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West I -- _ Vancouver Historical Society MEMORIES Spring 2012 The Bread Lady (continued) fresh. F resh was for custom ers, W hatever did not sell was for us. W e h ad tw o types o f custom ers - the drop-ins and the residents. The drop-ins w ere m ainly the people who cam e up on the weekend, and w ere lured to our cabin by the sign on the m ain trail: - "The Bread C ab in ", w ith directional arrow s every so often, . M ost o f these cabins w ere ow ned by weekenders, but there was a small group o f young m en calling themselves "the ski b u m s", w ho w orked w hen and where they could, pooled th eir resources, and lived there "year-ro u n d " . T he nam es I rem em ber w ere Jack Pratt, Bud Jam es, E ddie O akley, and Fred Burfield. Tw o o f these ski bum s, Jack P ratt and Bud Jam es, contracted to build m y m o th e r's cabin. O ur new residence-to-be was a typical H ollybum m ountain ski cabin w ith a barn style roof, one m ain room for living, and a ladder up to a sleeping loft that extended over the entrance porch. Later, my m other enclosed the porch and m ade it into a kitchen. I rem em ber as a child, supposed to be sleeping, creeping forw ard so th a t I could look dow n into the cabin and listen to the fascinating conversations th at w ere taking place below me. U nfortunately, unless I was very careful, the boards w ould creak and I w ould be caught. O nce the cabin was built and the furnishings (such as they were) installed, m y m o th er started on her new career as hom e bakery proprietor, H ollyburn M ountain. Before I continue I should tell you how the furnishings, including a big iron w oodstove, got to our cabin. In addition to his duties as m unicipal Ranger, Ted Russell was also the m o u n ta in 's moving com pany. He and his horse Baldy w ould, for a pretty low price, undertake to carry w hatever the m ountain residents needed to keep them in the style to w hich they were accustom ed. I do not rem em ber w hat other goods we had, bu t I do rem em ber the stove on B aldy's back, and w ondering how it got there, how it stayed there, and if both the stove and the horse w ould make it all the w ay to our cabin in one piece. They did, and the bakery business started. Home m ade brow n bread, w hite bread, buns and coffee rings w ere the item s m y m o th er (M rs. H ughes or the "Bread L ad y " , to everyone b u t me) m ade for sale. W hen fresh, they w ere delicious. __U nfortunately, m y m o th er and I seldom ate them The Burfield fam ily inside the Hollyaburn Lodge, 1946 (759. W VA.H H S.BU R) along our trail. T he drop-ins w ere very im portant to us. W ith o u t them we could survive, but just barely. W ith them w e m ight have a few extras, like some jam on our bread. M ost o f the residents had standing orders for so m any loaves o f bread each w eek (or buns or coffee rings) so m y m other had some idea of w hat she w ould need to bake. Some of them cam e to our cabin them selves to pick up their w eek's supply of baking, partly, I believe to socialize, since a transaction m ight take two hours or m ore for a couple o f loaves o f bread. I w ould enjoy these sessions very m uch since they w ould break up the m onotony o f the week, take me aw ay from my correspondence school studies and if I was lucky, I w ould h ear an interesting story or tw o. The m ountain people were great story tellers. Continued next issue