Greetings from the Past: November 2021

2021-11-28

G.066.01 - G.066.02 Postcards from Gerda in Paris and Rome, March 1914 / Sepia Saturday 598

Around New Year 1913/14, Gustaf (35) moved from Värmlands Nysäter to Brålanda, in the Swedish province of Dalsland (cf. previous post). (I think he worked at a farm there.) His sister Gerda (32) is travelling in Europe, as lady's maid to some wealthy English lady. (Cf. November 1913). These two cards, one from Paris and one from Rome, were sent from Gerda to Gustaf in March 1914. The outbreak of WWI is still 4½ months into the future, and probably not in the crystal ball for either of them...

PARIS - Le Jardin du Palais-Royal. - D.L.

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman, Backa, Brålanda (Suède)
From: Gerda (sent from Paris, 14.3.1914)

Tack så mycke för bref idag. Är nu i Paris igen för några dagar. Här är lifligt må du tro. Skall skrifva så snart jag får tid. Kära hälsningar, Gerda.

Thanks a lot for your letter today. I'm now in Paris again for a few days. It's very lively here. I'll write as soon as I have the time. Best wishes, Gerda.

ROMA - Foro Romano coli Arco di Settimio Severo

To: Herr Gustaf Ekman, Backa, Brålanda (Sverige)

From: Gerda (sent from Rome, 18.3.1914)

Jag är nu och hälsar på italienarna, du må tro de är riktiga snobbar i sitt land, annat än i America. Jag tycker mycke om Rom. Kom hit den 14 och stannar nog en vecka till. Kanske till Venedig härifrån. Kära hälsningar, syster Gerda. (Upp-och-ner: Sådana gamla ruiner finns det gott om här.)

I'm now visiting the Italians. You wouldn't believe how snobbish they are in their own country - so different from in America.* I like Rome a lot. I came here on the 14th and will probably be staying for about a week longer. Perhaps to Venice from here. Best wishes, sister Gerda. (Upside-down: There are plenty of old ruins like these here.)

* COMMENT: Gerda and Gustaf both lived in America between 1902-11; Gustaf working at lumber yards in Pennsylvania, and Gerda as a maid in Chicago.

Linking to Sepia Saturday 598

2021-11-27

G.064.03 - G.065.03 Christmas / New Year 1913/14 - Good Bye Värmland, Hello Dalsland

G.064.03

To: Herr Gust Ekman, Speked, Vermls Nyseter

God Jul och Gott Nytt År tillönskas av Edla Johnsson
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Edla Johnsson

G.065.01

To: Herr Gust. Ekman, Speked, Värmlans Nyseter

God Jul och Gott Nytt År tillönskas av Emma Johnsson

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Emma Johnsson

G.065.02

To: Herr Gustaf Ekman, Speked, Värml. Nyseter

God Jul tillönskas av din söta vän
Merry Christmas from your sweetheart ('sweet friend')

G.065.03

To: Herr Gustaf Ekman, Backa, Brålanda
From: Oscar (Gustaf's brother), sent from Norrköping 31.12 1913

Godt nytt år! Hjärtl. hälsningar fr. oss alla. / Oscar

Happy New Year! Best wishes from us all. / Oscar

- - -

At Christmas 1913, some cards are still being sent to Gustaf at Värmlands Nysäter. The two Christmas cards at the top are from Edla Johnsson and Emma Johnsson. From previous cards I assume that these two ladies also lived in that neighbourhood. The third one is from someone who just signs herself "your sweet friend" (sweetheart). The fourth card, with New Year greetings from Gustaf's brother Oscar, shows that by then, Gustaf had moved to Brålanda in Dalsland - where I know that he was to remain for some years onward.

To me the handwriting on all three Christmas cards looks rather similar; which makes it hard to guess whether Gustaf was perhaps leaving behind some girl with a broken heart in Värmland; or moving to Dalsland to be closer to a sweetheart there... (I suppose both could be true!)

(Cf. the post Gustaf-dagen 6 juni 1913. There was an anonymous romantic message among those cards as well.)

2021-11-20

G.064.01 - G.064.02 Postcards from Gerda in London and Paris, November 1913 / Sepia Saturday 597

To: Herr Gustaf Ekman, Speked, Värmlands Nysäter, Sweden
From: Gerda - sent from London, 14 Nov 1913; arrived Värml Nysäter 17 Nov.

London d. 14.11.13

Resan har gått ---, reser till Frankrike i morgon. Skall skrifva sedan. Hälsningar, syster Gerda. - Här är lifligt må du tro ----- (resten oläsbart)

London 14.11.13
The journey has gone [well so far], leaving for France tomorrow. Will write later. Greetings from sister Gerda. - It's very lively here ---- (the rest unreadable)

Fleur d'hiver (Winter flower)

To: Gustaf Ekman, Speked, Värmlands Nysäter, Sweden
From: Gerda - sent from Paris, 18 Nov 1913; arrived V. Nysäter 21.11 1913

Paris d. 17.11.13

Hälsningar från Parisemode. Hvad tycks? /Gerda

Paris 17.11.13

Greetings from Paris fashion. What do you think? /Gerda

I found some more examples of Paris winter fashion 1913 here:
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O536464/hiver-1913-fashion-design-jeanne-paquin/

November 1913:

Since February or March 1913, Gustaf has been living in Värmlands Nysäter (in the province of Värmland, Sweden), probably working with felling/transporting timber. (Cf. the recent post Gustaf moves to Värmland) From these cards sent to him by Gerda in November, I learn that he is still there.

According to information from a relative (BW) some years ago*, between October 1912 and April 1913, Gerda was employed as lady's maid to a Swedish countess, Adèle de la Gardie (born Jacquier), at Sörby Ringstorp, Östergötland. According to BW, that employment ended when Adele went abroad.

I haven't yet searched for more info about Adèle, but I found a photo at https://swedishportraits.com/.

However, from the postcards above, sent by Gerda to Gustaf from London and Paris in November 1913, I can only conclude that Gerda must soon have found similar employment with some other lady, who also did want her as travel companion for journeys abroad.

Linking to: Sepia Saturday 597

- - -

*/ Gerdas yrkesbeteckning i hennes flerspråkiga betyg 1912-1928 var kammarjungfru, Lady's maid, femme de chambre.

1/10 1912 till 15/4 1913 i Sörby Ringstorp (Östergötland) kammarjungfru hos Adele de la Gardie (f Jacquier Frankrike gift 1911). Anställningen upphör när Adele reser utomlands. Gerda är skicklig i sömnad, hårskötsel, servering, talar engelska fullkomligt och har "some knowledge of dressmaking".

Nästa betyg är utfärdat i Lyon, France 28/9 1919. Gerda har arbetat som Lady's Maid o är en "excellent packer and hairdresser and a neat needlewoman".

Ur email från Bengt W (april 2013)

- - -

Gerda kom att arbeta som sällskapsdam åt rika engelska ladies som reste runt i Samväldet o USA. Hon skötte kläder o packade, biljetter mm. --- När första världskriget bröt ut var hon i Frankrike med en lady som reste till England medan Gerda fastnade vid fronten o blev där flera år.

Ur email från Bengt W (nov 2012)

2021-11-19

G.061.01 - G.063.03 / Gustaf-dagen 6 juni 1913

Postcards sent to Gustaf Ekman at Värmlands Nysäter in June 1913,
to celebrate his Name Day (6 June). (Cf similar post for June 1912.)

Heartfelt congratulations on Gustaf's Day 6/6 1913, from Edla Jansson.

Heatfelt congratulations on Gustaf's Day 6/6 1913 from Sally Emanuelsson
(Gustaf's younger half-sister = my grandmother, 13 years old in 1913)

Heartfelt congratulations on your Name Day 6/6 1913, from Selma Emanuelsson.
Much love from all of us.

(Selma was Gustaf's step-mother, and my great grandmother.)

View from Mullsjö

Heartfelt congratulations on your Name Day, with love from your sister Ester.
As you can see, I'm now in Mullsjö. Write some time soon, please.

Greetings on Gustaf's Day from Lydia, Oscar, Anna

Heartfelt congratulations on your Name Day 6/6 1913 from Carl. Gerda also sends her love. I will write a letter soon. Heard from Gerda that you didn't get my letter.

(Carl was Gustaf's older brother at the family farm, Storegården in Fristad)

Heartfelt Congratulations on Gustaf's Day from (Emma?)

Heartfelt Congratulations on Gustaf's Day from Edla

The illustration on this card was made by Jenny Nyström, a famous Swedish illustrator. The verse rhymes in Swedish; the meaning is something like: "You may be as sly as a snake, but you have managed to win my affection"

The card was sent anonymously - but comparing the handwriting to the previous card, I'd say Edla sent it... Was there a romance going on between them?

Hjularöds slott

From: E Osbeck (11 July 1913)

Best wishes from Storegården (Fristad). A G and E Osbeck.

G.060.02 - G.060-03 Glad Påsk 1913

Easter Cards from 1913, sent to Gustaf Ekman at Speked, Värmlands Nysäter.

One from a Mrs Jansson*, the other from an Emma Johnsson.

*/ Mrs Jansson is probably the Edla Jansson who wrote to him earlier in the year and wanted him to come and work in Värmlands Nysäter. (G.059.02).

2021-11-13

Gerda as Red Cross volunteer (WWI) / Sepia Saturday 596

Sepia Saturday 596

The Sepia Saturday prompt picture this week shows a group of soldiers. I'm no expert on uniforms, but I guess it's from WWII. (If you know better, feel free to enlighten me.)

In my great-uncle Gustaf's postcard album, I'm still on the year 1913. But after 13 comes 14, and WWI - and some postcards with military scenes sent from his sister Gerda, who happened to be in France when that war broke out, and not able to get back to Sweden until after it was over.

I don't know what employment Gerda managed to find (or maintain) in France during the war. She also probably wasn't able to write anything very revealing on the postcards.

But in her photo album, there is one photo showing that at some point, she must have done some volunteer work for the Red Cross. Judging by the uniforms, and knowing that she spent WWI in France, I think it must be from those years.

Gerda in the middle, with the cross visible on her armband

As mentioned in last week's Sepia post, a decade or so later, Gerda started working for the Swedish Count & Countesse Bernadotte. During WWII (and after) she was still employed by them. Folke Bernadotte, closely related to the Swedish royal family, was vice president of the Swedish Red Cross during WWII. Towards the end of the war, he negotiated directly with Heinrich Himmler for the Red Cross and managed to rescue more than 30.000 prisoners of war from concentration camps in Germany in the so-called 'White Buses' operation.

After WWII, Folke was chosen as mediator for the UN in the Arab-Israeli conflict, but was sadly assassinated by a Zionist group in Jerusalem in 1948. My great-aunt Gerda remained with his widow Estelle (born Manville) for many more years to come, though - long past normal retirement age. Estelle eventually got remarried, but not until the same year Gerda died (1973). (Gerda was born 1881, so lived to be 91 or 92.)

This past week, I've been re-reading/listening to a biography about Folke Bernadotte: A Forgotten Hero by Shelley Emling (2019). Well worth reading (although alas not including any glimpses from the servants' quarters of his household).

2021-11-08

G.059.02 - G.060.01 Gustaf moves to Värmland (1913)

After the excursion to 1932 in the previous post (with Gerda to Egypt), we're back in 1913, and with her brother Gustaf. He's been back from America for a couple of years, staying at the family farm in the province of Västergötland. But a change is coming up...

To: Herr Gustaf Ekman, Storegården, Fristad (Västergötland)
From: Edla Jansson (or Johnsson?), Speked, Värmlands Nysäter (Värmland)

Speked den 5/2 1913 (?)

Jag skulle skriva till dig. Jag undra om du ente har [fått] brevet samt kort som jag sände dig för en tid [sedan]. Ja nu är det vintern och före så nu är det körning i skogarna om dagarna. Jag hoppas att Gustaf skriver snart. Hälsningar från oss alla. Tecknar Edla Jansson (Johnsson?)

I was to write to you. I wonder if you haven't got the letter and card that I sent you some time ago. It is winter now and they are driving timber on sleighs in the woods in the daytime. I hope Gustaf will write soon. Greetings from us all, through Edla Jansson (Johnsson?).

Edla's handwriting is not all easy to interpret, and the date of the card had me puzzled. At first I read it as 5/9 1912, but that seemed not to fit with it being winter. I think it must be 5/2 1913.

Whatever the date, the card probably gives a clue to why - as will be seen from cards to come - some time between New Year and Easter 1913, Gustaf moved to Speked, Värmlands Nysäter (in the province of Värmland). He seems to have stayed there for about a year ; and from the message on this card we can guess what kind of work he was doing. I don't know who Edla was, or how they knew each other. But in America, Gustaf had worked at a sawmill and lumber yard (in Galteton, Pennsylvania), and so was well qualified for working with timber.

Edlas handstil är inte helt lätt att tyda, och speciellt datumet vållade mig huvudbry. Jag läste det först som 5/9 1912 - men det verkade inte riktigt stämma med texten, som talade om vinter. 5/2 1913 verkar passa bättre.

Oavsett datum, så ger det här kortet en ledtråd till varför Gustaf (som följande kort kommer att visa), någon gång mellan nyår och påsk 1913 flyttade upp till Speked, Värmlands Nysäter. Han tycks ha blivit kvar där ca ett år, och från meddelandet på det här kortet gissar jag att det arbete han utförde där hade koppling till skogsbruk och timmerkörning. Jag vet inte vem Edla var, eller hur de kände varandra. Men i Amerika hade ju Gustaf arbetat på sågverk/brädgård (i Galeton, Pennsylvania), så var van vid den typen av arbete.