ENTERTAINMENT
This page will feature items about the ways Bell Islanders entertained themselves and were entertained. Sometimes those entertainments overlapped with sporting events, but pure sports items will be dealt with on the "Sports" page. Specific types of entertainment, such as live theatre, movies, music, etc. will each have their own off-shoot page from this one.
Most of the history of mining on Bell Island took place before the advent of television. Live entertainment was very popular in the first half of the 20th Century, whether it was a theatrical performance or dancing to a live orchestra. Newspaper reports of such events were numerous during those years.
This is the story of the arrival of an unusual group of performers as it was reported in the Daily News in February 1925:
The first coloured troupe of entertainers to play on Bell Island came from St. John's in February under the direction of Charles Foster. Driving conditions were never worse. The roads were full of ruts and gulches. The quintette was driven in catamarans from the Tramway to the Gaiety Theatre on the Green. Harold Harvey's sleigh was in the lead. At the foot of Fancy Hill, the traces of his horse broke and some o the negro passengers were spilled out into the snow. Charlie Foster said in his deep bass voice, "You boys must sure love that road, you're lying so close to it!" Foster then asked Nick Fowler how much further was it to the hall. Nick replied, "About two blocks." After another five minutes, Charlie drawled, "Say, driver, what do you call a block in this town?" There is no record of Nick's reply, but he might have said the only blocks on Bell Island are blocks of iron ore.
This is the story of the arrival of an unusual group of performers as it was reported in the Daily News in February 1925:
The first coloured troupe of entertainers to play on Bell Island came from St. John's in February under the direction of Charles Foster. Driving conditions were never worse. The roads were full of ruts and gulches. The quintette was driven in catamarans from the Tramway to the Gaiety Theatre on the Green. Harold Harvey's sleigh was in the lead. At the foot of Fancy Hill, the traces of his horse broke and some o the negro passengers were spilled out into the snow. Charlie Foster said in his deep bass voice, "You boys must sure love that road, you're lying so close to it!" Foster then asked Nick Fowler how much further was it to the hall. Nick replied, "About two blocks." After another five minutes, Charlie drawled, "Say, driver, what do you call a block in this town?" There is no record of Nick's reply, but he might have said the only blocks on Bell Island are blocks of iron ore.