Walking into Clive Teemul's home-based museum in Central Trinidad, the lyrics “bring back the old time days, bring back them old time ways” of Nappy Mayers' Ole Time Days come to mind.
Teemul, 54, who lives in Telemaque Road, Flanagin Town has converted his garage into a museum, which has hundreds of artefacts from as far back as the late 1880s.
What started out as a hobby for Teemul, an art teacher at Tabaquite Secondary School, gradually grew into the museum, Cocoa Panyol, which he created in 2017, and now welcomes visitors from across the country.
Teemul said he always enjoyed collecting old items once used by previous generations and the overwhelming response from the community fuelled his habit.
“We had items from my deceased parents, but it was not organised properly. It was only when I was putting together a Christmas project in 2017, 'tribute to the elders', the concept of the museum came about.
“When I saw the impact it had on people, especially our elders, I realised that the geographical area needed some kind of a museum to preserve its rich history.”
[caption id="attachment_898929" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Curator Clive Teemul shows a bottle of snake/scorpion antidote, at his Cocoa Panyol Museum. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
According to the National Trust, Flanagin Town was named after Clifton Flanagin, who after much deliberation and lobbying was able to secure a railway station in the area in 1903.
“The railway operated for 67 years through the station at Caparo until it was closed, along with the rest of the line to Rio Claro, on August 30 1965,” the National Trust website said.
Teemul, who has lived all his life in Flanagin Town, said much was needed to preserve its rich culture, cocoa fields, cocoa houses, churches and other architecture.
He said he has been working with the National Trust and other stakeholders to find a permanent home in the community for Cocoa Panyol, but the pandemic halted the plans.
“There is a very high appreciation for what I do; people come from all over to experience the walk down memory lane and to also learn and teach others about the collection.
“My collection transcends ethnicity or religious groups. It is about unity because in rural areas everyone shared their tools and utensils. So, my collection is not sorted by that, although we know which was brought by the Africans Indians, Amerindians and so on.”
Teemul's collection consists of, but is not limited to, carpentry tools, farming tools, scales, musical instruments, pottery, cooking utensils, sewing machines, religious books, stamps and coins. Moving into a more modern era he collected various versions of typewriters, radios, televisions, projectors, telephones, soda bottles and clothing heat press, among other items.
On the visit to the museum, the Sunday Newsday team was greeted with warmth, and the smell of bread being freshly made and cocoa tea from pods that had been dried and ground.
[caption id="attachment_898926" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Shenoa Ragbir,
