I can remember in my grandfather’s house just off Candy Cane Lane in Edmonton a large ” hatch ” on the side of the house which my dad explained to me was once used for dumping coal into the cellar for use in keeping the house warm through frozen Alberta winters where temperatures can ( and do ) drop to below minus 40, often for days on end.
Which made me think about those that called Alberta home before this era of settlement – from the settlers back at the turn of the last century, to the Indigenous people that called the prairies home for centuries – surviving an Alberta winter must have been a real challenge.
For my Grandmother Betty who grew up just outside of Peace River in the early 1920’s, their home was a one room sod hut with a stove in the corner. She would fondly recall as a little girl how she would look forward to the cold snaps because her father would bring the cow, chickens and what ever other animal was deemed important to ensure they didn’t succumb to the cold.
I think you will enjoy this video as it discusses how those that lived back then through the long cold winters – and gain an insight into what makes Albertan’s so unique when it comes to our part of Canada.
