The house Bert found to rent was large but old and in poor repair. It had a nice fenced-in backyard where Bruce could play, and a garage that Bert could use as a shop. It was also close to their church. Nell was disappointed when her sister, Jean, told her she was moving to Edmonton to be near her work. She didn’t leave for two months, and for that time she and Nell saw each other every day. Two of Nell’s dearest church friends were elderly sisters, Maimie and Mercy O’Conner, and they fell in love with little Bruce as soon as they saw him. They had offered to take him for a few days and give Nell a rest, because Nell was expecting again, but Bruce was a very good little boy and Nell never felt the need to leave him. That is until she went to the hospital to have her second child.
Maimie and Mercy were thrilled to have Bruce to themselves—thrilled until it was time to put him to bed. He refused to lie down even though Bert had taken his crib over so he could sleep in it. Bruce didn’t scream or throw a fit, he just wouldn’t lie down. There was nothing the sisters could do, so they had to allow him to sleep sitting up and leaning against the side of the crib. This lasted for the entire two weeks Nell was in the hospital. Marion Dorothy was born on January 29, 1918, Nell’s sister Jean’s 25th birthday. While Nell was in the hospital, Bert told her that he had just heard from Ernie announcing the birth of their second son, Milton. “It seems they beat us to it again, by a week,” he said. “Now I shall never hear the end of it, but at least I can claim bragging rights for having the first girl!”
Bruce loved his little sister and took on the role of big brother seriously. He called her “Sidder” and even at the age of three, Nell could trust him to watch her if she was busy doing the housework. Bert found a job driving a city transit bus. However, Nell was afraid he would have a fainting spell when he had a bus full of passengers, so she didn’t object when he left that job and started doing automobile repairs in his garage. The work was sporadic and there were times when Nell had to learn to make a meal out of whatever she could buy for pennies, like rice or split peas.
One day she was busy washing clothes when someone knocked at the door. When she answered it, a man dressed in coveralls handed her a piece of paper and said, “Just sign there, mam. Where do you want it?”
Nell had no idea what he was talking about. “Where do I want what?”
“The chair. The barber’s chair, do you want us to bring it in the front door or the back door?”
It was then that she noticed there was another man standing out by a truck. He had a moving trolley with a great big ugly thing tied to it. It didn’t look like a chair to her. “I’m sorry, but I think you have the wrong address. We haven’t ordered anything lately so I am certain it can’t be ours.”
“Look at that paper, mam. Isn’t that your name and address?”
Nell looked at the piece of paper, but it still never made sense, so not knowing what else to do, she called over to the garage. “Bert, you had better come and see to this!”
Bert was about to say, “In a minute, love,” but by the sound of Nell’s voice, he knew that wouldn’t be a wise thing to do, so he put down what he was doing and came out. When he saw the man with the chair, he said, “It’s a barber’s chair, Nell. Isn’t it a dandy?” Then he motioned for the man to bring the chair over to the garage. “Just put it in here. That’s it, right over there by the window. Good.” Nell, still trying to make sense out of it all, followed the chair. “Did you pay him, Nell?”
“What am I supposed to pay him with—buttons?”
“It’s only a dollar, right?” he asked the man. “I didn’t have to pay a cent for it—Jim was going to send it to the dump. It needs a little repairing, but it shall be as good as new after I’ve had a go at it. Go on, dearie, give the man his money.”
Nell was taught that it was rude to argue in front of company or strangers, so she returned to the house, managed to find enough change to pay the fellow then not wanting to leave the children alone in the house, she decided to wait until after dinner before confronting Bert. After she had put them to bed and she and Bert were alone, she asked him what he intended to do with a barber’s chair. She said it calmly, but he could see she was annoyed. One dollar was a great deal of money to throw away when they were living on a shoestring.
“I know it was rash of me, Nellie, but I did a little extra work on my barber’s car a week ago, and instead of paying me, he said he’d give me a haircut. Then when I went for the haircut last Tuesday, I overheard him telling a customer to come and pick up an old chair he had in the back and take it to the dump.
“After I went and had a look at it, I told Jim that I could probably fix it for him. He said it was too old fashioned and that he had already bought two new ones but if I wanted it, I could take it. I didn’t think I could get it in the car, so I had it delivered.”
“What on earth are you going to do with an old barber’s chair?”
“It won’t look old when I fix it. I can make a little extra money cutting hair, and if that goes well, I can even pipe hot water from the house and I shall be able to give shaves as well.”
“I didn’t know you were a barber.”
“I’m not yet, but I could be.”
“Have you ever cut anyone’s hair?”
“Er...yes, yes I did cut a friend’s hair. That was when we were riding freights. Anyway, I’ve had enough of them myself to know how it’s done.”
“You could also get sued for making a mess of it too. And I don’t know if it’s legal to put out a barber’s sign if you haven’t a license.”
“I don’t intend to put up a sign or even confess to being a barber. I shan’t even charge for my services but that doesn’t say there can’t be a jar for donations on display. Think about it, Nell; I can section off a small area of the garage and tidy it all up. It would bring in a little extra money.”
Nell found herself picturing a little part of the garage boarded off with an added window and freshly painted walls. She could even do the decorating while the children were playing in the yard. She could leave the garage door open and watch them while she worked. “You know, I think there’s some cans in the basement that may still have paint in them.”
“That’s my girl,” Bert replied as he gave her a big hug. Then, when she blushed and pushed him aside, he laughed, and danced around her singing the song, “Nellie Bly,” changing some words to fit the occasion.
“Nellie Bly! Nellie Bly! Bring your broom around
We’ll sweep the garage clean, my dear, and have a little song.
Poke the wood my lady love, and make the fire burn,
And while I take my fiddle down, just give the mush a turn.
Hi! Nellie. Ho! Nellie, listen love to me,
I’ll sing for you, play for you, a dolcem melody.
Hi! Nellie. Ho! Nellie, listen love to me,
I’ll sing for you, play for you, a dolcem melody.”
Then he picked up his violin and played the tune for the children. One week later, he had the chair repaired, the partitions built, and Nell had it all painted and decorated. Whenever Bert’s customers came to have their cars or bikes repaired, he would casually mention that he would be happy to cut their hair, and Nell made some small towels that he could use if he ever had an opportunity to give someone a shave.
Bert used the scissors he brought from England, some secondhand clippers, and a rabbit skin to practice the art of barbering and when he thought he was ready, he gave his first haircut. It could have gone better, but the victim was a bachelor and not the least bit vain, so was happy with the results. It wasn’t long before Bert had quite a few customers for both haircuts and shaves.
Using his own shaving brush, he sent many of his clientele home with the best shave they ever had. This pleased the wives more than the recipients and the men were often ordered to return to Bert’s garage whenever a special occasion occurred in their family. The donations, which increased along with Bert’s expertise, were a big help in balancing Nell’s budget.
Nell’s brothers, Bruce and Mack Hunter, had both suffered wounds in the war. Mack had lost an elbow and the army doctors had replaced it with a metal one, and although he could bend it a little, it caused him a lot of pain. Bruce, who had also been wounded, was deemed a hero and given a promotion and a medal for bravery. He had crawled under a barbed wire barricade into the enemy lines in order to obtain important information.
Unfortunately, not long after he received the medal, he lost it and his rank for kidnapping another regiment’s mascot (a healthy goat) in order to give some very hungry Dutch people a feast. As well as being a risk-taker, Bruce Hunter was quite a charmer, and he was Nell’s favourite brother. When he was wounded, he fell in love with his nurse and married her. After the war, they settled in Nova Scotia in the Annapolis Valley. Nell was very fond of Mack too and she was pleased when he and his wife settled in Calgary. Lloyd, another brother of Nell’s, lived just across the border in the States and he often came to see her.
Bert and Nell enjoyed their life in Calgary. They had a lot of friends and were happily involved in the church. Bruce kept Marion, who was a very content little girl, entertained, and when Nell had a bad day coughing, they practically looked after themselves. When she was a youngster, Nell had suffered with both diphtheria and bronchitis, and she still suffered with bouts of lung infections. Bert thought she was better when they lived in Olds and might be even better if they moved further west to Vancouver, but Nell didn’t want to be that far away from the only family she had near her.
In October, Bert received a phone call asking him if he would be interested in taking over the management of the OK garage in Olds. It was a tempting offer for him. His shop wasn’t doing that well and he thought it would be nice to manage a proper garage again. Nell didn’t want to move, but she looked forward to having a decent income once again. Besides, she could see how much Bert wanted it. They decided to keep renting the house in Calgary just in case they decided to move back, so they paid a neighbour a small fee to keep an eye on it.
They found a furnished house in Olds to rent and moved in that same month. The local paper announced Bert’s arrival in an ad saying, “Bert White is the new manager of the OK Garage.” The first phone call Bert received in the garage was from Alan Walters. He had seen the ad and wanted to make sure it was true. They had only seen each other once since Bert and Nell moved to Calgary and Wendy was as anxious to see the children as she was to see Nell. “We’ll be in next weekend, Bert,” Alan promised. “We had a good year so tell Nell not to buy any vegetables.”
They came when they said they would, and Nell insisted they stay for two days so they could get caught up on all their news. When they were alone, Nell told Wendy that she didn’t think Bert would stay at the garage for more than a year or two at the most. “I don’t like it, but he only seems to be able to work for someone for that long. From what I gather, their whole family is like that. They don’t like feeling dependent on anyone. Bert has tried to explain it to me. He says working for himself gives him a feeling of freedom, so I guess I’ll just have to get used to it.”
“Well, I know Alan wouldn’t want to go back to working for anyone again, so I think there are a lot more men like Bert in this world.”
Bert was kept busy and when the New Year began, Nell thought perhaps he would be content to stay in Olds. She missed Calgary more than he did, but Mack and his wife, Jean, came to visit quite often and she took the kids and drove the car into Calgary when the weather permitted. They had decided to rent out the house in Calgary and were lucky enough to have their landlord’s permission. Bert received a telegram from Ernie in February saying that he, Ada, their two boys and brother, Chris, would be leaving England and moving to Calgary in March.
Bert would be happy to have Ernie back in Canada, but what he was really excited about was that his brother, Chris, was coming too. He and Nell took the children and went to meet them at the Calgary station. There were lots of tears of joy shed as they greeted each other, but the tears shed later in the day were anything but joyful. When they arrived at Ernie and Ada’s house, it had been ransacked—all their wedding pictures and treasured keepsakes were gone along with all their furniture. Poor Ada was heartbroken and having no place to stay, Nell insisted they come to Olds and stay with them.
The house Bert and Nell rented only had had two bedrooms, so Ernie, Ada and their two boys were given one and Bert, Nell and their two children took the other. This left Chris without a room, so Bert bought a cot and put it in the storage room of the garage. There was a heater in the building and a sink with running water, so Chris would be warm enough and he could wash and shave in the mornings. Nell soon learned that Chris never complained and was happy just to be with Bert once more. Ernie worked with Bert in the garage and although they didn’t argue, their views on most subjects differed.
Because they were the same age, Nell thought Bruce would be pleased to have Godfrey stay with them, but although they were always polite to one another and shared their toys, they didn’t become close. However, Marion and Milton, who were both now walking, seemed to have a great time together, and all four children were well behaved so that helped. Nell did most of the cooking because she found Ada’s cooking rather bland.
One time Ada was boiling a chicken—she was in the habit of boiling most of her dinners—and when she wasn’t looking, Nell added more salt to the pot. This wouldn’t have been so bad, but Bert, not realizing what Nell had done, added some more. Then, Ernie happened to go past the pot when no one was about, and he thought he’d add a little more. Ada was the only one who dared remark about the saltiness of the bird and she said, “I don’t know where that store gets their chickens, Nell, but I wouldn’t buy one there again if I were you!”
Ada and Ernie were in the habit of spending an hour or more every night after the children were in bed reading the bible aloud and singing hymns. Bert took part and seemed to enjoy it, but Nell said she would be happy to just listen while she did her mending. Chris didn’t sing and never went to church or read the bible. He was content to sit in the kitchen reading the newspaper while they worshipped before joining them in the front room to listen to the music. Nell began to understand that Bert’s siblings who stayed home to look after the others weren’t encouraged to go to church or far in school. Bert didn’t write letters, so she corresponded with his father whose letters also gave her some insight into life in the White house. What bothered her most was that Chris’ devotion to Bert was something Bert took for granted.
When she first met Chris, she had expected he would have an outgoing personality like Bert and Ernie but although he had a pleasant countenance and a welcoming smile, he had little to say. He had enjoyed the voyage though and Nell could tell he was pleased to meet her. He may have been the same height as Bert, but he was quite round shouldered and had a slight hump on his back. Like Ernie, his hair was receding. He didn’t make a fuss over the children, but he listened to them, therefore, Nell knew he liked them.