Historic Hyde Park submitted by Judith A. Colbert
INTRODUCTION: After serving in the air force during WWII, Dr. Murdo MacKinnon came to Hyde Park to take up a post as a professor of English at Western University. Until the early 1960s, when he left to become founding dean of arts at the newly formed University of Guelph, he and Elizabeth and their family – Anne, Catherine, John and Marion – were enthusiastic participants in village life, and their house south of the village corner on Hyde Park Road was a hub of activity. As someone with a city background, Murdo was a keen observer of village community life. In 1954, he gave a series of three radio talks on what was then called the Trans-Canada network of the CBC on the topic of Life in the Country . What follows is an excerpt from the first of those talks, broadcast on December 13 under the title, Cold Meat and Scalloped Potatoes , in which he describes typical scenes likely based on his experiences at Oliver’s General Store and Hyde Park United Church.
COLD MEAT AND SCALLOPED POTATOES From...Life in the Country by Murdo MacKinnon If you move out from the city to the country, as we did a few years ago, you may think at first that there is very little social life. The fact is that there is a great deal of social life, but it is arranged in a different way. In the country you don’t need to join a number of organizations in order to become acquainted; and you don’t need to arrange evening parties for the purpose of getting people together. All you need to do is to carry on your normal activities. Life in the country districts, even for a person who earns his living in the city, provides almost unlimited social opportunities. When you go to the village store for your mail and groceries you will find a little group of people lingering over their paper or their shopping. It is only the city person who makes his purchases, collects the mail, and hurries out. The natural thing in the country is to take your time and exchange a few words with your neighbours. Of course there are always the old men who have nothing to do and who spend their days and evenings in the store, making the timeworn jokes about the weather. But there may also be a farmer looking for a certain type of bolt or hinge, a traveller from a dry goods firm offering an assortment of overalls and heavy socks to the storekeeper, perhaps one or two housewives picking over the oranges and tomatoes, or looking behind the counter for a special brand of tinned salmon, a stranger using the telephone, two teenagers drinking chocolate milk, and one or two people waiting for their mail while the storekeeper is out in the back shed getting a bag of chicken feed. This is not a situation to rush away from, for here you have a cross-section of country life, and this is the normal place to meet your neighbours and to have a friendly chat with them. You will also meet people at the church, where the country custom is to stand outside the front door in the noon sunshine and visit for a while before getting home to dinner. Generally, they take babies and small children to church in the farming districts, and this is the time to stop and admire them, and remark on their excellent behaviour during the service. Many of the young mothers have worked hard to get the youngsters all scrubbed up and freshly dressed for Sunday, and it would be a shame to take them away home too soon. And the older people, for whom church going has such powerful associations, relish the chance for conversation under the tall maples and elms, in surroundings which have been familiar to them since childhood. And if there is anyone whom you haven’t met in the store or at church, you will surely meet them at the annual school concert. Do you have a local historic photo to share with readers of the Hyde Park-Oakridge Villager? Send it in to Cathy@villagerpublications.com.
To advertise here, please contact Tami@VillagerPublications.com Fred Oliver serves some young customers in his general store, located on the northeast corner of Hyde Park and Gainsborough Roads. The Olivers purchased the store in 1939 and operated it for over 25 years.
Page 12 Hyde Park – Oakridge Villager • June 2025
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs