Life in the Trenches

My grandson is going on a school trip next summer to Ottawa and Quebec.  In Ottawa the first day they are going to visit the Canadian War Museum.

So I moseyed on over to the museum website to refresh my memory of what he may see there. They have many great exhibits of artifacts, and memorials.

One thing I found you can do right on their site was an interactive adventure...

"Over the Top"

Experience life in the Trenches during World War I, based on real life. You can personalize the story by entering your name. You can choose to play in English or French.

At the end of each section you make a choice and go on to see the outcome of your decision. OOPS!!!  Do-overs are allowed, unlike in real life.

I got to experience a little of how it was for my grandfather and his brother. I enjoyed the experience and I think it will appeal to older children.
You can click on unfamiliar war-time words to get the definition without disturbing the game. Even though it is on a Canadian site, I don't think it matters what country you are in.... war was war!

"So, pick up your rifle, put on your helmet and get ready for a truly unique experience!"




Relevant Links

Over the Top

Canadian War Museum

The Telephone: Off the Hook

I was telling my daughter that her son is so cute that her phone will be ringing off the wall pretty soon.  Well... there is a saying we won't be hearing in the future. Who still has a telephone on their wall?

Wall panel phone with intercom
like we had in the 60's 

My Dad worked for Bell Canada for over 30 years.  At one time he was a supervisor in the safety department, teaching home, work and vehicle safety. When I was young my Dad drove with his head lights on during the day and other motorists used to honk at him. Now it is the law in Canada to have daytime running lights. We always had the latest fashion in telephones in our house, and as kids we each had real old fashioned telephones (not connected) to play with.

My brother worked for the phone company all his career, preferring to work outside than at a desk even when they offered him promotions. When he went independent he installed many phone and computer lines for movie sets around Alberta. Cable strung through the woods to cast and crew trailers had to be buried or hooked in trees to keep the animals from chewing on them. He predicted that one day everyone will have one number and it will be for all things including your phone.

I worked for Bell Canada in the 1970's, in the Computer Communications department, which was responsible for installing computer modems in offices and polling stations during elections. Before that I worked at old fashioned switch boards.

It is a rarity these days to see a phone booth.  Or one with a phone that actually works.  When my kids were in high school they would go the phone booth and call telephone operators around the world (calls to operators were free) and chat about weather and customs. 

For many years since about 2003 we had Vonage phone service, which is a VOIP (Voice over Internet) company, used with an ordinary cordless phone. It cost us about $45 per month for US and Canada calls.  A few years ago we switched to MagicJack, and now our phone lines costs us less than $50 a year. We have 2 lines and numbers, and we take it wherever we go. The MagicJack APP is free for your mobile phone and can be used anywhere over free wifi, with or without an account.

What will the next innovation be??

Fun:  There are many old songs and movies that have to do with a telephone or telephone calls.  A few of my favourite classic movies are "The Gazebo", "Sleepless in Seattle" and  "Phone Booth".
Do you have a favourite "telephone" song or movie?


Relevant Links

Canadian Independent Telephone Company 1910

Bell Telephone memorial: Brantford Ontario 1917

Telephone exchange: rules for the guidance of subscribers - BC 1881

Philipp Reis, inventor of the telephone, a biographical sketch - 1883

Telephone catalogue no 15 and price list - Montreal 1899

The "Unique" telephones, manufactured by John Starr, Son & Co - 1892

Exchange and toll station directory, Elgin, ILL, Chicago Phone Co 1892 

Southern Bell Telephone, Florida 1899

By-laws and act of incorporation and amendments, NS Telephone Company, 1888

Agreement and schedule of wages - between BC Electric Railway, Western Canada Power and BC Telephone - 1916

Montreal's first hundred thousand - 1923

The telephone systems of the continent of Europe 1895

General instructions, tariff of charges and exchange lists, Vancouver 1890

Bell Telephone Magazine (American Telephone Co - various vols)

Recipes for use in the dining service department of the Pacific Telephone Co - 1922

Modern Telephone Service for the Home - 1920

The Telephone News, Pennsylvania 1914

San Francisco and Oakland Chinese Telephone Directory - 1945

Telephone Timeline

Les Nouveautés électriques - France 1896

Quotations about telephones

Songs about telephone calls

Turn your touch phone into a musical instrument

Telephone Directories

Tell a Story with History Lines App

Have you tried the History Lines app from Family Search?
I was nosing about today, reading some blogs from my lineup, clicking on this and that, and the Family Search Blog suggested trying some of their partner apps.  So what the heck, I decided to take a look-see. 

The one called History Lines looked interesting so I clicked on it.  You don't have to upload a tree, or start one at Family Search, although you can if you wish - all you have to do is create a free account and fill out the form with one of your ancestor's information.  Name, year and place of birth, year and place of death.  That's it - Get Started.

You can edit and add known facts and photos as you wish before you print, or after.  When you are done you click on Print and Save (top left), and wait while it prints to a PDF.  It may take a while, as the program has to gather all the facts for your ancestor's time period. Then you can save the PDF to your to your computer. (I clicked on save and it didn't seem to do anything, but the 'save as' window had gone behind main window). 

Although it says it is free, it looks like you only get 2 free stories.  So choose a time you want to know more about.  Look at my example to see what it gives you.  For my first story I chose James Tait who lived between 1679-1753 in Scotland.

You can see down the left side the categories it tells about - childbirth, clothing, diet, education, entertainment, hygiene, military, marriage, etc... all what it was like at the time of your ancestor's life. I added some things... bits about his apprenticeships and goldsmith work, and a photo of his death record.

Here is my finished story: James Tait - History Line

To create your own story, go to Family Search, scroll down to the bottom of the page to the App Gallery and click on Get Started. Scroll down to the History Lines app.
Or just click here.

You can sign back into your account on the home page, click on Stories on the top right menu to see your stories, click on the one you made and edit it at any time, rearrange photos etc (don't forget to save), then print and save it again to your computer.

Serendipity Sunday - The Coolest Timeline.... Ever!

 

 

As I was researching my Ancestors place in the 1700’s I happened upon this British Library website that has the coolest timeline I have seen online.  It is interactive and I can spend hours there going through all the entries.

Click Browse to choose a century, from 1200 to 2000.  Use the dropdown menu to change the timeline category – Politics & Power, Medicine, Literature & Music, etc...

Click on Launch Flash Timeline. Pick an event... gives an intro, image, and perhaps a transcript or a video. Some decades have more than one event.  Click on the years you want and they will be displayed.

You can add to favourites, and print or download as a pdf.  (I think they thought of everything!

This English Song is in 1240 (there are 2 items in this decade), and offers an intro, and image and a transcript of the song.

 

Enjoy the tour – I love this!
 

Link:

British Library: Learning - Timeline