I found this photo in the online Archives of Ontario. The photo is dated 1926. The women and girls are carrying water on Humber Drive, in southern Ontario. I don't think Humber Drive looks anything as rural as this anymore as its been swallowed up by Toronto, I believe. The title of the photo is: "Gypsies carrying water on Humber Drive." I think these women are Syrian or Lebanese immigrants to Canada. At the turn of the century, Syrians and Lebanese (as well as Armenians, Kurds, and others) were considered Turks by the Canadian government. This polyglot of Arab peoples or other peoples from the Arab region were known as gypsies, I guess, to the anglo settlers to Canada. The archives have other racialized images. I wonder who put the captions on the photos?
2 comments:
It's funny to see how the first immigrants, especially Syrians and Lebanese, maintained their old traditions... Hugs, M.
yes, perhaps those water jugs came in very handy in the early 1900s no matter where one lived!
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