Memories Of Winterholme
Serving In The '50s

On a Sunday morning in May, 2001, the Hartson Sisters of Colinet took a stroll down memory lane. They had returned to celebrate Philomena's 75 birthday in the home where once they had served the Winter family.

It had been 50 years since Philomena, whose name is now Dalton, and her sister, Theresa, worked at Winterholme as a cook and chamber maid, but seated now in the elegant dining- living room of Winterholme Heritage Inn, the memories flowed back.

In the early 1950s, Winterholme was the private residence of Gordon and Ethel Winter. The most elegant of the merchants' residences built on the St. John's streets bordering Bannerman Park at the turn of the century, a position at Winterholme was not to be sneezed at in servants' circles.

It all began when a Colinet businessman, Mr. Simmons, asked young Philomena if she'd like to go and work with the Winters
in St. John's. She invested $2.00 in a taxi fare to come in
for an interview in April, 1951. "

At the time I was a pretty good cook," says Philomena,
seated in the archway between what would have been the drawing and music rooms. "I'd worked with the Hickman
family in St. John's and spent four years with Charles R. Bell
who taught me a lot about cooking."

There were no courses at the Cabot College in the 1950s for people who wanted to cook professionally. Philomena found
Mrs. Ethel Winter, aloof, but 'nice in her own ways'. She was hired for bed, board, and $50 per month, and went to work with no initiation but was told where things were by the other serving girl. Philomena moved into a cozy room at the end of the hall on the second floor, and several months later, when Mrs. Winter informed her that she needed a chamber maid, Philomena called Theresa because the sisters had always worked together. Theresa was hired, and unlike her more worldly-wise sister, was amazed at the elegant hand carved oak walls and staircase of the first floor. The billiard room, with the large gaming table in the middle of its green colored walls on which hung the stuffed
heads of deer, caribou, moose, and exotic animals, gave Theresa a great scare. It was her first time seeing life-like stuffed animals, with their shining dead eyes.

Winterholme's staff of four consisted of Jim Eustace, a
handy-maintenance man, who did the lawn and garden, looked after the fireplace and made sure there were plenty of birch junks, maintained the garage and the barn, which had housed horses when the original owner, Sir Marmaduke Winter
(father of Gordon) kept horses to draw his carriages. Mrs. Clark, a charwoman, did the heavy cleaning, including polishing the silver and the brass. These two employees lived off the premises. A Logy Bay woman took out the heavy laundry
every day, while the lighter things were washed on the
premises by the charwoman, Mrs. Clarke.

Philomena and Theresa slept in twin beds in a cozy second-story bedroom at the end of the hall. Originally, the maids would sleep in a dormitory in the attic, but by the time the sister came to work at Winterholme, the attic was only used for storing furniture, and staff and family slept on the second floor. The owners slept in a large bedroom with curved oval walls in the front of the house, overlooking their garden, the circular driveway and Bannerman Park. Adjoining their bedroom was a dressing room. In the owner's bathroom, faucets, towel racks and wall lights were made of sterling silver.

Breakfast in Bed

The daily routine of the sisters began at 7:30am with the
ringing of their alarm clock. Philomena went to the kitchen to begin breakfast. Although Mrs. Winter hadn't walked her through the kitchen to show her where anything was, another one of the servants had shown her the ropes before leaving the position. Mr. Winter was served breakfast in the dining room, while Theresa brought up a tray to Mrs. Winter's bedroom.

After the preparing of the breakfast by Philomena, and
the serving of it by Theresa, the sisters washed the dishes by hand in Winterholme's large kitchen at the back of the house, and then ate their own breakfast in a breakfast nook, in the corner of the kitchen, which had comfortable leather-backed stools. The sisters remember a shiny brown linoleum floor, covered with several long mats and swinging doors leading
into the hall--and the lack of a dishwasher.

When she had finished eating, Mrs. Winter would ring the
bell for Theresa to come up and take the tray off her bed.
She'd be asked to 'step outside' while her mistress got up, 'then Theresa would return to make the bed, and clean the bath
after Mrs. Winter bathed. Mrs. Winter would outline plans
for the day and Theresa's duties.

"I'm going out to play bridge with Mrs. Outerbridge this afternoon, and while I'm gone you can dust the drawing room, wash the bathroom floor, and help your sister in the kitchen."

Occasionally, good friends of the Winters such as Sir Leonard and Lady Outerbridge, or the Noonans, would be asked to spend the night, and they would usually be served breakfast in bed the following morning. Theresa was sometimes asked to comment on Mrs. Winter's hairdo, and was known to stretch the truth when asked, "Does it look nice on the back, Theresa?"

The routine of the sisters revolved around the daily agenda of the Winters. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons Mrs. Winter had one or two tables of bridge in the den, to the left of the main entrance. Sometimes bridge players would be asked to stay for supper; other times the Winters would dine out. There were occasional cocktail parties which would need to be catered to, and every evening the bed clothes would have to be turned down, pillows fluffed, and a drink of juice put on the night table.

Wages were $50 a month for Philomena, and $35 (which was soon raised to $40) for Theresa. The Hartson Sisters wore
white uniforms (a clean one every day) and were given
Thursday and Sunday afternoons off.

While Mrs. Winter was described as 'serious and stern' she
could also be very nice, Gordon Winter was deemed 'sweet'
by his two employees.

In the days when the health dangers of cigarettes were
unknown, Ethel Winter smoked a lot. In fact, the sisters were amazed at the way she could do everything, include talking,
with a cigarette 'on her lip'.

Mrs. Winter liked her bedclothes turned down with geometric precision, and if something was to be laid over a chair, it would have to be put exactly in the middle.

Don't Date Americans

On the other hand, she had a concern for her employees
welfare, especially Theresa, who was only 18. When the
sisters had an afternoon off she would watch them from
the window, to make sure they hadn't made dates to meet American servicemen in Bannerman Park.

"I had some girls here who got pregnant for Americans
and had to leave. I wouldn't want that happening to you,"
she told Theresa.

So the sisters arranged to meet their American dates at the far end of the park. On the occasional evening they went out they had to be in at 10:30, and ring the front door bell, because they weren't given keys. If they were five minutes late, Mrs. Winter, would mention it, while letting them in through the light-refracting beveled-glass doors.

Yet, she remembered her staff when she was holidaying in London, and brought the girls back two matching silver pendants with blue stones, which they still cherish.

When the couple was hosting a cocktail party, the sliding doors between the elegant drawing and music rooms to the right of the main door, would be opened and Gordon Winter would hold court, behind the cocktail shaker, for up to 40 guests. Several times he asked the sisters, working in the kitchen, if they would like a drink, but they always declined.

After a formal dinner, Theresa would circulate with a silver tray on which was placed a lighter and cigars. Occasionally when she lit a cigar, it wouldn't take, and she'd be called back into the dining room to re-light the 'confounded thing'.

"I didn't like that," she confesses. "It made me feel small."

"They ate a lot of mutton," says Philomena. "There'd be a leg of lamb for Sunday dinner, cold mutton for Monday, and the reheated joint for Tuesday."

Dinner parties were usually turkey and roast beef.

A favorite recipe of Philomena's was called 'Maple Shape' and consisted of maple syrup, gelatin and ice cream. For afternoon bridge parties, which were held in the den, on the left side of the main entrance, tea was served at 3:30, consisting of open-faced sandwiches, cucumber slices on bread rounds, biscuits and cheese, sausage pastry rolls, and pickled wieners.

There was always a 'sweet' served at tea, but Philomena remembers a time when her chocolate cake wasn't up to scratch.

"Mrs. Winter wanted a chocolate cake with light chocolate
icing and walnuts on the top for her bridge party. I did
everything right, but when I took the cake out of the pan,
it fell apart in small pieces. Knowing I couldn't serve it, I dug up something else and told Theresa to put the chocolate cake
under my bed, and we'll have a scoff tonight."

Being 'in service' at Winterholme wasn't all hard work and no play, as the Hartson Sisters cheerfully revealed.

"The work was easy. The cook never had to wash the floors
or do any heavy work," says Philomena. "And there was
always time for a laugh."

The girls would bring tea, and soft drinks (which they
bought themselves) up to their room, and enjoyed their cigarettes there. Actually, it was smoke that got the
sisters in trouble with Mrs. Winter.

Theresa remembers:- "We had a fireplace in our room
and were told it didn't work, but it looked fine to us. So one
night we took some billets and lit the fire. Mr. Eustace, the handyman, saw our smoke and told on us, and Mrs. Winter
came up and chewed us out,"

But that wasn't the end of the sisters' pranks. Theresa decided to give the fireplace another try, and was smuggling some 'billets' up to her room, when she met Mrs. Winter in the hall. In her fright, she dropped the wood.

Home Alone

The Winters had a summer cabin on the Cape Shore, where they occasionally went for the weekend. Mrs. Winter would like the girls to return to their home in Colinet when she and her husband were away, but the girls couldn't always afford to go home, so they occasionally spent the weekend, alone, in Winterholme.

The sisters were given a key then, but they were sometimes nervous, alone in their back bedroom of this huge mansion.

"I'd hear a noise under Phil's bed and tell her it was one of the rats that came in from the barn," laughs Theresa.

"I'd tell her to stop surmising," counters her sister.

But there was another scenario more real than rodents.

A serviceman had shot, himself during WWII in the front bedroom, known as No. Two. The room was then being used as Mrs. Winter's sewing room, but the girls had slipped in to check out the rumour that his bloodstains were impossible to remove from the floor, and when they discovered a floor spot which had been heavily sanded, they figured that was the site of the stain. So, in the silent evening, when the only sound was the grandfather clock, with its Big Ben chimes, at the top of the stairs, the sisters would be listening for the restless spirit of the unfortunate serviceman, while whispering and giggling in the darkness of their back bedroom.

The girls would bring tea, and soft drinks (which they
bought themselves) up to their room, and enjoyed their cigarettes there. Actually, it was smoke that got the
sisters in trouble with Mrs. Winter.

Theresa remembers:- "We had a fireplace in our room and
were told it didn't work, but it looked fine to us. So one night
we took some billets and lit the fire. Mr. Eustace, the
handyman, saw our smoke and told on us, and Mrs. Winter
came up and chewed us out,"

But that wasn't the end of the sisters' pranks. Theresa decided to give the fireplace another try, and was smuggling some 'billets' up to her room, when she met Mrs. Winter in the hall. In her fright, she dropped the wood.

They took advantage of the owners' absence to have a look
in the attic, where old furniture was stored, and have a
peep out the roof door, with its great view of
Bannerman Park and surrounding rooftops and chimney pots.
Not for the faint hearted.

One accident occurred which really gave Theresa something
to be scared about. She knocked down and broke a picture
of the Winters' son, Walcott.

"Mrs. Winter treasured everything, and I was frightened to
death of what she would say when they returned from the
Cape Shore," says Theresa.

She walked the floor, trying to fix the picture, and finally took the glass out. When Mrs. Winter arrived home, Theresa approached her with pounding heart to tell her of the damage, but her mistress just glanced and the picture and said, 'Oh,'

After about two and a half years, the sisters decided to go home to Colinet to spend the winter with their mother.

"I told Mrs. Winter, and she was disappointed, but said, 'Well, I still have Theresa,' When I said she was also coming home with me, Mrs. Winter got upset," says Philomena.

It's been almost 50 years since the Hartson Sisters worked at Winterholme, but they still have fond memories of their time 'in service' in Newfoundland's finest mansion.

And the things they learnt have stayed with them. "It was an asset for us in housekeeping. When we got married we knew how to do everything right, and we passed it on,"

'That's for sure," says Philomena's daughter, Gertie, to the affectionate smiles of Dick and Ruby Cook, current owners of the great, green mansion, now known as Winterholme Heritage Inn.