Cantley 1889 Articles

‘Tis the season...for reflecting on our past...

By Margaret Phillips

For many, the holiday season conjures up memories of bygone times and family traditions.

Sharing these with family and friends is what makes this time of year special. Reflecting on what Christmases might have been like in Cantley long ago can evoke similar feelings of connection with families who lived here before us.

Let’s imagine the festive season in Cantley a century ago – December 1921

Cantley’s landscape was sparsely populated with farms dotting our snowy rolling hills. Many farms were isolated because of snow-buried roads. Yet, with neighbours helping snowbound neighbours with horse-drawn sleighs, everyone was able to congregate for the Christmas church services at St. Elizabeth’s or St. Andrew’s.

Christmas 1921 must have been exceptionally special. Finally, the past seven years of turmoil and tragedy were over. Between 1914 and 1918, many young people left Cantley to “do their duty” elsewhere for the war effort. Then, as World War I ended, both cholera and the “Spanish” flu pandemic hit the world with a vengeance.

For almost two years, essential services closed, city schools were turned into hospitals, and mask-wearing became compulsory in public spaces. In Canada, 50,000 died, most between the ages of 20 and 40. After the fourth wave hit in 1920, the pandemic finally subsided. In 1921, Quebec established its first public health care regime.

Feelings of optimism characterized the 1920s

The “Roaring 20s” was a decade of rapid growth, innovation, new ideas – the dawn of consumerism and of the modern era. New priorities upset conventional ideas. Women’s voices became stronger. “Flapper girls” defied “ladylike rules.” Styles changed. Telephone service was introduced to homes. Automobiles were becoming affordable.

This was the radical new “Jazz Age”. In 1921, establishments selling alcohol re-opened when Quebec abolished Prohibition. By December 1921, Cantley families must have felt the beginning of this renewed freedom and security. They could gather once again for Christmas feasts. Friends and neighbours celebrated their traditional holiday house parties together. Children helped cut and decorate their family Christmas trees, excited about the holidays to come and, of course, the gifts they hoped to receive.

Families in Cantley had difficulty purchasing store-bought gifts. They were typically hand-made. Stockings were filled with favourite candy and perhaps fruit, an exotic treat since imported produce was rare and expensive. Travelling to stores to buy gifts in Hull or Ottawa was a long, cold journey by open horse-drawn sleigh. Even ordering gifts by mail was not easy. Cantley’s post office was closed in 1915 until 1926 (when reopened by Mayor Poulin). Cantley’s residents had to cross the Gatineau River by ferry to use Chelsea’s Kirk’s Ferry post office. After the river froze, they crossed on its ice bridge to pick up their mail.

Perhaps in 1921, renewed prosperity meant children received store-bought gifts. Likely these gifts were ordered by mail from the indispensable “Eaton’s Catalogue”, sent twice a year to Canadian homes. Children studied its pages, dreaming of toys they might receive, just as in Roch Carrier’s classic story The Hockey Sweater and as today’s children dream of their online wish lists

Descendants of Cantley’s 1920s children shared their seasonal memories in L’Écho de Cantley – December editions of 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019. These are available on the Cantley 1889 articles or on L’Écho de Cantley’s online archives.

‘Tis the season... to wish our Echo readers happy holidays.

May your season be festive, full of many happy memories, new and old! ~ Cantley 1889

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