G.073.02
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| S. Farges, edit, Lyon - 6211 - Guerre 1914 LYON - Les canons allemands devant la Préfecture |
The German cannons in front of the Prefecture building of the Rhône department in Lyon. (Cf G.072.03, previous post)
De tyska kanonerna framför "la Préfecture" i Lyon, säte för det franska departementet Rhône. (Jmf G.072.03, förra inlägget)
To: Monsieur Gustaf Ekman, Backa, Brålanda, Suède
From: Gerda (Lyon, 16.12.1914)
Lyon, d. 15.12.1914
Käre bror! Tack skall du ha för brev idag. Jag blev så glad att höra från dig. Men det är längesedan jag hörde något hemifrån Sverige. Breven tar så lång tid nu - man får vara glad att man får dem alls. Jag sände dig kort för ett par dar sedan. Gott nytt år önskas dig! / syster Gerda
[PS] Undrar mycke om ni [?] har tur idag. Tänk om så skulle vara. Jag skriver brev sedan.
Gerdas PS är svårtytt - inte minst som det är svårt att utläsa av hennes handstil (ni eller vi?) om det är för Gustafs del eller sin egen som hon önskar "tur". Jag erinrar mig att ett tidigare vykort från Gerda (G.071.02) (sänt från Lyon i juni, före krigsutbrottet) också nämner "den 15" i samband med hopp om att något (oklart vad) ska lyckas då. Och det här kortet är skrivet den 15, ett halvår senare... En tanke som slår mig nu är om det fanns något stående lotteri med stora vinster, med dragning den 15 i månaden? Eller kanske bara ett par gånger om året - t.ex. 15 juni och 15 december??
Hittar en artikel på svenska som kan vara intressant i sammanhanget, och som får mig att gissa att det är Gustaf, i Sverige, som hoppas på en storvinst i lotteri, snarare än Gerda själv. (Jag tror dock inte att han någonsin vann en förmögenhet - om så varit fallet, så skulle det antagligen ha berättats om då och då senare i släkthistorien...)
https://popularhistoria.se/politik/nar-lotteriet-skulle-ge-pensionspengar
"Regeringen beviljade ett första undantag från lotteriförordningen år 1897 när ett stort svenskt penninglotteri anordnades för att stödja Stockholmsutställningens finanser. Under de påföljande åren upprepades undantagen och avkastningen användes för angelägna kulturella ända-mål som bygget av Nordiska museet och Dramaten. Dessa svenska penninglotterier var mycket begränsade till en början, bara några få dragningar per år tilläts.
De tillfälliga lotterierna växte så småningom i omfattning, men kunde ändå inte tillfredsställa spelintresset inom landet. Lottsedeln förblev en bristvara. Kvarterslånga köer bildades utanför lotteriets försäljningsställen och spelet på utländska lotterier fortsatte. Frågan om ett permanent svenskt statslotteri var därför ständigt aktuell i pressen och togs nästan vartannat år upp till debatt i riksdagen. Först år 1939 inrättades det statligt ägda Penninglotteriet AB.
[---]
De stora penningvinsterna ansågs vara roten till problemet. Högvinsten i de tillfälliga svenska lotterierna var först 50 000 och senare, från 1927, 100 000 kronor, medan de populära danska eller tyska lotterierna lockade med ännu högre summor. Men redan 50 000 kronor motsvarade för en vanlig arbetare drygt fyrtio års samlade inkomster kring år 1915. "
Lyon, 15.12.1914
Dear brother, thanks very much for your letter today. I was so glad to hear from you. But it has been a long time since I heard anything from Sweden. The letters take so long now - one has to be glad that one gets them at all. I sent you a card a couple of days ago. Wish you a Happy New Year! / sister Gerda - [PS] I'm so wondering if you [?] will be lucky today. If only. I'll write a letter later.
The PS makes me wonder what she is referring to. I recall a previous card (G.071.02) also mentioning "luck" in connection with the 15th of the month. That card was sent by Gerda from Lyon in June (before the outbreak of the war) and then she wrote: "Next Monday is the 15th, remains to be seen if it succeeds." (No explanation of what, or for whom.) And on this card, six month later, it's hard to be certain whether she is wishing good luck for herself, or for her brother, because the Swedish words ni (=you, plural) vs vi (=we) may look much the same in her handwriting. One thought that strikes me, though, is if perhaps there was some kind of regular lottery, with a draw on the 15th? Or perhaps twice a year - like 15 June and 15 December??
I found a Swedish article online which confirms that various lotteries were indeed popular at the beginning of the 20th century - and also much debated, in our parliament as well as in the press. The criticism was that these lotteries lured people to spend their hard-earned money on lottery tickets rather than putting it aside for their old age pension. It seems there were lotteries with a chance to win as much money as (around 1915) it took a normal worker 40 years to earn - or even more.
After reading up on this, my guess is that it was Gustaf who was hoping to win a lottery, rather than Gerda. (I don't think he ever did win a fortune though. If he had, I guess I would have heard stories about that back in my childhood.)
Linking to: Sepia Saturday 601
And still today we have lotteries with the same admonitions about them. Funny, I was checking out at a store a few years back right after someone had won a major lottery worth millions & millions of dollars. The clerk asked me if I wanted to buy a lottery ticket to the new drawing. Since the mega lottery had just been won, I asked what the new lottery amount was & was told it was one or two million. "Um . . . no, I said." and we both laughed.
ReplyDeleteLaN, I've rarely bought any lottery tickets other than for rather modest charity purposes myself - being too much of a sceptic about the chances to win big...
DeleteHmmm...more guns. Clearly wartime was near. We in the U.S. also have lotteries. A former co-worker of mine used to say, "I win $365 every year from the lottery," because he never played! I hope Gerda's brother did win something, even if not the entire jackpot.
ReplyDeleteMolly, unless one of the remaining postcards gives an unexpected hint, I'll probably never know!
DeleteInteresting to consider lotteries when a war had just started. It was probably a bit of trying to hold onto a normal life still.
ReplyDeleteBarbara, Sweden was not involved in the war, which probably made it seem rather remote to Gustaf. Even with his sister in France, a few months into the war none of them probably foresaw how long it would come to last. As for Gustaf, he was working at a small farm and probably struggling every day to make ends meet. I don't think that his years in America, working at lumber yards, made him rich either (which he was probably hoping for when he emigrated in 1902). So I imagine him still dreaming of striking lucky.
DeleteWhenever governments need to raise revenue, politicians always promote lotteries instead of taxes, thinking the public will buy into it. They neatly overlook the fact that poor folk will gamble more of their income on lottery tickets than the rich ever will.
ReplyDeleteMike, back in the early 20th century, lotteries for various purposes seem to have been allowed by temporary exceptions to the laws here, but according to that article I found, it wasn't until 1939 that our first permanent state lottery was established.
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