J.H. Strothard from the Charle Street Sunday School, Halifax, N.S, July 15, 1874. Apparently, the Sunday School at the time found ilver-plated object an appropriate gift. The Sunday School record of April of 1874 indicate they had already preented omeone ele with another ilver-plated item. What the incription on the pitcher preented to Reverend Strothard doe not tell u i what it wa to be ued for. Wa he meant to take it home for peronal ue? Wa it meant to be ued in the church for communion or to fill a baptimal font? We know from a note that came with it to the archive that the pitcher left the church for a time and wa preented back to the church later by Rev. Strothard on. The engraving, however, did not impart that information and what the pitcher intended purpoe wa i open to conjecture. Thu, engraving on ilver or ilver-plated church artefact often only impart piece of the puzzle of an item hitory. Better, however, to have ome information than none. 4
The Archive and Artefact To Polih or Not to Polih By: Julielynne Anderon Many churche have artefact uch a croe or communion ware made from ilver or ilver plate. Silver and ilver plate can both become tarnihed. That mean they develop a dark-hued dicolouration on them. Many of u have heard of people polihing the ilver (i.e. cutlery) a a frequent chore in the pat. Some of u may have even done it. When it come to artefact, however, the quetion of polihing i more complicated. Any cleaning of ilver and ilver-plated object in particular becaue plated item only have a bit of ilver on the outide and are motly another metal can damage an artefact. Thu, the quetion become: To polih or not to polih? If you are going to polih, here are ome thought to conider: 1. Learn from an expert. If you have never polihed ilver, obtain intruction from omeone with experience or read information on polihing from a reputable ource uch a a mueum or a hitoric conervation authority. 2. Polih infrequently. Polih ilver artefact only occaionally. Polihing alway remove ome of the ilver under the tarnih. Thi i particularly problematic for ilver-plated piece which may not have a lot of ilver to pare under it top layer. completely top the mark any polihing leave on ilver urface. 4. Be aware of decoration. Remember ilver piece may have inlay and other decoration not made from ilver which will not react well to polih. 5. Polih only with product meant for ilver. General polihing product meant for all metal are too harh for ilver. Ue only polihe meant pecifically for ilver or pecially deigned cloth meant for polihing ilver. If object are not too tarnihed, the pecial cloth might be bet a they are the not a harh to urface a polihe. 6. Ue glove. Ue white cotton glove when handling ilver artefact to protect the ilver from the oil on your hand. Thi will alo protect your hand when polihing. 7. Diplay and tore with care. If ilver i not ued regularly nor at the front of the anctuary, conider diplaying it in an encloed diplay cabinet to reduce factor that lead to tarnihing. If ilver i uually tored, conider invetigating material (uch a pecial bag and tiue paper) that are particularly helpful in protecting ilver. Congratulation Congratulation to Maritime Conference Archivit, Sarah Wallace, and her huband, Hun, on the birth of their daughter. 3. BE GENTLE When polihing ilver be gentle. Thi will limit though not 5
The Archive and Artefact Curioitie of Church Ephemera By: Julielynne Anderon (With reearch help from Sarah Wallace) Ephemera i a name ued in archive and librarie to refer to hort, written item that were not necearily meant to be preerved for future generation. A poter tuck on a bulletin board and then thrown away (or thee day recycled) once the event it advertie i over i an example of ephemera. In a church etting, however, perhap the mot intereting piece of ephemera might be old order of ervice. Some people today might keep their weekly bulletin, but mot of u jut recycle them. To a hitorian of the church or a hitorian who tudie daily life (including how people practiced their faith) information contained in old order of ervice might tell u omething about the pat we might not find elewhere. Here are ome intereting nippet found in old bulletin from Kaye-Grove Church/United Memorial (Halifax) in 1919 and 1921: Moderator or Novelit? One of the prominent viitor when United Memorial held it opening ervice in 1921 wa a Rev. Charle W. Gordon, D.D. Even in the order of ervice, however, he alo identified by hi penname Ralph Connor. Church librarie in the Maritime uch a that of Greenfield Prebyterian Church in New Brunwick did contain hi book. It eem omeone decided people would know Rev. Gordon better a a wellknown author than a the Moderator of the Prebyterian Church in Canada Weathering Trouble: On December 28 th, 1919, the order of ervice at the Kaye-Grove Church (later United Memorial) carried an intereting reminder. It read: Doe thi ound familiar to anyone today? In the 21 t century, when we worry about declining offering and bad weather affecting church attendance perhap we hould take olace in the fact that we have been here before. Maybe, jut maybe, we can alo take a leon in pereverance from our ancetor a well. Not Another Church Meeting Do you ometime wonder how many people will attend church meeting? Do you have to exhort people to attend? Do you ometime wih there were not o many meeting? You are not alone! Here i another nippet from the ame December 28, 1919 order of ervice: Perhap what church ephemera how i everything old i new again! 6
The Archive and Artefact From Church Kitchen By: Julielynne Anderon O Currant! O Currant! How Confuing Thou Art! In the early year of the 20 th century, Charle St. Methodit Church (later J. Weley Smith Memorial) in Halifax produced a cookbook a a fundraier to help them build a new church building. A one can through the recipe, one come acro plenty recipe with currant. Some recipe call for ripe currant, ome for currant alongide other dried fruit and ome for currant jelly. 1 A modern reader might blithely go along auming that all form of currant are from related kind of fruit, but Blackcurrant, red currant and white currant are berrie. When the cookbook author call for ripe currant a in Spiced Currant or currant jelly a in Velvet Cream, 2 they are likely refering to blackcurrant or red currant or product made out of uch. While one can dry blackcurrant, what we have come to think of a dried currant are actually from a different fruit all together! If you look at a package of dried currant in the tore today, you might jut ee the word currant in Englih. Read the French name, however, and you will ee raiin de Corinthe. In other word, the mot common type of dried currant we know today are jut a particular form of raiin. Dried grape! Of coure, one hould not denigrate dried currant made from grape becaue they are jut raiin. Raiin are very hitoric. They are even mentioned in The Bible. (For example: 1 Samuel 30:12). In addition, currant made from dried grape (alo called Zante currant) were known to the people of hitoric Halifax. At Chritmatime in 1867, a Halifax newpaper advertied the price of Zante currant right under other raiin. 3 Thu, it i probably a afe aumption that Zante currant were going along with other dried fruit into hitoric Chritma baking recipe uch a plum pudding, fruit cake and mincemeat. While Charle St. Methodit cookbook ha recipe for Englih Plum Pudding, Fruit Cake and Mince Meat, 4 they can all be difficult to make and ometime inpire intene dilike. How about a implier and more approachable hitoric recipe with dried currant? In honour of Boton aid after the Halifax Exploion, perhap ome Boton Cookie might be the order of the day. The recipe for Boton Cookie appear in the 1896 Boton Cooking-Schoool Cook Book by Fannie Merritt Farmer. 5 It mut have endured and been known by ome in Nova Scotia becaue an almot identical recipe appear in a pot-world War I cookbook, The Modern Cook Book for Nova Scotia and Prince 1 S.J. Sim and B.E. Hill, Tried and True: A Handbook of Choice Cooking Recipe (Halifax, NS: Theakton Printing, 1902), 20, 24, 30, 36, 38 and 83. 2 S.J. Sim and B.E. Hill, Tried and True: A Handbook of Choice Cooking Recipe, 83 and 30. 3 The Sun and Advertier (Halifax, N.S.), 23 December 1867. 4 S.J. Sim and B.E. Hill, Tried and True: A Handbook of Choice Cooking Recipe, 24, 38 and 20. 5 Fannie Merritt Farmer, The Boton Cooking-School Cook Book (Boton: Little, Brown and Company, 1896), 408. 7
The Archive and Artefact Edward Iland, from a Halifax contributor. 6 The Boton Cookie recipe from the Halifax contributor read: Boton Cookie One cup butter, one and one-half cup ugar, three egg, one teapoon oda, one and one-half teapoon hot water, three and one-quarter cup flour, one-half teapoon alt, one teapoon cinnamon, one cup chopped nut meat, one-half cup currant, one-half cup raiin, eeded and chopped. Cream butter, add ugar gradually and egg well beaten. Add oda diolved in hot water, and one half flour mixed and ifted with alt and cinnamon, then add nut meat, fruit and remaing flour. Drop by poonful one inch apart and bake in a moderate oven. 7 Note: 1. If uing alted butter omit the alt. 2. A moderate oven i about 325 to 350 (Fahrenheit) depending on how hot your oven run. 3. Cookie hould take between 15-18 minute in a 325 oven that run hot if cookie are dropped by generou poonful. 4. If you are allergic to nut either omit the nut or try nut-free eed. 5. If you cannot find nut-free raiin and/or currant try nut-free dried cranberrie or blueberrie. Happy Baking! Children Corner The Twelve Day of Chritma We might think that The 12 Day of Chritma i jut a illy Chritma ong, but not entirely. Did you know that in our church calendar (called a Liturgical Calendar) the eaon of Chritma actually lat from December 25 th until January 5 th? That 12 day. In our church we call January 6 th Epiphany. In ome churche January 6 th i actually their Chritma. Here are 12 Chritma/Advent word cramble for ome fun! 1. pheo 2. hrictam 3. yjo 4. ceape 5. tar 6. eju 7. vole 8. Bthleemeh 9. pipeynah 10. bltae 11. ymra 12. ojphe Pomander Craft Pomander are a neat Chritma decoration. You will need: an orange, whole clove, puh pin or thimble, two piece of ribbon and a tring. Tie ribbon around the orange o they cro at the bottom. Ue puh pin to poke hole in the orange. Place clove in hole. If you have a thimble to wear on your thumb you can puh the clove right in without firt making hole, but otherwie your thumb will get awfully ore! Remember, the more of the orange you cover with clove, the longer it will lat! Tie tring to ribbon and hang on omething turdy. 6 Variou Women Organization in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Iland (Comp.), The Modern Cook Book for Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Iland ([n.p.]: [n.d.]), 140. 7 Variou Women Organization in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Iland (Comp.), The Modern Cook Book, 140. 8