No. 136. Visby. “Apoteket”
F.W.H. & Co.
To: Herr Gust. Ekman, Storag., Fristad
B.B. (Bästa Broder)
Tack för stiliga vykortet. Hoppas du snart kommer till Falbygden. – Jag mår godt. Hälsningar G.E.
Hälsning från bekanta.
Jag tror avsändaren är Gerda och gissar att vykortet sänts från Sörby/Floby snarare än Visby. (Det avtryck av poststämpeln som finns kvar stöder också den teorin.)
In English
Dear Brother, thanks for the handsome postcard. I hope you’ll come to Falbygden [the area around Falköping] soon. All is well with me. Greetings, G.E. [Gerda Ekman]
Greetings from acquaintances.
I think the postcard was sent from Sörby/Floby near Falköping (where Gerda spent most of her time in 1901-02 before going to America), rather than from Visby.
Visby [ˈviːsbʏ] is the only locality with historical city status on the island of Gotland (off the east coast of Sweden); it is arguably the best-preserved medieval city in Scandinavia and has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among the most notable historical remains are the 3.4 km (2.1 mi) long stone wall that encircles the city and the old church ruins.
Oh how I would love to pay a long visit to Visby one day.
ReplyDeleteWhat a super card. I collect WHS cards. I wonder why she sent a Visby card from somewhere else. I wonder if she had visited it?
ReplyDeleteGerda came to travel a lot during her long life - all over the world - but I doubt she got around much before the emigration to America (at age 21). When I started going through the old postcard collection, it puzzled me at first that there were cards from so many places, and yet when I read the messages and examined postmarks, it became more and more clear that most of them were sent locally between Fristad (where my great-grandparents' farm was) and the area of Falköping (where the two oldest siblings and their families lived). My conclusion is that they must have bought whole packs of postcards with views from all over the country. This theory becomes even more plausible when considering that Emma's husband owned a countryside store; and around this time also branched out and started a second one, which was run by Oscar (brother to Emma, and to the two emigrants-to-be, Gustaf and Gerda).
DeleteSee earlier post Behind the Counter Gerda and Gustaf lived or stayed with Emma's and Oscar's families much of the time during 1901-02 before they emigrated. If postcards were sold at the fmaily store(s) (and no doubt they were), that explains easy access to a variety of cards without actually travelling much.
Ah, all is revealed! I had forgotten about the family shops and even if I had remembered I probably wouldn't have made the connection.
DeleteWell, as for where they bought them I can only guess of course, but I'm thinking that having a shopkeeper or two in the family may have been helpful :)
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