Culberts Keeping Cool

Ken Culbert and his future wife, Helen Needham keeping cool at the beach, c1939.

Many of us are lucky to have homes with air conditioning or at least a good electric fan. Such wasn't the case for our ancestors in Lucan-Biddulph. So how did the Culberts keep their cool?

The Little Ausable River was the closest body of water to the Culbert homestead...

The Little Ausable River. Postcard courtesy of Wendy (Gowland) Boole from the collection of Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen.

The Little Ausable River ran through Biddulph Township, including Lucan, and drained into the larger Ausable River. Growing up, I recall that everyone called it the Ausable rather than the Little Ausable. I suppose on a hot day, it took too much energy to say the full name.

The Culbert property was on the Coursey Line, just south of McGillivray Drive. The Little Ausable River was within walking distance.

 In his memoirs, George Arthur Culbert (born 1882) says:

"There was a swimming hole in the [Little] Ausable River just fifteen minute's walk from our house and we often went there twice a day to have a swim."

Postcard courtesy of Wendy (Gowland) Boole from the collection of Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen.

Arthur goes on to say:

"We also had a pond on our farm which must have been fed by springs. We often went there for a swim but the bottom was mud and sometimes we would have a go at throwing mud."

The nearest beach to the Culbert homestead was Grand Bend; a distance of more than 24.8 miles or 40 kilometres.

Postcard of Grand Bend courtesy of Wendy (Gowland) Boole from the collection of Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen.

I'm not sure how cool they really were in these types of swimming costumes but this was an age when modesty was a virtue.

Below, we see Myron Culbert's future wife, Effie Taylor (right) enjoying a day out in Grand Bend. Regardless of the weather, women of the Edwardian era were required to cover up, head to toe, and you can bet there were stockings and a corset underneath it all...

Effie Pearl Taylor (right) with her friend, Rose Perkins in Grand Bend, Ontario. No date on back of photo but it was probably taken before 1911.

Verandahs were an architectural feature that kept the home's walls and windows shaded during the day, and were pleasant to sit under on a summer's day...

The verandah at Poplar Farm.

Today, everyone rushes indoors to escape the heat. But before air conditioning, people went outdoors to cool down. Outdoor siestas were a popular way to beat the heat...

This hot spring day in 1940 finds two of the Culbert boys enjoying an al fresco siesta at Poplar Farm with their future wives. Sleeping (left to right): Mel Culbert & Mary Patrick, and Helen Needham & Ken Culbert, all under the watchful eye of Cliff Culbert's future wife, Gladys Beattie. Photo by Cliff Culbert.

Nothing beats sitting under a shady tree on a hot, summer day except a picnic under a row of shady trees...

Picnic under the trees in the driveway of Poplar Farm. 1951.

By the 1960s, home air conditioning units were growing in popularity but I don't recall anyone who had an air conditioner until the 1970s. Like the other kids in town, I enjoyed swimming to cool down.

One particular swimming hole of note stands out in my mind: the Kirkton Pond, northeast of Lucan. The only drawback were the leeches or "bloodsuckers" as we called them.

I asked my 4th cousin, Ron Marshall (formerly of Kirkton) if he remembered the leeches. He replied:

"Sometimes kids would come out of the water with four or five on their legs. And you couldn't just pull them off. Had to use a lit cigarette to get them to let go!"

That was my recollection too; standing still in horror as an adult held a lit cigarette to the leeches that had latched onto my body. This caused the leech to quickly detach but it's not recommended. It can cause the leech to regurgitate its stomach contents into the wound, with a risk of infection.

There weren't any warning signs like this at the Kirkton Pond. Photo by Mary Jane Culbert.

Enough talk of leeches. Moving right along! 

Let's take a look at the descendants of John Culbert & Mary Ward, keeping cool, yesterday and today:

Phil Culbert shows us how it's done. Port Stanley, Ontario c1958.

Brothers, Phil Culbert (left) and Ian Culbert (right) at Port Stanley, Ontario c1953.

Ivan Culbert and his children at the beach near their cottage in Lakeside, Ontario, c1958. Back row: Ivan holding Christine. Front row, left to right: Ian, Phil and Vicky.

Ivan Culbert fills up the wading pool for his son, Phil in the back yard of their Lucan, Ontario home, 1952.

Allison Culbert, board surfing at Sylvan Lake, Alberta, 2016. Photo by Phil Culbert.

Mary Jane Culbert (me) at Ipperwash Beach, eating ice cream in my big brother Terry's sports car with a friend, 1960. Photo by Terry Culbert.

Life is good, albeit messy. I'm surprised Terry let us eat ice cream in his car but my brother always knew a photo opportunity when he saw one.

Ian Culbert, The Sun King at home in London, Ontario.

Go jump in the lake! Mary-Lynn Culbert and her husband, Paul Ciglen at the lake near Huntsville, Ontario. They live in Florida so they know a thing or two about keeping cool.

Mary-Lynn Culbert keeps cool with a pretty parasol and blocks the harmful UV rays at the same time.

Robn (Gras) Diekow sailing in the marina in Finike, Turkey in 2016. Robn's sailed all over the world but that's another story for another time. And yes, it's Robn with no i.

Don Jarrell, prawn fishing in British Columbia. Looks a little chilly at that time of day but the weather changes quickly on the water. Don's the grandson of Oran Westell, the Kincardine Lighthouse keeper so it's not surprising he's always by the water.

Don Jarrell in British Columbia cracking open a cold Canterbury lager, at sea.

A toast to Culberts keeping cool!