|
 ossessions ranged from
fishing boats to beds. Items were either imported, manufactured
locally or homemade.
Most imports and goods produced by trained craftspeople first passed
through the hands of local merchants. Before 1949, fishing families
rarely saw cash. Fish were exchanged for foodstuffs, clothing and
fishing gear and whatever else might be afforded. Merchants kept a
ledger of fish purchased and items supplied and balanced accounts
at the end of each fishing season. This arrangement, called the
"truck" or barter system, was often weighted in favour of the
merchants. As a result, fishing families generally had little extra
'in their pots and in their purses.'
|
|
Grappling Hook
Locally Produced
Graplin or grappling hook, Port de Grave, Conception Bay, made
by the local blacksmith, Bill Tom Hussey, from a wheel and axle
of an iron ore cart, circa 1930. During the 1930s and 1940s, Port
de Grave fishers often visited Bell Island to sell salmon or to
spend the night when they fished near Kelly's Island or Little Bell
Island. They often brought back discarded items from the dump near
the iron mine, to give to their blacksmith.
(Newfoundland Museum)
|
|
Splitting Cuffs
Homemade
Pair of woolen splitting cuffs, collected from Burnside, Bonavista Bay, mid 20th century.
(Newfoundland Museum)
|
|
|
Early Imports
 ewfoundland's commercial
fishery began with migratory Spanish, Portuguese, French and British
fishing crews in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the past
several decades, archaeology of early settlements and shipwrecks has
provided evidence of the possessions of these fishers. A shipwreck
excavated in Trinity Harbour, Trinity Bay is believed to be the
British merchant vessel Speedwell which was reported locked in ice
in 1781 and subsequently sunk. The site revealed over 1000 artifacts,
which showed the range of goods imported to supply the trading centre
of Trinity.
|
|
