Mat making arrived with English settlers in the 1700s and 1800s. Mats were made for utility and for decoration, and hooking mats was a prime pastime during the long, harsh winters. Sir Wilfred Grenfell built on this tradition when he arrived in the area in 1892. He saw the mats as a way for local women to help support the work of his medical mission and he marketed those mats around England and the United States.
The mat making tradition, however, has just about vanished on the northern coast. The arrival of consumer goods from elsewhere, and the entry of women into the workforce, mostly fish plants, meant that very few remained 'hookers'. There has been a renewed interest in mat-making around the province, however, which may lead to more projects like this.
In our business, we use the word mat interchangeably with rug. However, the traditional term used throughout Newfoundland and Labrador is mat hooking; although rug hooking is beginning to be used more widely.
The mat making tradition, however, has just about vanished on the northern coast. The arrival of consumer goods from elsewhere, and the entry of women into the workforce, mostly fish plants, meant that very few remained 'hookers'. There has been a renewed interest in mat-making around the province, however, which may lead to more projects like this.
In our business, we use the word mat interchangeably with rug. However, the traditional term used throughout Newfoundland and Labrador is mat hooking; although rug hooking is beginning to be used more widely.