A Zoom Christmas

 
As was the case with most families this year, our family was split up in many parts of the world: Linda and I in Calgary; a daughter and grandsons in Vancouver, BC; a son in Chilliwack, BC; and a son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The timing was a bit awkward, but we managed to visit via zoom.

At our home in Calgary, we were determined to have Christmas dinner anyway, with turkey and trimmings. We all shared the cooking of Christmas dinners at the various family homes on WeChat and Facebook. That was different!

For this holiday I put together a slide show of Memories of Shepheard Christmases Past. I went through 51 years of photos taken during Christmas dinners, mornings, trees and decorations, and especially family gatherings.

In pictures we could watch children and grandchildren growing up, always a treat.

And we could relive times when our own parents were still with us. It was a tear-jerker!

Of course, the Zoom get-together was itself recorded for posterity, so we can revisit how we shared the 2020 celebration any time.

It was fun, but I don’t want to do it like that again. I would really rather have everyone together in person.

I hope all of you who are seeing this post had a great Christmas, even if, like us, with family members absent but present in spirit.

All the best in the New Year!

Baby Books

 Baby Books have been popular with new parents for decades. The earliest versions were used not just to record the event and the particulars of the newborn’s size, weight, hair colour and other distinguishing characteristics. They were also an important place to record diseases, immunizations and, of course, growth.

The first baby books, at least in terms of mass production of them, were marketed in the 1910s. Some were plain, some were fancy. Over time, they got more elaborate in terms of how they were bound and what information could be recorded.

They were almost always filled out by mothers who diligently kept track of developmental milestones: weight gains, first word spoken, first step taken. And that first haircut. The books usually listed the first people to visit the new mother and her baby and the first gifts that were given to them.

When cameras came to be commonly available to families (Who didn’t have a Kodak Brownie?) photographs were added. In recent times some parents have included copies of ultrasound images of their babies, obviously from before they even came into the world. These days blogs and social media sites have taken over somewhat. There is nothing quite like having a real book, though, with important events recorded in Mom’s hand and containing that precious lock of baby’s hair.

Many notable people have had them. A few have been preserved in publications such as that for Robert Louis Stevenson which can be looked at on the Internet Archive website. 

My parents filled them out for my siblings. I still have mine and remember pulling it out to look at over the years, especially after my wife and I had our children. It is fun to compare your own growth with that of your children.

One special book I have was for my little brother, who died at the age of two. Besides the photos of him in our family albums, and the formal birth and death record, it is the only record of him as a person. 

James Edwin Shepheard (he was named for his two grandfathers) came into the world on 23 February 1948. I first wrote about him in a blog post, My Brother Jimmy…, on 24 February 2015. That post was more about the loss of children like him among some of our ancestral families.

What few photos and home movies we have of Jimmy show him as a quiet, happy and contented baby and toddler. That’s how my older sisters and I remember him. 

Jimmy in front with brother Wayne and sisters Sharon and Lynn

The pages in the baby book record his entry into the world and his record of growth. It tells us when he talked and when he walked. When he got his first teeth and when he got his first haircut. 

Jimmy’s baby book brings him to life for us, as short as that life was. We lost him at the age of two years, two months and nineteen days. The book now is a valuable and important record for us even though entries stop way too soon. 

In looking for information on new family members, researchers might keep in mind that baby books can contain some important information about an infant and their family members.

The Officers’ Mess in Calgary

 We live in an area in Calgary, called Currie. It is named after the barracks that were built in 1933 in the area to house members of the Canadian military.

During World War II members of the army and air force gathered for training and eventual posting to the theatres of battle around the world. Each service had their own area. The old map below shows the location of Currie Barracks in relation to adjacent communities in the 1940s and today from a Google satellite view. For reference the Officers’ Mess is labelled.

Left – Google satellite view of Currie area of southwest Calgary; right – portion of a street map of Calgary from 1946 with an insert of an air photo of Currie Barracks and a part of the Lincoln Park airfield, taken in 1949

My father was initially stationed here after he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1943. My father-in-law enlisted in the Canadian Army here in 1941. A fuller version of the air photo taken in 1949 and other old photos, below, illustrate the style and extent of the military installations.

Left – LAC Bill Shepheard, 1942; Centre - air photo of Currie Barracks (top) and Currie Field, taken in 1948, RCAF Station Lincoln Park is at bottom right; Right – Sapper Bill McKay, 1942

Some of the barracks buildings adjacent to the parade square in 1941

Oblique air photo of Currie Field looking southeast toward the Glenmore Reservoir

This is how the Officers’ Mess building looks today.

Google image looking southeast of Officers’ Mess today in Currie; building has been renovated and is now called The Inn on Officers’ Garden

We have a personal connection with the Officers’ Mess, not because our fathers were officers. It is doubtful that either of them was ever in the building. During WWII, my mother-in-law, Jessie McKay, was the chief cook at the mess. It was a job she was very proud of and, from all reports, very good at. Certainly, in later life she was an excellent cook, one who brooked no nonsense in her kitchen and rarely asked for help in preparing meals.

In our family album there is one photo of Jessie taken with some of her staff in 1943. Unfortunately, the names of those pictured with her are not known.

Photo of some of the serving staff at the Officers’ Mess in Calgary, taken in 1943. Jessie McKay is at the right end.

In order to get to work every day, Jessie had to take a Calgary Municipal Railway streetcar from her home across the Bow River, in an area known as Hillhurst. The trip to work would have taken a considerable amount of time.

Jessie would have caught a streetcar on Kensington Road (#1 East and West Calgary line) near her home on the north side of the Bow River. That would have taken her across the Louise Bridge at 10^th Street NW into downtown where she would have transferred to another car to get to south Calgary and the barracks area. She may have taken the #6 Killarney or the #7 South Calgary line. Either route would have left her with several blocks to walk to get to and across the barracks lands to the Officers’ Mess.

At the time, Jessie and husband, Bill, had three young children at home who were cared for during the day by very generous neighbours. Will Bill overseas, it meant that Jessie had double-duty – cooking for the officers during the day and taking care of children at night.

Top – streetcar at intersection of Kensington Rd and 10^th Street NW; bottom same intersection today

Busses along either of these routes today can take up to 30 minutes. From the last stop on the “Marda Loop” at 34^th Avenue and 24^th Street SW, Jessie would likely have walked the remaining 12 blocks or so to the Officers’ Mess building. A similar walk from the end of the Killarney line would have been comparable.

Streetcar on South Calgary route #7 near Marda Loop

The whole daily commute must have been at least an hour in duration. And often she would have been carrying some groceries or other foodstuffs with her. Her days were long, and she frequently rode home at night in the dark, especially during the winter months.

Today the Officers’ Mess has been renovated and converted to a boutique hotel and eating establishment called The Inn on Officers’ Garden. Below are some views of some of the facilities (Sorry to sound like a travel review log).

This past weekend we celebrated my 75^th birthday with a very nice dinner in the Pub at The Inn on Officers’ Garden. I am sure Jessie would have been pleased with the fare, prepared in her old kitchen.

One thing left to do is to try to find out who were pictured with Jessie in that 1943 photo, and perhaps who else worked at the Officers’ Mess.