Meet George of Souris

Driving through PEI, we’ve seen a lot of very unique mailboxes along the way, in fact I was thinking about documenting “The Mailbox Trail” of PEI. We’ve seen so many unique mailboxes that I almost became a little “mailboxed out”, in the same way I’ve gotten “Templed out” in Cambodia and Thailand or “Waterfalled Out” in Iceland or “Ruined Out” in Guatemala, until I saw George of Souris!
George of Sourishad so much personality that I had to stop … he practically begged me to stop and take a pause on our East Coast drive from Charlottetown to Souris. He had such a pleasant, inviting yet strangely creepy smile … it was like he was casting a Maximón spell on me here in PEI. In fact, he reminded me a lot of Maximón without the surreal creepiness and folklore surrounding him at the same time.

 

While trying to strike up a conversation with George, his friend/buddy and maker Joe MacPhee came by to say hi, make conversation and to alert me to the fact that the chair that George was sitting on was actually products he made for sale. I don’t know why I didn’t notice … but I think it had to do something with the fact that everyone sells old lobster traps on the side of the road. That being said, not every sells lobster traps chairs!

Lobster Trap Chairs = Mind Blown!!!

With that nugget of information, we spent the next 30 minutes going through Joe’s workshop and seeing some of his handiwork. Turns out that he’s a retired Lobster catcher (47 years he put into catching Lobsters … so I think he might know something about them) and he still makes the traps. However, it’s the old school Lobster traps that he makes into his chairs.

Like any other master of the sea, Joe had to show us one of this trophies, which just happened to be a mounted 17lb Lobster that he caught. Joe reminded me of my own dad … so proud to tell his stories and show off his trophies … maybe that’s why I liked him so much. Joe took us to meet his wife Evelyn, who gave us the same look that my mom would give when my dad was telling one of his stories. I also figured that like my mom, Evelyn wouldn’t be a fan of George. Clearly she and George didn’t see “eye to eye” <Insert drum and comic rimshot>!

On top of that, the MacPhee’s had a typically spectacular lawn and yard. I don’t know what it is in the Maritimes but everyone takes so much pride in their surroundings … I love it. If only, people in Trinidad took so much care of their surroundings.


If you’re wondering how you can buy Joe’s chairs … he doesn’t have a website, but you can always email Evelyn at emacphee@pei.sympatico.ca to inquire for more information. For us, we’re definitely buying a couple when we come back in late September to take possession of our new farmhouse in Stratford, PEI. After talking to George … he told us about a really nice church in Souris and some very pretty lighthouse. You get the idea below …