Item T4088:0025-0026 - Helen Meilleur interview

The item consists of an audio interview with Helen Meilleur recorded in New Westminster, B.C. on June 27, 1983.

Tape summaries:
T4088:0025 track 1: Helen Meilleur was born Helen Young in Canada in 1910 and grew up in Port Simpson. She describes the two homes she lived in as a child -- one on an Indian reserve, the other on Hudson Bay lands. She describes her mother's daily tasks in great detail -- preparation of meals, washing and ironing, baking, preserving and canning, etc. She also tells of the items her father sold in his store.

Track 2: Helen Meilleur describes the cooking tasks done in the home by the children and her mother. Cookbooks and recipes are discussed. She attended a one-room school in Port Simpson and in 1921 moved to New Westminster where she attended old Central School. She took domestic science and tells of the recipes prepared in class.

T4088:0026 track 1: Helen Meilleur tells of the advice her mother gave her when she married. Discusses teaching and community experiences in Hewlett around 1928. Left teaching to become a stenographer. Took training at Sprott-Shaw in Vancouver. Worked at H.R. MacMillan and talks of wages and working conditions. Married in 1943 and set up her home in Powell River. Describes the difference between her mother's home and her own.

Track 2: Helen Meilleur talks about the differences in child rearing between her mother and herself -- different attitudes. Also discusses her husband's role as father being quite different from her father. Explains the changes she saw taking place in other husbands with regards to household duties.