The item consists of an audio interview with Edith Stephens recorded in Vancouver, B.C. on August 27, 1984.
Tape summary:
Track 1: Edith Stephens was born in Nanaimo, B.C. on January 8, 1906. She lived in Nanaimo until she was 5. Moved to Vancouver in 1911 because her dad had worked in the coal mines and he got rheumatism from the compressed air. He started a window-cleaning business in Vancouver. The Murray family had 7 children, of which Mrs. Stephens was the eldest. Her family moved around a lot from one rented house to another in the downtown Vancouver area (Howe, Melville, Hornby) and then bought a home on Harwood Street. Describes her home on Harwood Street and the chores her mother carried out in raising 7 children. Though the family always had electricity, it was mainly for light. The cooking stove was wood and coal, and laundry was done in a water-powered washing machine. Describes a typical day for her mother. Also describes her own chores within the family. As the oldest child she was expected to stay home from school on Mondays, washdays, to help look after the younger children. She attended Central School, Aberdeen School, and Dawson School. She did not attend high school because her father held that girls only get married, so why do they need an education? She took domestic science around the age of 11 or 12. Describes what she learned.
Track 2: Continues discussion on domestic science class. She started working for wages at the age of 15, working in a candy factory, the B.C. Electric lunch counter, and the Hotel Vancouver laundry. She married at the age of 19 in 1925. She set up her home in Vancouver. She talks a lot about the Depression. Her family was without a steady income for 6 to 7 years. How they survived: relief, raising chickens, church and community donations. Talks about the soup kitchen set up by the principal, Mr. Smith, in her children's school. It was run by volunteer help from the mothers in the community.