Camp Living

Living accommodations for the Farmerettes varied. They stayed in hotels and camp cabins or renovated buildings like barns. They also stayed in wooden barracks, military style steel huts, and tents. The largest camps had up to 100 girls.

In Lambton County, there were camps in Forest and Thedford. Others worked and lived on smaller farms in the area. The Thedford Camp was a renovated flax mill with bunk beds upstairs and a rec room, kitchen, and staff quarters downstairs.

Often, laundry and bathing were done in large metal tubs. Outhouses were common . In other places you could bathe in the nearby lake or there were large communal showers. The camps were “run a lot like a Girl Guide camp… with a house mother, a labour secretary [in charge of job assignment], plus a cook and helpers.” In the following news article, a group of farmerettes describe their typical day:

“Life in a Farmerette Camp” from The Clinton News Record:

To begin with, we live in a packing house which is first cousin to a barn. We will now give you a play- by-play description of a day in camp.

At 6:15 precisely a cowbell rings but it is greeted only by loud groans and a too feeble attempt to roll out of the bed. Fifteen minutes later the breakfast bell rouses everyone and everything. There is a mad, dazed rush to the washroom where half-closed eyes become open by the invigorating and chilling effect of the icy water. The breakfast room is then visited very hurriedly, mind, as we have to gulp down our food and climb into the truck, using one hand to elevate ourselves and the other one to cram the remainder of our breakfast into our mouths. We are awakened thoroughly on the ride to work by the chilly air and the bumpy road to D'Arcy Cropp's orchard, where all passengers are discharged gratis. We begin our labour, which is picking fruit, and after nine hours, the foreman regards the fruits of our labour with what we hope is an approving glance.

At five o'clock, no whistle is needed to induce us to discontinue any activity which may have been apparent during the day as we have been asking the time every five minutes in the last four hours.

At 5:01 the truck is ready to leave for our derelict castle. The next hour and a half is spent in first, reading our mail and then in scrubbing the dirt off (information about good dirt remover will be gratefully received).

At 6:30, the cowbell rings again and this time we are in the dining hall before the last clang of the bell dies away, greedily grabbing for a plate. Soon the plates are emptied and filled once more (we drink only 45 qts. of milk a day and eat 20 loaves of bread a day).

In the evening, the girls go out on various activities. On late leave nights the cinderellas arrive back to camp at 12 a.m. and on other nights the lights are out at ten. Two late leaves a week are enjoyed. But seriously, we would not have missed these experiences for anything. We are looking forward to another holiday with pay in 1942. We now feel that we are doing our bit towards bringing our country nearer victory.

Yours sincerely,
Clinton Farmerettes,
Helen Herman, Jean Hearn, Winnifred James, Phyllis Herman, Catherine Jefferson, Dorothy Maclntyre, Phyllis Manning and Fannie Lavis, Clinton's first war casualty now recuperating in Toronto General Hospital.