Here is another convenient way to send us your thoughts on down-home living, and comment on the stories you've read in Downhome. All will be considered for inclusion in the "Notes from Home" section of the magazine.
Farmer's Weights
Re this item on page 17 of March 2013 issue: My Scottish husband, Alistair, a farmer (now retired), used weights like those in the photo to balance scales when weighing sacks of corn, barley, potatoes etc. He has weights of 7, 14, 28 and 56 pounds. He still has these weights, which were originally owned by his late father, Alexander, also a farmer. These weights would probably be over 100 years old.
Jan Stirling-Shewan Carrbridge, Inverness-shire, Scotland
(0 rating, 0 votes)
Wine With Wings
Newfoundland Wine shipped country wide (except in NL)
Shipping special $10/case Visit website
Advertisement
Weigh Scale Tester
(In response to Duane Maddigan's letter in March 2013 issue). I can remember around 1940-1950 seeing these around, "Toledo" scales. I think they were used to test weight scales for the needle or dial stop on the proper number of the weight put on the scale. The way they were moulded to form a handle allowed them to be moved around quite freely.
Roy Kline Halifax, NS
(0 rating, 0 votes)
From the Codfish Days
An answer for the "weighted question" for Duane Maddigan of Labrador City, NL (page 17 of the March issue): These weights were used for weighing fish. In one quintal of uncured codfish there were 112 pounds, so two weights of 56 pounds would be used. On the schooner there would be a seesaw device with a platform on one end for the weights and a handbar on the other to hold the fish.
Josiah M. Paul Gambo, NL
(2 rating, 3 votes)
Cast Iron weights
The weights Duane Maddigan found were still made in the late '60s and early '70s. They were used for checking weigh scales used for commercial use. Fifty-pound weights were the ones most commonly used.
Karen Gale
(2 rating, 1 votes)
Quintals and Drafts Dear Sir or Madam; I am an avid reader of your magazine. No sooner is it dropped in my mailbox than I have it open and am going over the pages.
I just read on page 17 about these weights, which this guy from Labrador City found in his grandfather's shed.
I don't know how old they are, but I can tell you that back in the '30s and '40s they got lots of use, ... click to read moreDear Sir or Madam; I am an avid reader of your magazine. No sooner is it dropped in my mailbox than I have it open and am going over the pages.
I just read on page 17 about these weights, which this guy from Labrador City found in his grandfather's shed.
I don't know how old they are, but I can tell you that back in the '30s and '40s they got lots of use, especially in October and November months when many schooners came home with lots of salt fish to be sun-dried and brought to St. John's to the fish merchants like Bowring Bros. etc.
In those days fish was weighed in drafts and quintals. A quintal was 112 lbs and a draft was 224 lbs. These weights were used to weigh the fish. The different sizes were used to balance the weights of the handbar and the fish. I saw these things used a lot when I was a boy. ... Hide full submission
Walter Howell Mount Pearl, NL
(5 rating, 1 votes)
Mystery Artist Found
This concerns the painting on p. 12 (March 2013 issue). It is by Elizabeth Margot Wall. There was an exhibition of her work at Sir Wilfred Grenfell Art College in 1995. The title of the exhibition was "Coastal Haven 1982-1995." She did sell her work through the Ewing Gallery in Corner Brook (709-634-4577). There was a booklet of her work for the exhibition possibly available through the art college. I heard that her eyesight was failing and she moved away to New Brunswick or Nova Scotia.
Name Withheld
(0 rating, 0 votes)
Bit of Sanity
Dear Downhome; All I've got to say is Thank God for Downhome magazine. It's the only bit of sanity I get from living in Edmonton. Me and my husband can't wait to head back home. It's been a long nine years. I share my copies with my sons. They also enjoy reading them. Keep up the good work. Can't wait to get my new copies.
P.S. I'm originally from Bonavista, NL
