The Streets of Barbados,1906

/ Kimberly

The great mystic Neville Goddard was born into poverty on the island of Barbados in 1905.

Neville Goddard

Neville was one of ten children, and his family owned a grocery store. He mentioned his youth on the island from time to time, and I always had trouble picturing it.

A little about the island: Barbados population is 92% black. English is the official language on the island but many people speak an English-based creole language. Nearly half the population of the island lives in the capital city of Bridgetown. The weather is generally warm and sunny with an average temperature of 86°.

It’s difficult to find pictures of Barbados from the turn of the century. These are the first I’ve seen.

The pictures in this post, except for the portrait of Neville, are all from the Caribbean Archive and are all titled Street Scene, Bridgetown, Barbados. They were taken in 1906, the year after Neville was born.

There’s a dreaminess to these photographs. Many women carry baskets filled with fruit on their heads. You have to have great posture to balance a basket on your head. I suppose nearly everyone is wearing all white clothing to keep as cool as they could.

I saved the most interesting picture for last. Do you feel the tension? I wonder what was going on. The man and woman on the left seem to be of a higher class than the couple on the right. I’m not actually sure the two on the left are a couple but the man and woman on the right are. They’re obviously working people. The man is carrying tools and the woman seems to be holding him protectively.

6 thoughts on “The Streets of Barbados,1906”

  1. It definitely looks to be some tension there. The man in the doorway and the lady with the basket on her head have stopped to observe the interaction between the two men. I would guess there’s an issue with money owed or work not finished. Interesting how a photographer just happened to catch this situation on film!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  2. I know nothing of Neville Goddard. Had to read the Wiki page about him. Intriguing man. To receive a Honorable Discharge from the Army in 1942 after only 9 months of service is highly unusual. Wonder if he was a Conscientious Objector? Having visited Barbados, I understand what motivated Goddard to leave for the United States.

    I was young and naive when I vacationed in Barbados. My wife, who planned the trip, told me Barbadians spoke English. While sitting in the cab at the airport waiting to be driven to our hotel, I overheard our driver speaking with another cabbie. My window was down and I was certain I heard a language other than English. During the drive I asked our driver what language he was speaking back at the airport; he told me English. I challenged him on his answer . . . that was not what I heard being spoken. He chuckled and then explained.

    Barbadians, when speaking English to other Barbadians, speak very fast, with different intonations and slang words than used by Americans. Add to that the Caribbean accent and, to the unaccustomed listener, it sounds “foreign.” When speaking to tourist they slow their speech, soften the accent, and alter their diction. His example was, “Would you like a cup of coffee, sir?” is how a Barbadian would speak to a tourist. But to a fellow Barbadian it would simply be said as, “Coffee’mon?,” very quickly. The intonational emphasis is on ” ‘mon.”

    The other fascinating thing is that Barbados has the Caribbean Sea on one side of the island and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. (That was news to me; my wife knew.) The difference in the water color, temperature and waves tend to make one side of the island more appealing than the other, depending on the how one plans to enjoy the water. Our hotel was on the beach, Caribbean side.

    The average Barbadian at the time lived in small wood framed home held off the ground by cinder blocks. (The photos shoeless people on the street in 1906 is not surprising.) Through our hotel, several guest were given a tour of an upper class home. It was owned by a young professional couple and newly built. The house itself was constructed of cinder block covered with stucco and painted a shade of reddish-pink. It was multi-storied with the main living area on the upper floor. It had large, glassless “windows” throughout the entire home and several balconies to take advantage of the ocean breeze. There was no air conditioning in the home.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Wow, what a cool memory! Neville talks about his discharge from the Army as an early example of using the principle he later made famous. The law of assumption. He said he would imagine, in as much detail as he could, being back home with his wife and daughter. He didn’t ask or plead to go home. But he religiously imagined being back home.. small things like sitting in his armchair, reading his books, etc. and his superiors approached him with the offer to go home. He had a friend who desperately wanted to go home too but scoffed at Neville’s methods. His friend did get to go home… 3 and 1/2 years later!

      Like

      Reply

Share your thoughts on this post