Some Oddities In Vermilion

In 1948, some odd things happened in Vermilion. They were not incredibly odd, or anything like strange lights in the sky, but they were enough to attract the notice of various newspapers in Western Canada.

The first story all had to do with potatoes.

In June 1948, R.J. Robinson, who farmed east of the community, was getting his garden ready on his property when he found a bunch of potatoes under the ground that he had failed to harvest the previous autumn. He was amazed that they were still very well preserved and had not rotted at all. When he picked them up, they were still hard and firm.

It was likely that the cold and frost of the winter had kept the potatoes completely preserved under the ground.

The second story was also about potatoes.

R.L. Burns, around the same time that Robinson found his potatoes, discovered that he too had about a half a bushel of potatoes that were well preserved in the ground. It was said that the potatoes were in a condition equal to that of the finest man-made storage facilities.

But there was one more odd story and this one had nothing to do with potatoes.

It was bacon.

Jack Welsh was planting in his garden in the spring of 1948 when he found not vegetables, but a side of bacon. He was very surprised when he pulled out premium bacon, which was described as the 75 cent per pound variety.

As he dug a bit more he came across some white fish.

Both had been greatly preserved by the cold of the winter and were still edible.

I don’t know if Jack actually ate the food, but still, some very odd things being pulled from the ground in Vermilion in 1948.

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