Cost of living
The discrepancies between now and then are most apparent when you get into the cost of living – keeping the concept of inflation in mind, of course.
When Ms. Tulk’s family moved from St. John’s to Gander on a Douglas DC-3 airplane, the flight cost $7 each, with no fuel surcharges and other fees commonly added on to a $219 trip to Halifax. Attending a movie at the Globe Theatre or the Star Theatre on the army side of the town cost a quarter, with a soda and a bag of chip included.
“Every Saturday they’d have a matinee,” said Ms. Tulk, referring to the Star Theatre. There she watched countless western movies starring actor Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger. In a time where children did not have television, she said children were more than happy to see a movie there more than once. Her family did not have a television until the late-1950s.
“Now that I look back on it, it was just a screen of snow,” Ms. Tulk said of her experience with early black and white televisions.
For fun, Ms. Tulk said she did a bit of everything.
“Maybe I shouldn’t tell you some of the things we did,” she said with a laugh.
“We always played cowboys and Indians, and we had this club called The Sounds Fun Club, where we’d have games. We’d set fires and roast marshmallows, go swimming at Deadman’s Pond – everyday we were busy.”
Skating was also a popular activity at the old arena. Mr. Butler also remembers playing baseball in the summer with friends.
“There was no organized league as such. We did all the organizing ourselves in setting up games. In the winter, there was street hockey mostly.”
The reunion experience was agreed to be a fun experience for those who chatted with The Beacon. Ms. Tulk said she saw a friend she hadn’t seen in over 50 years, as well as others who she had not seen in some time.
“This reunion I know took a lot of work, and the people who did it should be highly commended.”
Mr. Butler said the experience triggers events in the mind.
“It brings back a lot of memories. You even just think about it and look at the map and walk around the area – it can get emotional after all this time,” he said, adding some of the faces he saw were unfamiliar until he looked at their name tags.
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