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at Salmon Bay and Bonne Bay until she married again in 1920 and started to raise a
second family:·16s Martha MacDonald described her life as a widow with a daughter to
support. She \\'ent out as a servanl girl for S5.00 per month 10 support her daughter and
herself after her husband died in 1941. Two years later she received a welfare allowance
ofSIS.OO e\'cry three months. Later she \\ent 10 \\ork in Blanc ahlon for SI5.00 a month.
he was in service rest ofher life. travelling as far as Hopedale to augment her income. l66
Cooking. children. laundry. and helping with Ihe fish would be the main activities
during the summer fisher)'. Howc\"cr. there was also time for household chores that
nonnally took place during the \\inter but could also conlribute to the family economy.
Mrs. B. ofCarbonear. Conception Bay. born in 1897. spent h\Cnty-se\cn
summers on the Labrador at Square Island. Shc spent winters at home doing the family
chores and knilting nelS. In the summer on the Labrador. she would hook mats when she
was freed from other dutics.
Many timcs thcy would reccive news that thc fish was bettcr "up thc shorc" so
fishcrmcn would go away for several days at a time leaving the families in Square
Island. On nights that the men were gone the womcn would get togethcr for a mat
hooking bce. Usually two or three women would gather together uOer the children
werc put to bed and work on thc samc mat. Whcn a Illat was finished they would
start on another and in the end sharc up the mats. 167
One wintcr, Mrs. B. exchanged cleven mats for clcven pairs of nlbbcr bootS. 161
16S Them Days 2:3 (J 977), pp. 8-10.
'66 Them Do)'s. 2:3 (1977): 7.
167 MU FLA. illS. 80-091. p. 12.
161 Ibid.
113