Author: Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

COSTUMES, NEW DRESSES & PERFORMING

Seasonal exhibit now on display in the Cut Knife Library, 113 Broad Street.

“In the 1920 to 1930 period in my community of Riding Hill… Parents played a large part in program preparation. They made costumes and for the draw curtains for the stage, often they dyed and used old cotton bed sheets. They designed attractive drill costumes from crepe paper for grades one and two. In a variety of colours. that age group made delightful fairies as they flitted to and fro from one end of the stage to the other. Red and green crepe paper clad elves added to the charm of gift giving when, at the end of the program, Santa needed helpers.” ~ Ruby Sleath, page 54

“Keith recalls the exciting day when the stage was brought in from the rafters of the barn, where it was stored throughout the rest of the year. It was set up between the cloak room doors. Due to the storage of the stage in the barn, the sweet, pungent aroma of horse manure permeated the air, as the stage was assembled in the school, and gradually became less noticeable as concert day drew near!” ~ Audrey (Brebner) Waters, page 69

“Our concert was always the last day of school. One of the trustees would bring a tree, which was set up and decorated after we went home earlier that day. One year, when I went at night, there was this beautiful, big tree, all shining with tinsel and new decorations. It completely filled the corner of the room.” ~ Hazel Inkster, page 13

“Vivian and I got new dresses at Christmas. Mine was red satin and hers was always blue. Mother made them and when we’d get to the concert and take our coats off we were so proud to show our new dresses. Sometimes they were pinned if Mother hadn’t got time for the buttons and button holes. All girls enjoyed the excitement of seeing what each one wore. I don’t suppose there was the same excitement in the boy’s cloakroom. There was probably grumbling over having to get dolled up.” ~ Doreen Taylor, page 65

“Somehow Mom would manage to sew us new dresses every year in time for the concert. With five girls this was no small task. The hum of the electric sewing machine with Mom bent over it was as much a part of our Christmas as the tree and stockings.” ~ Amy Singh, page 39

“One recitation I especially remember was a German one which I said in the Danzig School (three miles east of Waldheim, Saskatchewan) when I was in grade two. I was dressed in a Santa mask which was very artificial looking and much too big for me. It didn’t move very much when I moved my head inside of it. I guess make-up paint hadn’t been discovered, at least not in our rural school. The mask muffled my speech so that I had to be especially articulate and loud.” ~ Orval Ens, page 10

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Be sure to stop by tomorrow for School Concert to Christmas Concert. Previously, The School Concert, Part 1 and Intro to Prairie Christmas.

If you have any memories of early Christmases in the Cut Knife area that you’d like to share with our readership, please email or add to the comments below. We’ll put them all together in a final blog post in early January.

All excerpts in this Prairie Christmas blog series will have been taken from Prairie Christmas: A Collection of Stories and Recollections published as A Clayton McLain Memorial Museum Project, Cut Knife, Saskatchewan 2006 – 2007. Remaining copies are available for purchase for $10. See the website’s Gift Shop page here.

~ Debbie M.

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PLANNING & REHEARSALS

Seasonal exhibit now on display in the Cut Knife Library, 113 Broad Street.

“My most memorable Christmas took place in the late 30’s. The Christmas Concerts in the one room schools made Christmas unforgettable. We had 3 ½ miles to go to a country school. Thirty to forty kids took part in a two hour program. Santa would arrive with a large bag which he carried on his back. The bag was filled with gifts and bags with candies, apples and oranges.” ~ Francis Busch, page 8

“Mom’s first teaching job in 1940 was at Tweedsmuir, a little country school north-east of Lloydminster. Preparing for the first Christmas concert was challenging because there was no piano and also because a teacher was often judged by the success of the concert… Mom said several of the parents told her it was one of the best concerts they’d had! The following year, the school had a piano and a local lady played for the concert. Mom was making $70.00 a month before deductions and paid the pianist $5.00! ~ Noreen Bullerwell written by Bonnie Ramsay, page 7

“The concert would be coming soon, We each had a part to say.
Some were doing recitations, Others had parts in a play.
A platform must be built – With men helping it won’t take long.
It was exciting to stand upon that stage To practice our dance and song.
The girls would wear costumes, White crepe paper with a bow of red,
Carrying a wand topped with a star And a glitter crown upon the head…
Footnote: … this “Little School House” was called “Garth” school and was situated five miles west of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. That particular Christmas was December, 1936.” ~ Marg Crittall, page 9

“Soon after Halloween, our teacher began choosing dialogues and recitations. Then by mid-November, it was practice for the Christmas Concert. It was a wonderful time – lots of music drills and choruses. We older girls got periods free to make silver wands – stars wrapped with silver paper. (Before aluminum foil!) There were always white crepe paper dresses for the girls and tinsel to be sewn on for halos and gold crowns for ‘We Three Kings’.” ~ Hazel Inkster, page 13

“Then I remember the drills we always did. The girls were all in one – we had frilly crepe paper dresses – usually long. I always felt really dressed up… The boys did another drill but I can’t remember anything about them. It would have been something to do with soldiers I suppose. When I went to school at Wardenville, we were fortunate to have teachers who were excellent pianists so we always had good music for our concerts.” ~ Ruth (Bullerwell) Smith, page 57

“The preparation for the annual concert started about December 1st and must have been a real challenge for the teacher. All students had to have a part in the program whether they had talent in that area – or not! I always offered to be the stage manager – and pull the curtains! A Scottish lady in the district attempted to teach about 5 boys to dance the “Sailor’s Hornpipe”. The first lessons were a disaster (can’t you picture it?) but the final performance brought some clapping from the audience! Maybe it was our parents!” ~ Russ Stewart, page 59

“The girls did the musical drills of course. They had to wear frilly crepe paper costumes with bare legs. Us boys never looked at the legs, but we did have pea shooters made from a wooden clothes pin (patented by Barry Robinson) that made them step… This meant that I had to write 500 lines after school. ‘I WILL NOT BRING BEANS TO SCHOOL’.” ~ Jim McEachern, page 17

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Be sure to stop in tomorrow for The School Concert, Part 2. If you missed the Intro to Prairie Christmas yesterday, click here.

If you have any memories of early Christmases in the Cut Knife area that you’d like to share with our readership, please email or add to the comments below. We’ll put them all together in a final blog post in early January.

All excerpts in this Prairie Christmas blog series will have been taken from Prairie Christmas: A Collection of Stories and Recollections published as A Clayton McLain Memorial Museum Project, Cut Knife, Saskatchewan 2006 – 2007. Remaining copies are available for purchase for $10. See the website’s Gift Shop page here.

~ Debbie M.

A Clayton McLain Memorial Museum Project 2006 – 2007

My original intention was to pull a half dozen excerpts from Prairie Christmas to accompany photos of the new seasonal exhibit in the Cut Knife Library. Having never read this compilation before, I didn’t know that would be an impossible task. I tried to just skim through for particular references but, by the end of the first story, I knew I was not going to miss a single word. This book is a treasure.

The memories shared on its pages are amusing or heartwarming or poignant, but always true to the moments being described. The Prairie Christmas Committee recognized the value of documenting these particular stories when they invited people to submit recollections of their early Christmas memories. The result is a wonderful historical overview of Christmas on the prairies, especially in the Cut Knife area, from the 1920s through to the 1950s.

Over the next week, I’ll be sharing excerpts from Prairie Christmas: A Collection of Stories and Recollections, which I’ve organized into some common threads i.e. the school concert, winter travel, Santa, shopping, turkey dinners, and more. Excerpts will be short paragraphs of descriptions, anecdotes, conversations etc. of which many will sound strikingly familiar all these years later.

Here’s a teaser from Russ Stewart:

The preparation for the annual concert started about December 1st and must have been a real challenge for the teacher. All students had to have a part in the program whether they had talent in that area – or not! I always offered to be the stage manager – and pull the curtains! A Scottish lady in the district attempted to teach about 5 boys to dance the “Sailor’s Hornpipe”. The first lessons were a disaster (can’t you picture it?) but the final performance brought some clapping from the audience! Maybe it was our parents!

Russ Stewart (page 59)

First up? Everyone had very vivid memories of their school concerts and many noted that the Christmas season began with concert programming and casting decisions in November or early December.

~ Debbie M.