- The Barrelman
The Barrelman was a name adopted by
Joseph Smallwood for his fifteen minute radio program on theBroadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland to promote pride in Newfoundland's history and culture. The show began as a column in the Daily News newspaper, and later appeared as a radio show on St. John's radio stationVONF in 1937 and became part of BCN's schedule when the network was established two years later. Within a week of its 1937 premiere, it had gathered an appreciative audience that it caught the attention ofF.M. O'Leary Limited who began sponsoring it. The program was aired six nights a week and remained on the air for seven years.The opening introduction was always;
F.M. O'Leary Limited presenting "The Barrelman" in a program of making Newfoundland better known to Newfoundlanders. [Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, Volume One, (p. 134) ISBN 0-920508-14-6]
The show consisted of "The Barrelman" (Smallwood) tellinganecdote s andtales illustrating the culture and likeable attributes of the Newfoundland people in a historical context.The program made Smallwood a household name throughout Newfoundland. [ [http://www.mun.ca/marcomm/news/31082001/university_centre_named_21122000.html Memorial University News Release] ] In November 1943 Smallwood left the program to operate a pig farm in Gander, and was succeeded as the Barrelman by journalist
Michael Harrington . Harrington continued the show until 1955. Subsequently, Smallwood became a leading figure in Newfoundland politics.A
barrelman is an individual who was stationed in thecrow's nest of a ship and was the first to spot any sign of danger and the one who first sighed land. It was an apporiated term to distinguish Smallwood's relay to his message of making Newfoundland better known to Newfoundlanders.References and notes
External links
* [http://168.144.119.139/best_of_the_barrelman.htm The Best of The Barrelman (1938-1940)]
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