Interview with Marcella Love
https://search.bvmuseum.org/link/descriptions12261
- Date Range
- April 22 1991
- Collection
- BVM Oral History collection
- Description Level
- File
- GMD
- sound recording
- electronic record
- Scope and Content
- Interview with Marcella Love (nee Edmonds), recorded on April 22nd 1991 by Smithers Alternate School student Peter McGuinness. Includes raw and edited .WAV files, .MP3 access files, and a .jpg release form.
- Collection
- BVM Oral History collection
- Description Level
- File
- Creator
- Peter McGuinness
- Fonds No.
- C5
- Item No.
- 2021.21.54
- Accession No.
- 2021.21
- Physical Description
- 1.80 GB of digital records
- Date Range
- April 22 1991
- Scope and Content
- Interview with Marcella Love (nee Edmonds), recorded on April 22nd 1991 by Smithers Alternate School student Peter McGuinness. Includes raw and edited .WAV files, .MP3 access files, and a .jpg release form.
- Type of Record
- Archival Description
Audio Tracks
Interview with Marcella Love - April 22, 1991
Interview with Marcella Love - April 22, 1991
https://search.bvmuseum.org/media/Digital%20Fonds%20and%20Collections/C5%20BVM%20Oral%20History%20collection/2021.21.54_Love,%20Marcella/Love,%20Marcella%201991_04_22.ACCESS.mp3
Marcella Love (nee Edmonds) describes her first impressions upon moving to Smithers as a teenager in 1942. She explains why she did not attend high school in Smithers and instead entered the work force.
boardwalks; Bulkley Hotel; Clarence Goodacre Sr.; Goodacre's Store; highway; Katie Bernie; Main Street ditches; mastoids; mud; Olof Hanson; Prince Rupert; railway; school; short-term jobs; spring; trains
arrival; employment; first impressions; jobs; transportation; working
Love discusses the destructive Main Street fires of the mid-1940s, one of which she and her sisters narrowly escaped. Section also includes brief discussion on how the environment around Smithers has changed since that time.
air force; body cast; development; Edmonds sisters; expansion; fire department; firefighting; Hudson Bay Mountain glacier; nephew; Royal Bank
changes; environment; fires; Main Street fires; McGill building
Love discusses the effects of the Second World War on Smithers, particularly the presence of army and air force personnel stationed in and near the town.
Anglican Church Hall; army barracks; dances; McGill building; mess hall; officers' building; Town Hall
air force; army; RCAF; World War II
Love discusses what she did for fun during her teenage years and how she met her husband Wally.
dances; skiing; softball; swimming
entertainment; recreation; sports; teenagers; Wally Love; youth
Love describes what it was like to work at the Royal Bank and Goodacre's Store during the 1940s.
accounting books; bagging; Bert Kenney; bulk foods; cash registers; clerks; coupons; deliveries; groceries; guns; interest rates; ledger system; orders; pay; prices; rationing; robberies; Union Bank; wages; World War II
duties; employment; Goodacre's Store; jobs; occupations; responsibilities; Royal Bank; work; working
Love discusses the Main Street fires, specifically how they may have started and how she and her family were able to escape.
Blue Goose Cafe; buildings; Bulkley Hotel; forest fires; McGill building; ski dance
escape; fires; Main Street fires; survival
Love identifies various businesses open in Smithers at the time of the fires and discusses how people came into town to buy their groceries and supplies.
Charlie Morris' Store; Elliott's Store; Goodacre's Store; Gray's Jewelry; Hoskins Garage; Leach Brothers' Store; Noel's Store; O'Neill's Garage; Smithers Bakery; tailor shop; Wall's; Watson's Store
businesses; groceries; shopping; Smithers
Love answers the question of whether there were people of diverse ethnicities living in Smithers back in the 1940s.
Babine Lake; BC Cafe; Chinese cafes; Europeans; Moricetown; reservations; reserves; Swiss immigrants; Wing's Cafe; Witset
diversity; ethnicities; ethnicity; Indigenous people; race
Love identifies the types of transportation available during her time in Smithers.
cars; costs; Jim Adams; shopping; Wall's Taxi
transportation; vehicles
Love discusses the house she designed in 1970 and in which she lived at the time of the interview. Section also includes discussion on how the weather has changed over the years.
architectural plans; cold; daughters; fireplace; grandchildren; Hazelton; Kispiox Valley; layout; Second Avenue; shopping; snow; snow removal; winters
climate; home; house; housing; temperatures; weather
Love talks about her husband Wally and his family's background in the Kispiox Valley.
Anna Love; bachelors; England; Farmer's Institute; farming; Grand Trunk Pacific Railway; homestead; John Love; Kispiox village; Sweden
family background; homesteading; Kispiox Valley; Love family; Wally Love
Love discusses how, as an employee of the Royal Bank, she handled mail and payroll for many different business ventures throughout the Valley, such as mines, sawmills, and tie camps.
deposits; Duthie Mine; Hazelton; Houston; Kispiox; Kitwanga; mail; population; Red Rose Mine; Silver Standard Mine; Simpson's Gulch; Topley
banking; businesses; forestry; logging; mines; mining; resource industries; Royal Bank; sawmills; tie camps
Love discusses jobs she held after leaving the Royal Bank, including guiding big game hunters in the Kispiox Valley and operating her own jade-selling business.
Americans; big game guiding; big game hunting; Credit Union; fishermen; geology; guide-outfitting; guiding camps; Hanson Lumber & Timber; hunters; jade business; jade mining; Love brothers; Royal Bank; Smithers Airport; tourists; Tyee Motel
businesses; employment; jade; jobs; occupation
Love answers a few final questions - if there was a year when a large influx of people came to Smithers, and whether her family ever farmed.
Glentanna; railway; Swiss immigrants
farming; immigration; population boom