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EESTI ELU reedel, 21. jaanuaril 2022 — Friday, January 21, 2022
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From the Archive: shifting and ongoing newspaper features from Eesti Elu’s predecessors Vincent Teetsov Eesti Elu / Estonian Life has served for 20 years as the voice of the Estonian-Cana dian community. Cur rent readers have had the chance to see this unfold, to see how the newspaper provides our community an essential plat form for discourse and infor mation. This commitment to Estonian-Canadian news didn’t start from nothing in 2002, though. The source of this vision goes back to the 1950s, before Eesti Elu, when there was Vaba Eestlane (Free Esto nian) and Meie Elu (Our Life). Take a look for yourself on the dea.digar.ee site to reveal what people were reading in Vaba Eestlane from 1952 to 2001. Right away, you’ll notice how many issues of the news paper came out every month. The newspaper was published by ORTO Estonian Publishing House Ltd., at first coming out every Wednesday and Saturday, switching to Tuesday and Friday in February 1969, and then Tuesday and Thursday from 1976 until December 2001. At the helm was peatoime taja Andres Laur and editors Karl Arro and Ilmar Külvet, working from an office space at 158 7th Street, in what’s now the New Toronto neighbour hood of Etobicoke. Reading the newspaper’s e dition from Wednesday November 19th, 1958 shows some of the prevailing topics on people’s minds at the time. The headline focuses on diplomacy and United States Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles: “KOLME SUURRIIGI VÄLIS MINISTRID GENFI... [Nõu kogude] Liit kavatseb Dulles’elt välja pressida järeleandmisi.” (“THE FOREIGN MINISTERS OF THREE GREAT STATES TO GENEVA... the Soviet Union intends to squeeze con
cessions from Dulles.”) Just below that is a short report on Canadian Secretary of State Sidney Smith, who sug gested that Chairman Mao Zedong should be invited to a future conference of heads of state in Asia. Elsewhere on the front page is an update from East Berlin and coverage of Prime Minister John Diefen baker’s visit to France on a world tour, greeting the children of Canadian military personnel. Stemming from the political climate of that time, instead of news from Estonia, attention is given to growing tensions be tween the United States and the Soviet Union. These journalists were sharing a timely Estonian perspective on the events of the Cold War. Within Simon Fraser University’s digitized newspa pers collection, an edition of Meie Elu – published between 1950 and 2001 – from Thursday March 3rd, 1983 (https://newspapers.lib.sfu.ca/ccme-1773/meie-elu), starts out with an emphasis on Estonian independence ideals. The top story of this issue reports on Colonel Ylo Anson’s speech at the celebrations of the 65th anniversary of the Repub lic of Estonia. The paper notes how Anson, “based on interna tional agreements, characterized our country as the defenders of our homeland, who were not supported by Moscow.” Throughout their existence, these two newspapers not only reported the news, but were like bulletin boards for local Estonian organizations. In the above-mentioned issue of Meie Elu, there’s a posting about an upcoming meeting of the Saarlaste Ühing Torontos (an association of people from Saaremaa) urgently asking members to attend the meeting in preparation for the upcoming Esto ’84 festival. If you missed the memo in a letter, personal phone call, or by word of
Meie Elu and Vaba Eestlane clippings from over the years.
mouth, you would be reminded here. In the 1958 issue of Vaba Eestlane, readers were informed of key dates before and after they occurred. For example, the newspaper reported on the cele bration of the University of Tartu’s 326th anniversary in Montréal and the fourth Laulu pidu in Stockholm that was due to take place in 1961. Looking at these newspapers today, we can recall the inner workings of a community in words and photos. But a news paper is more than just a his torical document for future enjoyment, it’s an immediate tool crafted by editors, writers, designers, and printers. And for Vaba Eestlane, in 1958, you could access this tool for only 12 dollars a year. Plus the 50 cents it cost to send it by mail in Toronto (70 cents if you lived elsewhere in Canada, in the US, or in England). After the biggest stories on the front page, side-by-side with the ristsõna puzzle and the jokes in the naljanurk, one can
We’re Listening with EMW: the unexpected hip hop gem found in René Ufer and Lilian Treiberg’s album Unustuse tilk! Vincent Teetsov René Ufer and Lilian Trei berg’s 1977 album Unustuse tilk! (translated literally as “A Drop of Forgetfulness!”) starts with languid delivery, as if we are arriving at the end of a narrative before we’re allowed to see the beginning. The title track that starts the album takes us to a lonely bar scene, leading us along with a syncopated rhythm on a ride cymbal and very dampened
snare and bass drums, empha sizing beats two and four. Right from the first lyrics sung by Ufer – “Tolmukord on katnud akna valge riba”, describing dust settling on a window – we know that hard times have come. And the lyrics fit the album cover’s still life: a piano, a bottle of vodka, and two empty glasses. Then, about a minute in, comes a chorus that picks the
The album cover for Unustuse tilk!. Photo: discogs.com
pace up, giving the tune a sweet and jolly polka sound. It’s quite dramatic, but nothing unexpect ed or unusual for pop music from the 1970s, right? Although, it’s sung in Estonian and re corded in Los Angeles by Rekalla Records, which makes it more rare. One of the more trippy songs on the album is track five, “Los
Photos: dea.digar.ee and newspapers.lib.sfu.ca
examine Estonian-Canadian life through an economic lens – advertisements. Ads in the newspaper tell us the kind of products and services readers spent money on. Evidently there was a lot of financial incentive for businesses to promote themselves to the large Estonian community. If you were moving anywhere in Ontario or Montréal, you could hire Baltic Movers. In Meie Elu, space was given to Latvian-owned Century Alumi num Installers and the “Soome pagar” (“Finnish baker”) Hillside Bakery and Delica tessen on Lawrence Avenue. Lawyers and notaries, chiro practors, optometrists, electri cians, travel agents, and tailors all join their ranks, allowing readers to support local busi ness owners. Major Canadian institutions like the Bank of Montreal and Canada Post decided to place Estonian language advertise ments in Vaba Eestlane, the latter leaving a notice for readers about when to send mail
sivaremeis” (“Castle Ruins”), with a sludgy synth intro and mention of ghosts and corpses. It sounds like a Halloween cartoon soundtrack. But tucked away on side A is “Kajakad” (“Seagulls”). There’s an odd amalgam of what sounds like flute (or some kind of whistling effect), mournful folk ballad vocals, and a funky beat. It’s true. Listen out for that drum beat. It has a grace note on the bass drum pattern in the first bar, and then some surprise open hi hat action later on. Funk had already been around for 13 years (since James Brown’s “Out of Sight” in 1964) when this was re leased, but the combination in “Kajakad” feels ahead of its time. It’s screaming out to be come the beat of a hip hop
and packages if they wanted them to arrive in Europe in time for Christmas. Among products accommo dated for in the paper were nylon töö sokid (work socks) made by Penmans, with a “tu gevdatud kand ja varvaste osa” (“reinforced heel and toe.”) Intriguingly, even mayoral candidate Joseph Cornish placed an advertisement in Vaba Eestlane ahead of Toronto’s 1958 municipal election. The ad says “See on teie valida...’Joe’ Cornish... teie Mayor’iks. Dü naamiline juhtimine. Suuteline administratsioon.” The place of advertisements continues in our community newspaper today, but one big difference is that now, they are in English, too. In both of these publications, we see the format that is now combined and translated into its descendant, the current Eesti Elu / Estonian Life. The news comes and goes, but the effort made to engage and support the community will continue.
song. Hip hop producers are not afraid to reinvent songs through musical lab experiments, after all. The stripped-back instrumen tal core of this song would be perfect for a sample. The bass playing is subdued, the coolheaded groove is like one you’d cook up on a drum machine, playing the part with your index fingers. I’m not the only one who thinks this, either. “Kajakad” has created a small stir in the deep corners of the web, among music enthusiasts who hunt for lesser-known jazz, funk, and more on remix playlists and YouTube channels such as “Funked Up East.” This is why I was riveted when I stumbled upon “Mutations”, by the hip hop (Continued on page 10)
