Interview with Hal Windt
https://search.bvmuseum.org/link/descriptions12274
- Date Range
- February 10, 1994
- Collection
- BVM Oral History collection
- Description Level
- File
- GMD
- sound recording
- electronic record
- Scope and Content
- Interview with Harold (Hal) Windt, recorded on February 10th 1994 by Colin Wilmot. Includes raw and edited .WAV files, an .MP3 access file, and a .jpg release form.
- Collection
- BVM Oral History collection
- Description Level
- File
- Creator
- Colin Wilmot
- Fonds No.
- C5
- Item No.
- 2021.21.77
- Accession No.
- 2021.21
- Physical Description
- 988 MB of digital records
- Date Range
- February 10, 1994
- Scope and Content
- Interview with Harold (Hal) Windt, recorded on February 10th 1994 by Colin Wilmot. Includes raw and edited .WAV files, an .MP3 access file, and a .jpg release form.
- Type of Record
- Archival Description
Audio Tracks
Interview with Hal Windt - February 10, 1994
Interview with Hal Windt - February 10, 1994
https://search.bvmuseum.org/media/Digital%20Fonds%20and%20Collections/C5%20BVM%20Oral%20History%20collection/2021.21.77_Windt,%20Hal/Windt,%20Hal%201994_02_10.ACCESS.mp3
Interview begins with Windt identifying people in old photographs and discussing his school days in Smithers.
basketball; Bill Beaton; Larry Warner; Margaret Windt; nicknames; Olga Syrnyk; Pearl Hann; schoolteachers; Smithers Public School; Tom Jones; Vera Doodson
photographs; school; sports
Windt discusses how he moved from place to place after leaving Smithers in 1939, working various jobs in different towns throughout BC as well as training for the Air Force in Ottawa during the Second World War.
business school; Hazelton; Ottawa; road surveying; Vancouver; working; World War II
Air Force; employment; jobs; military service; money; moving; occupations; payment; prices; wages
Discussion of the Central Park Building and how police sergeants used to live on the top floor with their families.
Andy Fairbairn; Bill Service; jail cells; T.J. Thorpe; Tom Thorpe
Central Park Building; police sergeants; police station; Provincial Police
Windt talks about his friendship with Chris Dahlie, who taught him how to ski.
Elsie Dahlie; Hanson's farm; homemade skis; making skis; Malkow Hill; Silvern Lake; ski jumps
Chris Dahlie; Dahlie family; recreation; ski trips; skiing; sports
Windt discusses several large fires on Smithers' Main Street in the 1940s (not the 1930s as he states). He also identifies several buildings in streetscape photos from the 1950s.
Adams' Drug Store; Broadway Avenue; Gray's Jewellery; Henry Motors; Interior Stationery; Juniper Berry; liquor store; Main Street; Noel's Store; post office; Radio Shack; town hall; town office
buildings; fires; Main Street fires
Windt discusses past Smithers resident John Gray and his family.
Ethel Gray; Ethel Hetherington; Flo Gray; Flo Parker; Mamie Buchan; Mamie Gray; marriages
Gray family; John Gray
Windt briefly discusses the Aida family as well as the town's original curling and skating rinks.
Aida Cleaners; Fujio Aida; Kintaro Aida
Aida family; curling rink; skating rink; Tat Aida
Windt discusses the O'Neill family and the businesses they ran, including a theatre.
Bill O'Neill; O'Neill family; O'Neill Service Station and Garage; theatre
Windt discusses the Watson family and their grocery store, as well as several other Smithers businesses of the day.
athletics; Evitt's Hardware Store; Morris' Butcher Shop; Sealy and Doodson; sports; Watson memoirs
buildings; businesses; Watson family; Watson's Store; Wilf Watson
Windt discusses the sort of 'trouble' that he and others got up to in their youth.
dances; homemade wine; making whiskey; petty theft
alcohol; drinking; theft; troublemaking
Windt discusses differences between 'now' and 'then' in terms of lifestyle, entertainment, transportation, and people's general expectations.
dances; Driftwood; skiing
differences; entertainment; expectations; walking
Windt discusses the difficulty of finding work in the 1930s. He also mentions when and how his parents first came to Smithers.
Department of Highways; Land Assessor's Office; Provincial Building; Quesnel; riverboat; survey crew; surveying
arrival; employment; Great Depression; work
Windt discusses his current hobbies, including spinning wool, knitting, hunting, and fishing.
fishing; health problems; hunting; knitting; spinning wool; weaving
activities; hobbies; leisure; recreation
Windt discusses skating and fishing in the ditches on Main Street, as well as if anyone ever fell in them while drunk.
Chicken Creek; fishing; skating
alcohol; drinking; Main Street ditches; recreation
Windt discusses beer parlours, hotels, and pool rooms in early Smithers. (Note: interview ends abruptly mid-sentence).
Bulkley Hotel; Downeys; Henry Motors; Kennedy's Pool Room; McRae Hotel; Moran's Pool Room; Smithers Hotel
bars; beer parlours; hotels; pool halls; pool rooms