Viewing Object

Object Description

Object Name

Oral History

Object ID

SR-271

Title

Interview of Del Barron conducted by Warren Sommer in 2014.

Date

3 Jun., 5 Jun. 2014.

Description

SR 271 is a recording of an interview conducted by Warren Sommer of Del Barron on 3 Jun. and 5 Jun. 2014.

SR 271.1 Disc 1.
Track 1 – Interviewer gives introduction. Del gives his full name and birthday and the names of his parents and where they lived before the married.
Track 2 – Del gives the names and birth years of all of his siblings. Del also discusses their move from Alberta to BC.
Track 3 – Del discusses further his family’s move out to Langley and tells some stories about their trip.
Track 4 – Del discusses the Great Depression and how different people survived through it. Del also talks about why their family moved from Alberta to BC.
Track 5 – Del discusses how his family ended up in Langley and his father’s job as a mechanic.
Track 6 – Del talks about his dad’s beginnings as a mechanic in Murrayville and how it grew and changed over the years.
Track 7 – Del talks about when his father’s garage was open for 24 hours a day, and then how they cut down the hours over time.
Track 8 – Del discusses the renovations they made to the garage over the years, and his and brother’s involvement with the garage.
Track 9 – Del discusses the different businesses around the garage when it first opened.
Track 10 – Del talks about growing up in Murrayville and their neighbourhood when they were children.
Track 11 - Del talks about their house when they first moved in and what they added over the years.
Track 12 – Del continues talking about the renovations they made on their house over the years.
Track 13 – Del talks about the different chores he and his siblings had growing up, as well as how they’d fill their spare time.
Track 14 – Del continues talking about how they would spend their time as children and compares it to how children spend their time today.
Track 15 – Del talks about his family during the war and the effect it had on their livelihood; conversation turns to their meals and the rarity of chicken.
Track 16 – Del talks about most people's behavior when he was younger. Del also discusses the Japanese Canadian and Italian kids in his school.
Track 17 – Del talks about the lack of crime in Murrayville growing up. Del also discusses his teachers at Murrayville School.
Track 18 – Del talks about his involvement in the Scouts.
Track 19 – Del talks about the segregation of genders in school and later on in the beer parlours.
Track 20 – Del talks about his school years and the strictness of the teachers.
Track 21 – Del talks about his first jobs delivering the Vancouver Sun and being a farm hand.
Track 22 – Del talks about summer activities. Conversation then moves to his family’s involvement in the church.
Track 23 – Del talks about his mother driving. Del also discusses Saturday night shopping in the 1950s.
Track 24 – Del talks about locking their doors when he was growing up. Del also talks about a few fires that happened in the Langley area when he was young.
Track 25 – Del talks about the relationship between Catholics and Protestants, and discusses keeping the Sabbath as a day of rest.
Track 26 – Del discusses musical instruments in his home growing up, as well as the different radios and stations they’d listen to. Del also talks about getting the newspapers.
Track 27 – Del discusses community hall dances and the different halls as well as the music played at the dances.
Track 28 – Del talks about his parents' pastimes as well as the reputation of Fort Langley when he was growing up.

SR 271.2 Disc 2

Track 1 – interviewer gives an introduction and recap of the previous interview (on a different date, on the previous disc, 271.1). Del talks about his parent’s social life when he was a child. Del also briefly discusses the Great Depression.
Track 2 – Del discusses different methods they used to preserve food. Del also discusses 4-H.
Track 3 – Del talks about some of the other businesses around their garage and in Murrayville.
Track 4 – Del discusses different places he and his friends would visit in his teenage year, both locally and other cities and municipalities.
Track 5 – Del talks about going to New Westminster for shopping. Del also talks about the Langley Prairie Theatre.
Track 6 – Del discusses May Day, the Fall Fair and the Royal visit of 1939.
Track 7 – Del discusses the PNE and vacations with his family growing up.
Track 8 – Del discusses his memories of the war years, including movies at the Langley Theatre, black outs, rationing, and when his oldest brother joined up.
Track 9 – Del continues talking about the war, but focuses on how his school contributed to the cause.
Track 10 – Del continues talking about the war, this time discussing how the German and Italian families were treated during the war years.
Track 11 – Del discusses his memories of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the effects that event had on life in Langley.
Track 12 – Del talks about his years at Langley Central School, and dropping out when he was 16.
Track 13 – Del talks about his flying lessons and tells some stories about his different experiences and memories.
Track 14 – Del discusses how Langley changed after the war; Del also discusses how he met his wife.
Track 15 – Del talks about the different modern appliances his family acquired over the years; the conversation turns to Del’s work as an electrician.
Track 16 – Del talks about the different work he’s done over the years, including electrical and mechanical.
Track 17 – Del discusses the construction of Highway 1 and the impact that had on their garage and Langley overall. Del also lists off other garages that were close to their garage.
Track 18 – Del talks about how their business had to adjust to the changing models of vehicles.
Track 19 – Del talks about the different models of cars his dad sold as part of their business.
Track 20 – Del discusses the change from independent gas companies to the large corporations and how it impacted their business.
Track 21 – Del discusses selling their business and how Langley has changed over the years.

People/Subject

4-H Club

Cummings' Meat Market

Roderick Cumming took up a homestead in Langley in 1888, with his wife Flora Matheson, and began slaughtering hogs and cattle to supply meat to district logging camps and then opened the Cumming’s Meat Market at Murrayville’s Five Corners.

Rod Cumming and his son Daniel Cumming owned and operated the meat market together and photos show them working a meat stall at the New Westminster Market, known as the “City Market”, from 1898-1906. Daniel took over the meat market in 1953 when Roderick passed away at the age of 90.

Cummings, Daniel, 1889-1989

Daniel Cummings was born on 18 July, 1889 to Roderick Cummings and Flora Matheson. He married Rizpah Selby-Hele on 25 March, 1914. Daniel died on 27 November, 1989.

Daniel Cummings was interviewed by the museum in 1976. It can be found at SR-026 and SR-027.

Term Source: The Langley Story, pg. 251 (Waite), Cemetery Report - Murrayville Burials pg. 14 (Township of Langley)

DesRochers' Garage

After the fire of 1928, Wilfred DesRochers moved his business to the north side of Yale Road and changed the name to the Langley Tire Shop. After 1948 it became the Langley Shell Garage.

Klondike (Klondyke) Nights

Klondike Nights (often "Klondyke" or sometimes "Nite") was an annual celebration from the late 1940s to late 1950s. The celebration took place in October each year at the Fort Langley Community Hall and welcomed a dance floor and skits, along with novelty booths and bingo. The event was sponsored by all the organizations in the community. Proceeds went to various fundraising efforts, including starting of the Langley Centennial Museum. Kelsey Moore and Roy Seney was a major organizer of the event.

Langley Advance (newspaper)

The paper was originally entitled the Langley Advance, and was first published July 23, 1931.The paper was started by Ernest J. Cox, who had moved to BC from North Battleford, Saskatchewan to take a half interest in the Abbotsford News along with Gerald Heller. At the same time, the Langley Board of Trade had been negotiating with Heller to start a paper in Langley: Cox took up the task. A few months after the Advance was founded, Cox and Heller went their separate ways, and Cox retained the Langley paper and Heller kept the Abbotsford paper. Cox ran the paper with the help of his wife and two teenaged children. After the war, son Fred Cox returned to the paper along with George Johnson (an RAF instructor) who had married daughter, Kathleen Cox. In 1947 Jim Schatz joined the paper. In 1949 The Langley Advance Publishing Co. Ltd. was formed with principals E.J. and Fred Cox, Johnson, and Schatz. E.J. Cox went into semi-retirement in 1958, and Fred Cox sold his interests in the paper, but took controlling interest of the commercial printing portion of the business. Schatz served as publisher and editor, and was well known in the BC newspaper industry. In 1981 Bob Groeneveld became editor, and remains editor today (2005).
Term Source: Paper Trails: a history of British Columbia and Yukon Community Newspapers, 1999 (by George Allan Afflek).

Langley Central School

This building was originally Langley High School. It later became Langley Central School, before finally being Langley Central Fundamental School. It burned down in the 1990s.

Langley Hotel

In 1920, John S. Donnelly opened a boarding house in Langley Prairie (this original location is unclear). By 1921, he was running the Station Hotel, a two-storey building just west of the railway station. Early in the same year it was renamed the Langley Prairie Hotel, and became the Half-Way Hotel later that year. In 1926 Conrad Traversy started running the business, and renamed it the Langley Hotel. The next year Ralph Godall and his wife took over the hotel, and on May 21, 1928, while they were away and a Mr. and Mrs. Rolph were looking after the hotel for them, a fire broke out at the rear of the hotel. Within a few minutes the whole hotel was on fire, starting the Langley Prairie Fire. The fire spread to Sam Brown's Barber Shop, Mclean's Dry Goods, the Interurban Station, and then across the road to Alf Warman's Bakery. From there it spread to the Hilton Brothers Garage, the Fraser Motors' storage shed, Wilfred DesRochers' tire sop, Fred Pollard's tinsmith shop, Jim Morris's grocery store, and Pete Prytherch's shoe repair shop. The Langley Hotel was not rebuilt on this site.

May Day celebrations

Fort Langley established its May Day in 1922, and it continues to be an annual tradition (2003). In Langley, May Day refers to the 24 of May, the date of the birth of Queen Victoria. The first May Day was held in Fort Langley, then the event moved to Langley Prairie from 1923-1957. In 1958 the Langley Kinsmen gave up the event, and it returned to Fort Langley where it was organized by the Community Improvement Society and the Fort Langley Lions club, and finally a community committee. May Day celebrations include the crowning of the May Queen and the May pole dancing.

Superbase See Also: May Day Celebrations - Langley Prairie
Term Source: Warren Sommer's "From Prairie to City", p. 154.

Milner Community Hall

(Also listed as Milner Community Hall/Food Market/Esso)
Found at 6830-216 Street, the Milner Community Hall is a two-storey building built in 1912. The ground floor was used for various commercial enterprises, including the Bank of Hamilton. The upper floor had a hardwood floor and was used for dances and other community events. From 1922-1924, the Milner Co-operative Society leased two ground floor rooms to the Langley School Board.

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Argus v4.4.2.32 - Langley Centennial Museum