Anyone interested in words and turns of phrase will enjoy this book-

South Shore Phrase Book: A New, Revised and Expanded Nova Scotia Dictionary

First published in the 1980s, it has a lot of gems in it.  Along the south shore of Nova Scotia, you’ll find a lot of New England-y holdovers and the like, or German words around Lunenburg, or etc.  

I do know (as to the selection above) that when there was no booze around, people drank vanilla flavour bottles from the grocery, which was easier to get.  Also, old ladies drank (some still do, according to a friend) vanilla so as not to appear buying something so crude as liquor.  Old ladies!  Beer ain’t so bad.