Childhood memories from the 1930s

By Joan Janzen

Have you ever wondered what it was like to grow up in Saskatchewan in the 1930s? Kindersley resident Gordon Holmes was able to provide the answer, as he was born on July 11, 1932, near Hopedale, Saskatchewan. He grew up on the family farm, which was located in the Hopedale School District, southeast of Coleville.

“We lived in a small house with a kitchen, living room and bedroom. In the winter, cream and milk were kept frozen in the porch,” Gordon said. “I remember getting up for breakfast, and Mother gave me a bowl of porridge and put a scoop of frozen cream on top. It would melt, was so good!” In the summer, food was kept cold in an ice house.

Gordon Holmes, turned 90 years old this year, and enjoys living in Kindersley, with his daughter. Photo by Joan Janzen

Gordon remembers his first day of school as if it had happened yesterday. His parents bought him a Shetland pony, who faithfully transported six-year-old Gordon to Hopedale school. The distance covered was a mile and a half from their farm.

Gordon and his pony travelled alone each day since Gordon was an only child. I always said, “They had me and thought they couldn’t do any better,” Gordon chuckled. “My pony took me to school in all kinds of weather. If a blizzard came up while we were at school, we went home no matter what,” he recalls. Gordon was one of the eight students who attended the one-room school.

During the cold winter days, the students kept their coats on while huddled in their desks in a half circle around the stove. “A partition was put up in the middle of the room, so there was less space to heat,” Gordon said.

Meanwhile, the children’s horses spent the day in the school barn. “At 3:30, you’d get on your horse, and you couldn’t hold it back!” Gordon laughed. “It had been standing around all day and wanted to get home!” He remembered a couple of kids whose horse would break free from their cart or sleigh almost daily. “Lots of cuss words were said,” he noted.

“In those days, kids weren’t getting presents at Christmas,” Gordon explained. He remembered being disappointed after waking up one Christmas morning and the only gift his parents could afford was a book he needed for school. But he did receive an orange and a hand full of candy. However, as Gordon got older and the family’s financial situation improved, there were presents distributed, especially at the school Christmas concert.

“We would have a Christmas concert; other districts would come, and we would go to theirs. Of course, all travel was by sleigh,” he said. “We used to enjoy Christmas time because for a month at school, we would practice plays and sing Christmas carols.” At the concert, Santa would make an appearance, hand out Christmas oranges, candy, and a small gift for each child.

“We made up our own entertainment in those days. We’d get behind the horses with skis, and they would pull us around,” he said. He also remembered a summer sports day held between Dodsland and Kindersley. “My dad really wanted to go, but admission was 25 cents for an adult,” Gordon said. His dad sold a small bag of seed and used the money to pay for the admission.

He also remembered his teacher’s husband making a big kite, putting a lantern on it and flying it in the sky during one of the community dances. Gordon and his parents never travelled too far. The 18-mile trip, with a horse and cutter, to Kindersley for supplies would take from early morning until late in the evening.

But it wasn’t long before young Gordon had to go to school in Biggar, Sask. “Because we only had eight kids in our school, we had trouble getting teachers,” he explained. “One year, I was sent to a convent in Biggar that took boys up to 12 years of age and girls up to high school.”

Although there were approximately twenty boys at the school, Gordon was extremely homesick and didn’t return after Christmas. Since there wasn’t a teacher at the Hopedale School, Gordon attended the Beaufield School for the remainder of the year and lived with his grandparents who lived in that district.

He completed his Grade 8 at the country school, took his Grade 9 by correspondence, and spent his Grade 10-12 years at the high school in Kindersley, residing at the dormitory when it opened up. Gordon and a friend were looking forward to going home for their Easter break. The day before Good Friday, a blizzard completely blocked the highways. The two determined teens walked eight miles north until they arrived at Gordon’s friend’s house, where they stayed for a week. “The snow was up to the telephone wires on the highway,” he said. Gordon’s dad met them at the highway with a team and sleigh and took Gordon home, where the boys spent their second week of holidays.

When it was time to return to Kindersley, another blizzard came up, but the boys were transported to town on a snow plane. A snow plane was a cab on skis with a motor and propeller at the back. “The fellow who owned it was taking a patient from Kindersley back home to Coleville, and my parents asked if he would pick us up and take us to Kindersley,” Gordon said.

The retired farmer resides in a townhouse with his daughter Pat Elliott. He also has a son in Kindersley and a daughter in Calgary and lost his dear wife after 46 years of marriage. He treasures many fond memories and is currently writing an autobiography.