Garden plots in Birch Cliff Public School playground, May 1933. Courtesy City of Toronto archives
Life was difficult for many people during the Great Depression in the 1930s and an article from the Toronto Daily Star on March 2, 1935 sheds some light on the level of hardship, hunger and unemployment in Birch Cliff.
It’s estimated that during the Depression 30% of the work force was unemployed and about 20% of families relied on government assistance.
The Toronto Star piece is a captioned photo feature about the free lunch program at Birch Cliff Public School, where 70 children from unemployed families were given a free, hot midday meal that was cooked by their classmates.
For some readers this will bring to mind the popular children’s novel “That Scatterbrain Booky”, which was set in Birch Cliff in 1932 and written by Birch Cliff PS graduate Beatrice Thurman Hunter.
The novel’s heroine is enrolled in the free lunch program and the book opens with her bringing an embarrassing letter home to her parents:
“Beatrice is twenty-two pounds underweight. We recommend that you contact your relief authorities. Any Canadian child exceeding the twenty-pound underweight limit is eligible for free government milk.”
Beatrice (also known as Booky) is later expelled from the free lunch program for criticizing the quality of the food and is about to get the “razor strop” from her father until she “screams bloody murder” and is rescued by her mother.
The Toronto Star puts a happier spin on the free lunch program by focusing on the good deeds of the students preparing the meals for their less fortunate classmates.
(Click on photo to enlarge)
Use Domestic Science Lore on Classmates’ Hot Meals
Piping hot noonday meals are prepared daily during the winter months for 70 children of unemployed families by the domestic science pupils of Birch Cliff public school. The students give up the playing hours of several weeks each year to assist teachers with the preparation of the meal which is made before and after school hours. The children served have shown gains in weight and done better work since the plan was started three years ago. In (1) are: Audrey Porter (LEFT), peeling potatoes, some of which are grown in the school gardens, and Audrey Walsh, about to carve a joint of meat; (2) Janet Robinson (LEFT) and Olive Mowforth preparing sandwiches; (3) a steaming dish of macaroni being taken from the oven by Madeline McRae (RIGHT), under the eye of Miss. E. Attridge, who superintends preparation of the meals.
Boy squaring garden plot at Birch Cliff Public School, May 1933. Courtesy City of Toronto Archives.
The article mentions that some of the food was grown by the students in the school gardens, which were located on the west side of the school where the playground is now.
When the school was first built in 1916, that land was an apple orchard called “Morley’s Field”. In the late 1920s it was turned over to the students for gardens.
The students enthusiastically participated in gardening year round and entered their crops in many school fairs and exhibitions, often winning prizes for their efforts.
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This is article is part of a “Today in History” series commemorating the upcoming 100th anniversary celebration of Birch Cliff Public School, which is taking place on Sept. 23/24, 2016. To see other articles click here: 1927, 1929, 1935.