The Cape Breton Miners Museum in Glace Bay, N.S., is offering up new features to uniquely display the region’s long and rich coal mining history
Coffee, tea and oak cakes are on the menu and will be served by volunteers wearing traditional clothing that miner's wives would wear in the 1900s.
“I think the cafe experience is great for the museum because you will really get a feel for the company store itself,” said summer student Larissa Anthony. “You can sit in here, look at all the artifacts, learn a lot and get a personal feel.”
The cafe is located inside the company store. It was traditionally a big part of the coal industry, and was where miners would purchase food, clothing and other essentials.
“The history there is amazing,” said Mary Pat Mombourquette, executive director of the museum. “You can see that a man who worked underground all week would sometimes only get a two dollar pay cheque at the end of the week.”
Mombourquette says eighty per cent of the visitors to the museum are from off island. She's hoping the cafe will encourage locals to see this hidden gem in their own back yard.
“We think with a cafe will get more local attention and they'll come in have a coffee, mix with the visitors from away, and I think that will give the visitor an even better experience because locals do have a history in the coal mining community about their experiences,” said Mombourquette.
The museum was built as a centennial year project in 1967. Over the years there have been a number of unexplained things happening within the building, including lights being left on with no one in the building, voices heard with no one around, and mysterious sounds.
All stories that will be told as part of a ghost tour added to the visitor experience this year.
“We have a woman from Sydney to create costumes,” said Mombourquette. “She created costumes right out of the turn of the 20th century. We will have woman in long dress with aprons and bonnet, and men, too, dressed in worker clothes.”
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.
