It’s at this time of year where people begin brave the bugs and unpredictable weather to dine in the fresh air. This was very much the case 100 years ago too. Here are highlights of some of the picnic related records we hold here at the Archives:
This photograph was most likely from Grove Presbyterian Church in Halifax, around 1890. Grove Presbyterian Church became part of United Memorial and then later Hope United Church.
Fast forward 20 years and here is a Presbyterian Sunday School picnic held in Shelburne, Nova Scotia in 1908:
Based on this financial report from J. Wesley Smith Memorial Methodist Church in Halifax, ice cream, soda, fruit and candy made up a big part of the menu for their picnic on August 12, 1919.
Finally, large picnics don’t just happen spontaneously so churches sometimes had Picnic Committees to arrange all the details such as this committee from Woodlawn United Church in Dartmouth in 1936:
