I'm describing my big Bloomsday Halifax project by writing up what I did for each episode. In this entry, I'm covering Episode 16 of "Ulysses": "Eumaeus".
This episode takes place in the wee hours of the morning as Bloom and Stephen try to recover from their adventures in Nighttown by grabbing some coffee and food in a cabman's shelter. They meet the kinds of people you might expect in this situation, including a drunken sailor, and have some meandering tired late-night conversations - which the narrative itself picks up on, making this perhaps the most challenging chapter in the novel, purely because of its tiresomeness.
Cabs at this time were still mostly horse-drawn and driving them was exhausting work. Cabmen needed places to take breaks no matter where they were in town so a network of little booth-sized shelters, just big enough for a keeper and a handful of customers, were set up with food and drink available. These shelters were open to the public and were a popular option for nighthawks and post-closing-time revellers.
I wanted to set this episode somewhere that Halifax locals might remember from their own late night ramblings. I'm getting older and like to go to bed early these days, so I don't know what's even open 24 hours anymore. I decided to go for a place I still remember from my younger years, and which many Dalhousie students may remember from all-nighter study sessions: Freeman's on Quinpool. Freeman's is no longer open 24 hours, but still goes quite late.
I didn't end up coming up with anything special for this location. I considered recreating some printed elements from the chapter, but they were a suggestive photo of Molly Bloom, a postcard featuring South American "cannibals", and a sailor's release certificate, all of which would have been tricky and maybe a bit dodgy to recreate. I had been so busy with other locations and general set-up, that I hadn't even contacted anyone at Freeman's. I figured participants might simply come in for a break from their wanderings, like in the book, and get a slice or some garlic fingers and a beverage.
I heard later that several participants had actually picked Freeman's as one of their first locations to visit, and had come in and announced "We're here for the Bloomsday thing!" to blank and confused looks from the staff. Next time I'll make sure to figure out something more interesting and let them know.
For the background image, I quickly threw together a mash-up of an original Dublin cabman's shelter as if it was on Quinpool across from Freeman's. Not the best work ever, but it did the job. It also gives you a sense of the size of these little buildings.
