Showing 68 results

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Alex and Mary Pankoski RECORDED: Kelowna (B.C.), 1982-07-18 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Alex and Mary Pankoski tell tale of stretching board. Tale teller, Frank Schlitz came from the States to Humboldt, Saskatchewan. More on the history of Frank. Was in the "Awkward Squad" in the army. Where he told tales. Story of Frank visiting bachelor and eating 22 eggs. Tale of Frank drinking a gallon of beer. Why Frank didn't marry. Frank winning a fish-eating contest: made the papers. Story of Frank eating raw muskrat. Betting that dog wouldn't eat wild duck. Tale of tough pancake. Frank's style of telling. Frank married a crippled Indian and took her to the Bessborough Hotel in Saskatoon. Story of moose head. Heard story at convention of trappers. Alex describes the graphic telling of the tale by a convention speaker. More on the Trappers' Convention in Prince Albert and its function, who attended. Tale of man trapped inside a moose. Joke about a Texan. Where Mary heard tales. Heard some tales on Bill Story's Farm program on CFQC, Saskatchewan. When tales are told. Recent visitors from Saskatchewan. The telling of tall tales. Frank as a teller. Story of Len, who beat Frank in a lying contest with a tale about a log boom. Story of a prank played on rower. Life histories of Alex and Mary, born in 1906 and 1918 respectively. Farming in Big River, Sask. Raising mink, rabbits and goats. Logging. Farm labour jobs. Mary's father was a sign painter. Heavy rain and big mosquitoes in Big River. Leaky shack. Alex recalls going deaf for several days after sleeping in well to get away from the mosquitoes. More on leaking roofs and mosquitoes. Where mosquito stories come from. Tale of rawhide harness. Big River was a good place for tall tales. Big River. Tale of mistaking timber wolf for dog. Tale of wolf and beaver.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Alfred and Jessie Ferguson RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1982-07-11 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Alfred and Jessie Ferguson tell tale about pulling cougar inside out. Tale about shooting wolf with bent barrel. Tale of hunting geese with rope. Description of tall taleteller Frank Verdier,; his life and work. How Frank blazed trail to Mill Bay. Frank born in later 1870s or 1880s. On his family. His tightness with money, but generosity in other ways. People Frank looked after. A remittance man. Chief Thunderbird, Paul Baptiste, a local wrestler and friend of Frank's. Frank told Indian stories and spoke Chinook. Frank did business with Indians and had an orchard, used to cut firewood.; When Frank told stories. Story of tricking sister into thinking baby rats were baby pigs. His storytelling style. A prank he played on Baptiste. Frank was superstitious and a good mathematician. His French-Irish accent. Where he got his stories. Who he told his tales to. Story of Frank at a business lunch. His family. Alfred telling tales to his children. Alfred's father's stories. Joke about snoo-snoo snake. TRACK 2: Jessie talks about telling cougar story on radio. Men and women telling tall tales. More on Frank's eccentricities. Frank's woods experiences. Cougars and wolves. Other storytellers. Jessie tells of her family coming to Victoria. Father's description of Canada. The big snow in Victoria, 1916. Telephone practical jokes. The lack of documentation of the past. Old-time entertainment. Victoria theatres. Houdini and other entertainers who passed through Victoria. Mosquitoes. Alfred's boss as storyteller -- his life story. Alfred's background, mostly in construction. His occupational history. Buildings he worked on. Jessie's life history. Born in Liverpool. Family history. Schools in Victoria when she was young. Her jobs during the Depression. More on her family. Alfred talks about Muggins, the dog who collected for the Red Cross during WWI in Victoria. His great grandfather who was a bricklayer in Victoria and buildings he built. Their former house, built by Alfred.

CALL NUMBER: T3973:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): William J. Law RECORDED: Parksville (B.C.), 1982-07-08 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: William J. (Bill) Law was born in 1897 and tells a story about how whales mate. Joke about a drunkard and his wife. A local character, Rabbit-Tracks, his history and family life. Story of Rabbit-Tracks catching wild cats. When such stories were told. "By God" Stafford story of milking whale. Story of Rabbit-Tracks in big city. Another big city story. Another character named Swivel-Neck. Writing a column for The Fisherman. Story of Swivel-Neck asking a rich man for money. Story of huge fish. Joke about "sociable" snakes. TRACK 2: Local entertainment, women telling stories. Joke about visitor mistaking the "prayers" of a little boy. Story about fisherman who lost his teeth in the sea. Law's own background: lack of success as a fisherman. How he began as boat captain. How his knowledge of engines saved his life in WWI and other engine stories of the War. Story of fixing boat engine in a boatyard after the War. Unreliable captains and story of one particular case. Story of tough navigating. Born in New Zealand, but came to Vancouver when 9 months old. Father was a miner. Recalls the Queen Charlotte Islands. Story of Indians who were friendly to him. Being a member of the "Loyal Order of the Whale's Tooth". Being honoured by the Indians.

CALL NUMBER: T3973:0005 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): William J. Law RECORDED: Parksville (B.C.), 1982-07-08 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Bill Law recitation of Louie and By God Stafford concerning a misread letter. The value of timber. Step-and-a-Half, a lumber camp bull and his liking of fresh eggs. Prank played on him. Returning the prank on the prankster. 8-day Wilson, remembers him in the army. Recalls By God Stafford on the army and telling story of meeting the King. Two pranksters who took tourists on trips and pointed out embarrassing sights. Painting the balls of a ram. Imitating dialects as a prank.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Bruce Watt RECORDED: Williams Lake (B.C.), 1982-07-23 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Bruce Watt tells tale about deep mud. Convoy of trucks in the mud. How he made faster time on horseback than could the trucks in the mud. Recalls speed sign on impassable road. When stories were told. Story of grizzly-hunting. Tale of bad dust storm and high wind. Tale tellers: Lester Dorsey and his horse-trading stories. Tells a Dorsey story. Tells another horse-trading tale. When he last told the deep mud tale: two men told him of a remarkable slave stud, and he told them the mud tale in reply. The mud. Story of motorist on mud trail. Story of notoriously slow talkers. Story about inexperienced American hunters. Stories of American hunters. Tells about American killing grizzly. Life history: born in 1926 and came to area in 1948. Was in Big Creek for 25 years, ranching and raising a family. Born in Chilliwack. Does guiding. Guiding story: trying to get a bear out of a tree. Cattle driving in the 1940s and 1950s. Trucks took over later.;

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Charles H. Simpson RECORDED: Kelowna (B.C.), 1982-07-19 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Charles H. Simpson tells a tale of fish emerging from ground. The difference between telling and writing tales. Doesn't tell stories very often. Tale of bus driver and passenger who knew each other in their youth. Expanding this story. Can't think of when stories might come up. Doesn't know other tall tale tellers. Tale of origin of Eskimo kiss. Story of woman who ate a lot of chicken after being ill. Story of blind woman who always waved at bus. Titling stories. His schooling and his talent for telling tales. See no value in writing down his tales -- there's already too much literature. Has never been a formal speaker. Life history: born in New Toronto in 1922. Both of his parents had poor health so he was "orphaned" out to farm about 75 miles northeast of Toronto. After four years, went to farm in Springfield, Ohio. Father was a disabled veteran of Vimy battle in WWI: he joined the U.S. Army and moved to Hawaii, then to Oklahoma, where Charles joined him. After his parents died, he went to farm in Minnesota near St. Paul. Joined the Canadian Army when WWII began. Tells story of visiting former foster home where there was already a place set for him. Joined the Canadian Army because he was a Canadian. After the war, he moved to New Westminster where he held a number of jobs, including carhop and carpenter. He is not ambitious; explains his ambitions. Has had blackouts since the war. TRACK 2: Blacked out once while tending orchard in Naramata -- found himself in Calgary three months later. Had operations in hospital. Now (1982) has a veteran's allowance which suffices for his simple lifestyle. His lifestyle. Learning as opposed to education. His reading.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Christopher Brayshaw and Drew DeVoe Brayshaw RECORDED: West Vancouver (B.C.), 1982-07-14 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Christopher Brayshaw and Drew DeVoe Brayshaw were born in 1970 and 1972 respectively. Tale of a sub destroyer. Learned story from "Reader's Digest" joke book. Tale of how to catch a crocodile;. Tale from same "Reader's Digest" book. When Chris tells tales: at school and among friends. Gets some jokes from his teacher, from books. Embellishing jokes. Drew heard several people tell the crocodile tale, but never told it before himself. Drew as joke-teller. Telling jokes at camp. Joke about marrying King's daughter. Learned tale from friends. Story of a man chased by a bear. Telling and learning jokes from parents. Joke about parrot auction. Joke about the "world's biggest hog". Shaggy dog story. Teacher as storyteller. Chris tells story of school prank played on him. Recalls school skit. His schooling. Chris sees himself as a trickster and joke teller. Tale about "hide-behind" animals. Side-hill gouger tale. Tale about thick fog.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): David G. "Cougar" McLay and Noelle Whitford RECORDED: Kimberley (B.C.), 1982-07-21 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: David G. "Cougar" McLay and Noelle Whitford tell tale about long-range shooting. Tale of deer going off with his gun. Angering his foreman by telling that tale. Tale of large fish. Why he tells stories. Story of rubber mine. Other storytellers. A teller named Gribble: his family and his stories. He told true stories about his own life. Recalls another teller, Herb Stanton. Cougar's father told stories: recalls and tells one about a hunting dog. Making up and hearing tales. Tells stories to make people laugh. Putting details in stories. Told the deer story first around 1951 or 1952. Sings verse from song: "I seen Peter, Paul and Moses". Tale of large mosquitoes. Cold weather. Paul Bunyan. Robert Service. Saw an Englishman recite Service poems. Met a man whose father was mentioned in a Service poem. The difference between lying and bullshitting. Women as tale tellers. Lying about one's age. Lying in general. The difficulty of telling stories on the spot. Kidding about Cranbrook. Story from his hockey days: drinking the water in Moose Jaw. Logging along the Columbia River.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Duncan J. MacMillan RECORDED: Whalley (B.C.), 1982-07-15 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Duncan J. MacMillan was born in 1922 and discusses his occupational history: worked at many jobs, including fishing, logging, railroad work, mining and prospecting. Rain in the Queen Charlottes. Prospecting. Placer mining. The Chinese as good prospectors. Where he prospects. The kinds of stories that miners, loggers, and fishermen tell. Recalls logging boss, Roughhouse Pete and tells story about him. Recalls logger, Black Dan MacDonald: tells stories about him. 8-Day Wilson. Step-and-a-half, another logger. Panicky Bell and how he got his name, and stories about him. The age of these characters. By-God Stafford and story about milking a whale. Recalls some mischief of loggers at Powell River. Remembers Bill Law. Where people tell stories. About the truth of stories. Several tales about cold weather. Compulsive talking after being in the bush. Tells stories of Goat Girls of Sechelt. Bears. Recalls local character, a junk man and how he got away with stealing some motors through clever action in court. Judge McGinnis, the 'hanging judge'. What makes a good tall tale.

CALL NUMBER: T3973:0019 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Ernest L. Haggstrom RECORDED: Surrey (B.C.), 1982-07-15 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Ernest L. Haggstrom was born in 1921. Two stories about deep mineshafts. Tale of long mine tunnel. Tale of outwitting a cougar. Jimmy Lyons and Alec Frazer as storytellers. Jokes about doctors. Himself as a storyteller. Tale of huge tree. Telling tales to his friend. The Vancouver hotels that catered to the different occupations: mining, logging, fishing. Fish stories. Tale about rubber mine. Competing with Lyons. Lyons' age and a story about his quick wit. Dan McLain and Alec Frazer, two other tale-telling miners. How tale telling would begin. Lyons as a fighter. Fights in bars. The loggers' hangout, the Broadway, and its generous and trustworthy bartender. A clothing store for miners, loggers and fishermen. Joke about a logger taking his nun-sisters to a pub. Life history: took rat poison at age 4. His many illnesses and accidents. His medical record. Occupational history: farming, mining. Where he mined. Joined the Merchant Navy for 3 years. Work in a box factory. Worked in construction for 25 years. His poor vision. Recalls memorizing eye chart to pass test. His eyeglasses. Copper and gold mining. Didn't like working underground, never seeing the sun. What he liked about mining, the leisurely pace. When stories were told in the mine. TRACK 2: Despite his throat, talking doesn't hurt him, it does him good. Story about a one-handed man making love. Similar story about a man with one foot. Pat Sheridan, a character. Story about snuff. Changes in stories, embellishment. Using Lyons' stories to fool carpenters at work. Story of mine caving in. Accident at Copper Mountain: cage falling with 13 miners in it. His sense of humour -- derived from surviving hardships. Himself as joke teller. What makes a good tall tale: the competitive situation. Tales of cooking salmon and catfish. Recalls telling the catfish tale in an informal competition. Tall tales are a dying art. On ethnic jokes and humour. Many more stories on bears, Chinooks, and peeing in cold weather, etc. CALL NUMBER: T3973:0020 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Ernest L. Haggstrom RECORDED: Surrey (B.C.), 1982-07-15 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Ernest L. Haggstrom discusses telling stories to loggers. Joke about birthmarks. Whether this tale is a tall tale. Had cancer of the throat and prostate. Story of man who found large gold nugget. Recalls construction accident he had where he "stepped on a shadow" and fell 80 feet into three feet of water.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Ernie Streifel and Joan Streifel RECORDED: Maple Ridge (B.C.), 1982-07-15 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Ernie Streifel and Joan Streifel tell mosquito tales. How the tales came about. Tale of chopping wood. Telling this tale to a city person. Telling tales to a neighbour. The natural context of tales. His daughter as a storyteller and writer of tales. Telling tales during tense situations. Joan explains her husband's storytelling. The nature of tall tales. Joan recalls how her husband released tension through storytelling. Mosquitoes. Life history: farming and railroad work. When stories are told at railroad job. Stories told to cheer someone up. The humour of the German accent. Neighbours who told Indian stories. Their daughter, Marianne, and her writing ability. Liar's clubs. Recalls reading jokes in "Reader's Digest". Marianne's artistic talent. Stories as an evening activity. Men and women as storytellers. A tall tale bear-trap.

RECORDED: Robson (B.C.), 1982-07-29 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Francis Mark Mealing tells story about how the West Kootenays got its weather. Tale of smart elk. Heard it from a student who was from the West Kootenays but who lived north of Prince George. Variations in the telling of a tale. Heard the tale 6 or 7 years ago. Last told the story in Winnipeg while visiting a friend: grew out of conversation about local stories. Tale comes up in conversations about remarkable weather or animals. Has told story in class. Adding to the story -- has added the fur-wrap of the rifle. Has also added imitation of aiming gun. Telling the tale to his son. Not an uncommon story in his repertoire. Usually tells the tale where there is a "critical process" going on: "vaguely philosophical discussions". Has told it to children. Telling stories to students. Likes the tale because he hadn't heard it before: gives further reasons. Life history: born in Victoria in 1938. Schooling and work. School teacher. Now teacher at Selkirk College. Has taught a course called Doukhobor Folklife: describes course. How he became interested in Doukhobors. Began writing on Doukhobors. His lack of knowledge of Russian. His interest in Doukhobor adaptations to outside culture. Tale of hunter and bear, learned from Cree student, Vincent Worme, from prairies in 1975. Using gestures in this tale. Had told the tale a bit more often than the elk tale. It needs a proper context so that it's not seen as simply a dirty story. Recalls Paul Bunyan tale learned from the late Sid Hutchinson of Fernie who gave talks at Selkirk College, telling tales of local history and his logging experiences. He was a socialist. Told mostly factual stories. Heard Paul Bunyan tale in 1973 or 1974. Hutchinson was born in Vancouver in 1908, but lived his life in Fernie. He wrote two books, "The Wells Board" and "The Curse" -- both local history books. His style of telling. The origin of the Paul Bunyan tale.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Gilbert Martin Haines RECORDED: Esquimalt (B.C.), 1982-07-13 SUMMARY: Gilbert Martin Haines tells a tale about a giant tree. Tale about a split dog. Cold weather tale. Chinook tale. Tale of smart hunting dog. Tale of sow and barrel. Greasy pig tale. Tale of an ugly woman. Chinook tale. His uncle as a storyteller. Tale of Model-T Ford spark plugs. Joke about rectal thermometer. Telling prairie tales to assert his knowledge of the prairies. When tales were told. Who tales were told to. Story of a storing pies under bed during threshing. Picked up joke from "True Magazine" which he read on a B.C. ferry. Almanacs as a source for stories. Humour. The side-hill gouger. His children don't tell stories. Tale telling among the threshing crew. Dialect humour. Life history. Railroad coming through farm. His father. Recalls 1918 flu epidemic in which he had to take care of the rest of his family. Recalls those that died. Recalls his tonsil operation. Recalls airplane that advertised for rides by dropping leaflets from the air. His career in electronics: always interested in radios. Used to experiment with grain elevator batteries. Electrified his house. Made a battery recharger. Was an electrician in the air force. TRACK 2: Took night course in radio. Began teaching radio electronics at Sprott-Shaw School in Victoria (a commercial school). After War became a service man. Made first television in Victoria. Was responsible for the invention of ghost-killing aerial.

CALL NUMBER: T3973:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Harry E. Richardson RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1982-07-06 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Harry E. Richardson was born in 1903 and discusses immigration and work of father in Golden-Windermere area in 1880s and 1890s. Tall tale about chinook. Stories of pranks played on local character, a black man named Sebastian. Stories about character in Cranbrook, Bugram, who was a well-known liar. Stories about "green Englishmen" being tricked by old-timers (standing in tub while chopping trees). Hunting for a living; story about naïve American hunters. Snow and chinooks in East Kootenays. Schooldays and use of primers. Local entertainment in the early part of the century. Communal woodcutting. TRACK 2: Life history. His working career. Driving cattle, haying, problems with foxtail, working on telephone lines digging post-holes. Stories about funny Newfoundlander who worked with him. Worked on Banff to Windermere road. Work camps: amusements of workers in camps. Pranks played on bears. A close call with a moose. Further work on telephone lines. CALL NUMBER: T3973:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Harry E. Richardson RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1982-07-06 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Harry E. Richardson discusses telephone work, from digging to climbing poles. East Kootenay Telephone Co. Strung telephone lines for CPR in Vancouver and from Kamloops to Vernon. Strung light and power lines in Alberta and B.C. Experience operating grader machine. More on light and power work. During War did light and power work in Alberta. Problems climbing poles in winter. Stories about inexperienced linemen. Worked for American Army on Alaska Highway lines. On American convoys in Northern Alberta during War. After war, ran a line crew in Victoria for 17 years. TRACK 2: On his historical work, writing a 100 year history of the Richardsons in the East Kootenays. A 1897-1898 store ledger. Problems of what to do with his history. Preserving photos and other documents and his dealing with Fort Steel Museum and Glenbow. More on his father's work as a miner, carpenter, tree-cutter, and rancher. Recalls his childhood and hardships of his father. Story of a famous camp cook who visited his home in 1914 and bought clothing for the children. Two humorous stories about Chinese gardeners. The escaped elephants of Cranbrook and a well-known local cartoonist who made cartoons on the incident. Linework during electrical storm and other emergency work.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Herbert Keith Henderson RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1982-07-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Herbert Keith Henderson was born in 1923 and tells a tale about being trapped inside a moose. Tale of frozen flame. Heard tales from old-timers. Father was a game warden. On his schooling. His wife recalls hearing the frozen flame story. Storytellers and local entertainment. An old Indian who was a local character. Honesty and neighbourliness in the "good old days". The moose story as a political joke on the French and the Liberals. The last time he told the moose story, as a comeback to a true story about moose hunting. Tells that story. His son as tall tale teller. Rumrunning in Manitoba and the close call of one rumrunner. Tells embellishment to moose story. On embellishment. Side-hill dodger story. Mosquitoes. A Cadysaurus sighting. Handing down trapping lore to his sons and teaching his sons how to survive in the bush. His life history: schooling, living in the Turtle Mountains of Manitoba. American poachers. Trapping food when he was a boy. Edible wild plants. Fur trapping. Ingenuity and confidence gained from living in the bush and its applications to city life. His occupational history. Building the B.C. Ferry fleet. Story of his inexperience at shipbuilding. The lack of vegetable gardens in Victoria.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Jack Eardley Koyl RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1982-07-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Jack Eardley Koyl tells a tale about an Indian with a good memory. A bit on his occupational history. Tale of flipping pancakes. Joke about the difference between bloomers and panties. His family. Tale about hole in the middle of a lake. Story of commanding coast guard boat on V-E Day, sailors became drunk. When stories are told. Tale of inexperience around ships -- joke pulled on him by seaman. Another story about peeking at love-makers through window. More on pancake story. Mrs. Koyl can't tell stories. He knows many off-colour stories. Telling stories in the navy. Story about being torpedoed during the war. More on war stories. What makes a tall tale. His life history, born in Saskatoon in 1916. Became chemical engineer. Joined navy. Schooling. The University of Saskatchewan: professors he had and past presidents. Mrs. Koyl is from Toronto. Their family and where they all live.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Dr. John A. Roberts RECORDED: Williams Lake (B.C.), 1982-07-23 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Dr. John A. Roberts discusses Ned Kelly, Australian bandit: story of robbing coach. Lester Dorsey and recent obituary on him. Tale of bear running from foul-smelling person. Tale of whale's milk and pigs. Story of escape from trained bear. Story about man who kept goats: smelled worse than the goats did. Joke about veterinary clients. Story about drunken proposal of marriage. Heard story from Mrs. Ogden. Tall tale tellers. Book that distorts facts about Chilcotin. Tellers: Pan Phillips and Lester Dorsey. Tells a Phillips story about fur buyer almost drowning from silver around his waist. The Ranch Hotel as a tale telling place. Story about a meeting of the Ahahem Cattlemen's Association. The Cariboo as a good area for storytellers; not as good as it once was. Life history: born outside of Melbourne, Australia, c.1928. Schooling. Joined Cavalry at start of WWII. Helped to fortify south coast of Australia. Became bodyguard in army. Officer training school. Switched to air force.; Spent two years in England at the end of war as a pilot. Story about poaching while in the Army. Back to Australia and worked for family chain store. Came to Guelph University and became a veterinarian. Settled in Williams Lake 25 years about because of his wife's interest in birds in area. Williams Lake. How he became a local historian. TRACK 2: How he became a local historian continued. Helped build the local museum. Travelling to ranches and listening to stories of ranchers sparked his interest in history. Stepped into shoes of previous local historian. Contacting the B.C. Provincial Archives. Derek Reimer coming up to the Cariboo to interview old-timers. Story about counselling PhD to get more education. Always enjoyed history in school, but didn't have interest until he came to Williams Lake. The settlement of the Cariboo. The boundaries of Cariboo-Chilcotin. Other local historians. Encouraging people to study history and writing history books. How he became a coroner.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Dr. John J. Gibson RECORDED: Penticton (B.C.), 1982-07-18 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: [Beginning of tape inaudible] Dr. John J. Gibson tells story about fight between a Swedish logger and his boss. Story about an Indian who put a lot of sugar in his coffee. Story of voracious wolves. Expanding a tale. Told wolf tale to boy scouts. Heard it in Prince Rupert. Story of teller, Lyn Le Livre, boasting of being able to wrestle a bear. He had many Indian stories. Story of Indian selling manure. The nature of Indian stories. Story of Indian sleeping on railroad tracks. Story of policeman finding Indian in an alley "put him back!". Tells his stories at the Okanagan Historical Society meetings, at service clubs and conventions. Story of Indian making gestures. Tells his tales to his fishing buddies. Story of drunken funeral. Story about Dr. R.B. White, early doctor in that area, getting a haircut from an embalmer. Heard the story from White himself. Life history: Born 30 miles from Penticton in Keremeos on the Similkameen in 1914. Went to Victoria College and then Queens University in Kingston. In 1937, spent five months in Fort Simpson at United Church Mission Hospital. Worked on mission boat in 1929, which inspired him to become a doctor. Interned in Regina. Practiced near Atlin for three years. Then to Prince Rupert during WWII. Formed a clinic with four other doctors in Penticton. Has had a lot of contact with Indians. Being a doctor is helpful in collecting stories. Wishes he had kept a diary. Story of mistakenly talking to a dead man. TRACK 2: He's known as a jokester and a prankster. What makes a good storyteller: good turns of phrase. Gives examples of some local expressions. He is a duck hunter who goes with friends every year to shoot ducks on the prairies. The kidding among hunters. Stories about hunting dogs. The context of stories. Story of cooking circumcision in a stew. Story of using porcupine as road marker. More on the wolf story.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Donald E. Seymour and Joyce M. Kind RECORDED: North Vancouver (B.C.), 1982-07-16 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Donald E. Seymour and Joyce M. Kind tell tale of tricking rabbits. Tale of pet fish. Joyce retells same tale. When he heard tale. [long break in tape] Story of selling seaman's chest. Family history. His father was born in Manitoba, settled on Saltspring Island in 1908. His uncle, Tiny Seymour, and his experiences in WWI, burying two bottles of rum and digging them up two years later. How old Tiny was. Stories about rum-running and the hijacking of rum-runners. Rum-running boats. Recalls doing haying chore for his uncle Tiny. The character of Tiny. The store as a setting for tale-telling. When he last told the rabbit tale, to his step-sons. A haunted house on Saltspring Island. Recalls how he used to stutter, but he had no trouble singing in church. Selling papers and hollering cured him of stuttering. Joyce's life history. Born in Lynn Valley in 1925. Father was a fisherman and seaman. J.S. Todd who told her the fish story. When she told the story. The nature of the tall tale. My work. Tale about encounter with a bear. Barrie Clark. TRACK 2: A man who could see the future. Indians on Saltspring Island. Farming on the Island. Recalls a creamery that made good butter. Saltspring Island lamb. Fishing. Story of unlicensed cars on the island. Don's occupational history: greens keeper for a golf course. Many other jobs. Now a school-crossing guard. His picture was in the Vancouver Sun.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Katherine Wood RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1982-07-09 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Katherine Wood was born in 1912 and tells a tall tale of escaping from bear. Story of being chased by a grizzly. When stories were told. Separating truth from fiction in the north. Where stories were told. She was the only white woman in Nelson Forks. Learned Slavey words from Indians. The mail service. She went to Aklavik with her uncle (a doctor) and after two years married a Hudson Bay agent at Fort Nelson. Men didn't tell their tales to women, she had to overhear them. How the men sat around in the Hudson Bay store. Her background: where she lived and went to school. Went north with uncle in 1938. Recalls the thrill of viewing the junction of the Athabaska and Clearwater Rivers. Recalls the burning coal seams along the MacKenzie. Fishing in the North. Eating moose. The good gardening at Nelson Forks. The Indian method of catching horses. Chinook at Nelson Forks. Deep snow and heavy rains. The North is for young people. Skidoos and sled dogs. Places in the North where she and her husband lived. The North is no longer remote. Shipping in food and supplies. The Collisons of Fort Nelson. Chief Harry Dickey of Nelson Forks. Mosquito tall tales and stories. Black flies.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Keith McColl RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1982-07-16 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Keith McColl was born in 1910. He tells a tale of a large tree. How he learned the story. Who he told story to. His scrapbook of jokes and stories. The "last line" makes a good story. Tale of medicinal value of Cariboo air. Story from Paul St. Pierre column in the Vancouver Sun. Updating old stories. Some stories in his scrapbook are true funny stories rather than "lies". A true story about poodle-lovers. Other stories in his scrapbook. Story involving tongue-twister, taken from "Reader's Digest". Story of good and bad brothers from Paul St. Pierre. Joke about a checker-playing dog. This joke as a tall tale. Story about a man who has multiple accidents. Use of the scrapbook. Life history: born in Ottawa, but was from farm near Youngstown, Alberta. Moved to Calgary and then to farm north of Edmonton. Joined army during WWII. Janitor in Calgary high school. Held a number of jobs. In 1947-1948, went to manage a grocery store at Fort St. John for Co-op. In 1954 moved to Vancouver. The cold weather in the Peace River country. Bought house in Vancouver. When people told tales. Kidding and name-calling in the workplace.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Louis Thomas Newell RECORDED: Penticton (B.C.), 1982-07-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Louis Thomas Newell was born in 1923 and tells mosquito tale. Where tales come from. Tale of catching eagles to fly disabled plane. How this story came about. Tale of the lucky hunt. Where he heard the tale and how he changed it. Tale of using smoke rings for tires. People's reactions to his tales. The difficulty of thinking up new stories. Tale of a crooked river and a large Chinese meal. Looked at map of China for details in his tale. Tale of cold weather: frozen words, flame and boiling water. How he combined two tales. Time spent in Smith, Alberta. Tale of plague of locusts. Tale of bears and beaver. Tale of thick fog. Heard tale from mountie. When tales were told. Relates tall tales to fairy tales. Acceptance and enjoyment of tales. There has to be something to exaggerate to make a good tall tale. Mosquito tale. Tale of old clock. How he writes out his tales -- rewrites them over 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Tale of strong wind, learned from father-in-law. Changes in tales are like the party game, Telephone. Story of hot weather popping corn. How his writing career began. Tale about large watermelons. He's running out of stories. The monthly Lion's newsletter that he publishes and writes for. It doesn't take much for him to create a story, just an incident. Doesn't have many tales about fruit. The tall tale post card. What makes a good tall tale: the situation in which it is told. Hunters, fishermen, the cold are all good topics for tales. But context is everything. TRACK 2: Why he tells tales. Specializes in tall tales. People appreciating his stories. Life history: born in Edmonton but raised in Smith, Alberta. Schooling. Worked on railroad. Joined the R.C.M.P. Joined the air force during WWII. Married and moved back to Smith and worked on the railroad. Back in army as a military policeman for 25 years. Now (1982) administrator of Penticton jail. Stories from jail. Story of two drunken Indians. Non-verbal aspects of storytelling. When he began telling tales.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Michael T. Donoghue RECORDED: Pitt Meadows (B.C.), 1982-07-16 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Michael T. Donoghue tells a bear tale. Probably learned story from a fisherman in Bella Bella. When stories are told among fishermen. Nationalities of fishermen. Grandpa Gordon, and old Indian, who ran the ferry; told stories of the Haida raiders of the 19th century. How Haida took slaves. Recalled George Pedepis, a Haida trapper, who was left in woods for three days as an infant. Mike Sadonovich, a tugboat operator, who drank a lot and told stories. Story of a thick fog. He's never told that story before. When a fog story might be told. Fred Sly, the liar, who was a "creek watcher" -- one who watched for salmon poachers; played a prank on cannery manager. Fred Sly's character as a liar and a trickster. Recalls prank he played on Japanese businessmen. Does not know what became of him. Probably heard the bear tale from an Indian. When he last told the bear tale. The people and history of the Bella Coola area. The road to Bella Coola. The beauty of the Bella Coola valley. Life history: born in Kingston, Ontario. Came to Vancouver at age six. Schooling. Was on the road for 1 1/2 years as a teenager. Joined army in 1963. Recalls working on forest fire in New Brunswick and almost getting in trouble for fighting a sargeant. Posted to Germany where he was a liaison officer between Americans and Canadians. Became an accountant for Millbank Industries, would travel to Bella Bella six months out of every years for the company. Central Native Co-op took over the cannery and how it happened. The government's treatment of the Indians.