The Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove Museum

In honour of Memorial Day, July 1st in Newfoundland, this week's museum highlight features a First World War era bayonet. Bayonet donated by Gordon Flynn [999.4.4] Bayonets are a knife or dagger shaped weapon which is attached to a gun, typically a rifle, to create a longer reach. They bayonet is used as a last resort combat weapon, but are also used to control prisoners, check to see if a body is dead, and as utility knives. Bayonet. Note the modifications made. This bayonet is a Ross Rifle Co. blade that was made in Quebec. The maker's mark reads "Ross Rifle Co / Quebec / Patented 1907" and it is date stamped 3-10 (March 1910) with  a faded arrowhead in a circle which indicates ownership by the Canadian Government. The characteristic I I indicating a Mk. II is absent, instead it reads 08, and the inspection number is also 8. The crown over the inspection number is also faded. This type of bayonet was not adopted until 1908, even if the patent was f...

Harry Bray Young My great grand-father served in World War 1 as a machine gunner for the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. The regiment is of course famous for the fatal event that occured on July 1st, 1916 at Beaumont-Hamel, exactly 100 years ago, in which nearly 700 men died in a half hour. A great deal of fighting occured after this in the same area, since very little territory was gained in these massive battles, and my great grand-father participated in the fighting that occured after. He was not the only one in my family to sign up for combat. His brother also signed up when he was eighteen and was in the war for an incredible five years. To give you an idea of how long that was, they say that 98% of people can only handle 90 days of intense modern warfare before battle fatigue sets in. The intense artillery blasts and risk of being hit by shells at any moment, or sniped from a far distance at any time and also seeing your friends sniped as well, makes modern warfare somethi...

I am a bit of a bibliophile, and one of the first things I noticed when I first arrived at the Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove Museum to start as the museum coordinator was all of the books. Some of the are associated with a library that was once run out of this building, and some are associated with the book club (if you're interested in the book club contact April Kenny at the Town Council Office at 709.726.7930 Ext. 23), but many are donations and are scattered throughout the exhibits. Taking a look through some of the books, there are many interesting things written on the inside cover. Of course there are many interesting things written between the covers, but that's not as interesting in terms of the people from Logy Bay, Middle Cove and Outer Cove. It started it a boarding pass sticking out of a book... I hope they had a good trip! Which turned into a scavenger hunt throughout the books. Math calculations in an English grammar text Is this the Kinsella...

Everyone is waiting for #CapelinRoll2016! To find those fish we just watch the waves and see the capelin roll in. But what about when fishermen want to find other fish? A handy tool was a fish finder. Fish finder [997.3.2] This long, hollow, cone shaped device was used to find fish underwater. Both ends were flat, and the larger end (the bottom) would have a glass insert. The fisherman would hold the finder by the handle and insert the glass end just below the waves. This would allow the fisherman to look into the top end to see if there were any fish in the traps without having to haul up the trap. The glass end (broken) of the fish finder [997.3.2] Sometimes more modern methods can be used to check traps. For instance, it's not unheard of for fishermen in Holyrood to ask the Marine Institute students training to fly Remote Operated Vehicles to use the ROVs to check their traps! The open end of the fish finder [997.3.2] This particular fish finder belonged to P...

"Tales of Logy Bay" by M.S. Strawbridge In Atlantic Guardian vol. 11 no. 1, 1954, pages 17-21. A wonderful story looking at the sights and history of Logy Bay as told by a cyclist. The article is framed by the song, Star of Logy Bay, and explores Logy Bay, Outer Cove, Middle Cove, the impact of the Torbay Airport and the USAF and RCAF in the area, St. Francis of Assisi Church, the laying of the trans-Atlantic cable at Middle Cove Beach and the steep cliffs and hairpin turns of Marine Drive. Found while exploring the Memorial University of Newfoundland digital archives . Here at the museum, we also wonder who the lucky lady is. If you know, and know if her house is still standing, please let us know!

It was a visitor favourite last year, so Archaeologist For A Day is back again for 2016! If your child participated last year, don't worry, we've changed the program just a little so it will be a little bit different and a little bit new. Hope to see you at the museum!

This week's artifact is a stone bottle that once contained ginger beer. This museum coordinator remembers enjoying malt drinks the last time she traveled to Barbados. This brewed drinks are not what we think of when we think of beer, instead, they are easier to think of as a brewed soda as they typically contain no, or a negligible amount, of alcohol. The sodas we most commonly get are syrups with CO2 added, not brewed like they once were. USBORNE "NONE NICER' BRAND GINGER BEER GUARANTEED BREWED ASCOTT-UNDER-WYCHWOOD [009.8.17] One of the more popular brewer of beer in Newfoundland used to be Gaden's, with their distinctive sea lion on an ice flow logo. In fact, at the start of WWII, Newfoundlanders didn't really drink sodas, but drank beer in cherry, grape and orange flavours ( Daly 2015 ). US servicemen who arrived on the UST Edmund B. Alexander in 1941 discovered this quickly. Dominick (Tony) DeAntonio, in particular, found out that he couldn...