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Lois Frances Booth

1897–1941

Born
8 Aug 1897, Ottawa
Country of birth
Canada
Died
26 Feb 1941, Copenhagen
facts
8
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Ottawa

    Birth, Ottawa

  2. Died · Copenhagen

    Death, Copenhagen

What was it like?

The world around Ottawa, 1897: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Lois was born the same year as Frank Capra, Fredric March, and Marian Anderson.

Born the same year

  • Frank Capra

    Italian-born American film director (1897–1991)

  • Fredric March

    American actor (1897–1975)

  • Marian Anderson

    African-American contralto (1897–1993)

  • Paavo Nurmi

    Finnish middle and long distance runner (1897–1973)

  • William Faulkner

    American writer (1897-1962)

  • Amelia Earhart

    American aviation pioneer and author (1897–1939)

Fashion

Festive Dress and Decorative Accents

For festive occasions such as New Year's or weddings, women often wore bright, decorated dresses and skirts accented with ribbons, beads, or embroidery. While everyday outfits were typically dark and practical, these special garments allowed women to showcase their artistry and jewelry.

Hand-Made Clothing and Production Costs

Because ready-made clothing was costly, women often hand-manufactured garments for their families using available materials, including dyeing repurposed flour bags to create colorful clothing. In rural areas, women produced significant amounts of handwoven cloth, with a typical weaver earning about 10 cents per yard for custom work.

Music

Fiddles and other instruments for daily life

The fiddle was the most popular instrument for dances, often accompanied by guitars, accordions, harmonicas, and mouth reels.

Popular dances at home and festivals

People enjoyed dances such as the Red River Jig, quadrilles, waltzes, and polkas at impromptu house parties and festivals.

Getting around
Around 1899–1899

Halifax to Boston in 23 hours

By 1899, express train and steamship connections allowed travel between Halifax and Boston in under 23 hours.

Winter travel was the easiest method

Travel between towns was often difficult due to mud in spring and dust in summer, making winter travel in horse-drawn sleighs the easiest method.

Daily life

Heating Homes in Winter

Houses were typically heated by a single wood or coal stove, often leaving upstairs bedrooms very cold in winter, where families sometimes warmed their beds with heated bricks or stones.

School Attendance and Farm Labor

Children often struggled to attend school because their labor was required on the family farm, especially during planting and harvesting seasons. Mandatory schooling introduced in 1871 only required attendance for four months of the year for children aged 7 to 12.

Food

Extremely strong black tea

Lumberjacks drank black tea brewed so strong that it was jokingly said to be able to float an iron wedge.

High daily potato consumption

Rural families in Quebec consumed large quantities of potatoes, averaging 557 grams per person daily, significantly more than their French counterparts.

Work
Around 1890–1890

Pay for boy miners

In 1890, pit boys in Nova Scotia coal mines were paid an average of 65 cents per day, while adult miners earned $1.45.

Dangerous work for children

Child trappers as young as 8 years old spent entire shifts sitting in darkness, opening and closing ventilation doors in mines.

News and letters

Mail traveled by train, horse, or dogsled

Mail was delivered by foot, horseback, wagon, stagecoach, or by train as railway lines expanded across the country. In winter, couriers also relied on sleighs, cutters, and dogsleds to travel across snow and frozen rivers.

Standard Canadian letter postage cost 3 cents

The general postage rate for letters within Canada during this period was 3 cents per ounce.

During their lifetime

  1. 1899

    1899 September Agreement signed

    The 1899 September Agreement ended a major industrial dispute and institutionalized the Danish labor market, giving unions formal recognition.

  2. 1904

    First Danish cinema opens (1904)

    Denmark's first cinema, Kosmorama, opened in Copenhagen, marking the start of the mass entertainment era.

  3. 1915

    Women gain right to vote (1915)

    A new constitution granted women and servants of both sexes the right to vote in parliamentary elections.

  4. 1921

    First hot dog stands appear (1921)

    The first six hot dog stands appeared in the streets of Copenhagen.

  5. 1928

    First traffic light installed (1928)

    The first traffic light in Denmark was installed at the intersection of Frederiksborggade and Nørre Farimagsgade.

  6. 1938

    Statutory holiday introduced (1938)

    The Holiday Act established that workers were entitled to two weeks of statutory holiday per year.

Family

Parents

Spouses

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.