Caption
Lighthouse keepers are a breed apart. In Canada, living on the bleak isolated stations that guard the shipping lanes of a vast trade with the world, they seldom see visitors, rarely leave their lights. They and their families learn to accept a loneliness known only to others of their kind. These lighthouses are part of the federal Department of Transport's vast network of light stations, fog alarms and bobbing buoys that steer shipping safely around Canada's treacherous coast line. Joseph Mitchell, keeper of the St. Paul's Island light, in the Bay of Fundy, uses an aerial cable car to bring his children to the main island.
Release Date
June 19, 1956
Materials
Typescript with illustrations
Collection
CMCP fonds
Credit Line
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography fonds, National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives
Caption
Race Rocks light is tended by Gordon Odium, who has been a light keeper for 14 years. Tending a light can be a lonely, monotonous existence for Odium, his wife and four children, with only an occasional visit from the monthly supply vessel. Here, Odium mounts the circular steps to light his three pronged warning beacon.
Date
June 1, 1954
Accession Number
LAC-NFB70676
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011175964
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
Wives of light keepers, like Mrs. Gordon Odium of Race Rocks, B.C., learn to plan meals a month in advance. They rely on a supply ship -- which may or may not come twice monthly depending on weather -- for everything from round steak and clothing to nose drops and drinking water.
Date
June 1, 1954
Accession Number
LAC-NFB70698
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011175965
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
Each light -- each fog horn -- has a different flash and eclipse, or throaty sound, that are all part of the language of the sea. They serve as landmarks as well as warnings, and passing mariners can check their positions by sight and sound. Here, Mrs. Gordon Odium feeds baby in kitchen of their Race Rocks home.
Date
June 1, 1954
Accession Number
LAC-NFB70727
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011175966
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
Rising 100 feet above its tiny 9-acre promontory, Race Rocks lighthouse stands as a watchful sentinel over the treacherous rocks and rip tides of Juan de Fuca Strait. Located 10 miles off Vancouver Island, her warning light and radio beacon have saved many an inbound vessel from grinding its hull on the fog-shrouded reefs.
Date
June 1, 1954
Accession Number
LAC-NFB70729
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011175967
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
Light keeper Charles Macdonald, trims his light in tower located on southwest St. Paul's Island, Nova Scotia. Network of lights operated by the Department of Transport is thickest in the Bay of Fundy, and there are over 700 men, women and children staffing Fundy's lights on year 'round basis.
Date
August 1, 1954
Accession Number
LAC-NFB71700
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011176000
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
Archie Macdonald, son of the keeper of the southwest light on Fundy's St. Paul's Island, whiles away long hours playing with German shepherd. Though some of isolated stations are postage-stamp in size, there's plenty of work to do for all hands. But the toughest part of the job is in simply being there.
Date
August 1, 1954
Accession Number
LAC-NFB71710
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011176001
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Photostory # 59: Lighthouses Form Safety Network
Photographers
,
Maker
National Film Board of Canada
Release Date
June 19, 1956
Collection
CMCP fonds
Credit Line
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography fonds, National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives
Main Text
Lighthouse keepers are a breed apart. In Canada, living on the bleak isolated stations that guard the shipping lanes of a vast trade with the world, they seldom see visitors, rarely leave their lights. They and their families learn to accept a loneliness known only to others of their kind. These lighthouses are part of the federal Department of Transport's vast network of light stations, fog alarms and bobbing buoys that steer shipping safely around Canada's treacherous coast line. Joseph Mitchell, keeper of the St. Paul's Island light, in the Bay of Fundy, uses an aerial cable car to bring his children to the main island.
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