In the 1930's - 1940's

by Tyler Smith and Ryan Crowle

In the winter of 1996 my classmate and I interviewed Mr. Norm MacIntyre. We interviewed him for about 1 hour. In this hour we gathered information about family life in Prince Township during the 30's and 40's.

Mr. MacIntyre had lived in Prince Township area for nearly 35 years. He moved out to the area when he was 10 years old and moved away when he was 45 years of age.

He preferred the country over the city because the country offered more freedom than the city. He also preferred it because it was more quiet and peaceful than the city.

There were many chores around the house that Norm had to do. One of these chores included cutting a lot of wood. His other chores were mainly in the barn. He had to: clean the barn, and milk the cows when he got up and when he came home from school.

Norm's family was like the average family in Prince Township. The average number of children in a family back then was 6-10. Norm had 6 brothers and 2 sisters. Their father was very strict. In fact he was so strict that when any of them misbehaved they would get whipped with the strap.

In their house they had no indoor plumbing, no insulation, no electricity, and no television; But they did have one radio. The houses in the area were usually 2-3 storeys.

Norm's first job was working for his father building houses. Back then World War II was going on and money was scarce. All of the money that he earned went into the household.

From what Norm has told us we're sure we wouldn't want to live back then.

Note: World War II was going on when he was a wee boy.