Grandpa Scott and Sandy - 'Walking In A Winter Wonderland' - Carnival of Genealogy - 64th Edition

It's time for the Carnival of Genealogy's 64th Edition - 'Walking In A Winter Wonderland'.


Not All Misery During Canadian Winter

....Canada as a matter of fact has one of the healthiest climates in the world – our winters and all.... A good many Canadians do not realize this. They have got into the bad habit of blaming the climate unduly and thus disparaging the country. If they lived more in the out-of-doors and enjoyed and made use of the bracing winter weather, they might get over the illusion that this is a terrible country to live in. The greater part of our winter should be a joy to every normally healthy inhabitant of the country.

Manitoba Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 31 January 1927, p. 1


My mother grew up in Manitoba, Canada and always thought we wet coasters in south western British Columbia didn't even know what winter was. I never heard her or my Na complain about winter, except maybe about the slush and wet we kids tracked in on their clean floors.

This photo, signed 'Love Dad', shows my maternal grandfather, James Walter Scott (1885-1947) on the farm in winter at Newdale, Manitoba, Canada with the family's dog, Sandy.

I don't know what date this is, but it was probably in the 1930's as my mum was working in Winnipeg by then, and I imagine the photo was taken to send to her in the city. (She was an only child.) Likely my Na - my maternal grandmother, Amy Estella (Irwin) Scott (1884-1983) - took the picture.

I'd guess it's early in the winter as there's snow on the ground but Grandpa's not 'bundled up' yet. My mum told me once he always wore a hat. This one sure wouldn't keep his ears warm.

I never met Grandpa Scott, but I feel from what my mum and grandma told me of him that we'd have liked each other. My mother used to talk a lot about Sandy, the dog, a lot too. I remember she told me he was afraid of thunder storms and used to hide under the bed. Probably he liked winter as less chance of thunder then, I think.

Carnival of Genealogy – “Swimsuit Edition”: Newdale, Manitoba, Canada 1908

As I read the topic for this Carnival of Genealogy – “Swimsuit Edition”— this family photograph came to mind right away. It’s a clear favourite of mine – the bathing costumes alone are worth a good look. That’s my Na, Amy Estella Irwin, wearing the darker bathing dress and standing in the water. (She’s my mum’s mum.)

I’ve tentatively identified a few other people in the photograph, but not the place it was taken. Written on it is “Merry Widow Camp Aug ’08 Wolfe Lake” and apparently painted on the boat is “The Merry Widow 1908”.

I’d always thought the ‘Merry Widow’ reference meant that this was a local summer excursion or holiday, perhaps during the week when husbands weren’t able to stay. (The Merry Widow operetta came to Broadway in New York in 1907 and the music very quickly became well known. I loved the ‘Merry Widow waltz’ as a girl, but that’s another story.)

There is a Wolfe Lake in Manitoba, Canada, but it’s far, far north of Newdale where Na and her family lived. Could this have been a local name for one of the lakes nearby?

Although there’s no photographer’s name or information given, I do think it’s a Newdale area photograph as there is at least one other professional looking photograph identified in what seems to be the same handwriting. That shows the ‘Newdale Gun Club 1908’. My grandpa-to-be, James Walter Scott, is in that picture, but not in the ’Merry Widow one. He would have been clerking in a store in town in 1908.

Na looks a bit saucy here – she was a bit of a flirt, even in later years. I do wonder if she and the other two younger woman weren’t along to watch the children, so I hope they did have a good time at the ‘Merry Widow’ camp – all good, clean fun, of course.