Name-Day and Birthday Greetings, and a French Military Medal (1915)
G.076.02
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| 803. Route de MONACO à NICE, la Baie d'Eze. - N.D. Phot. |
To: Monseieur Gustaf Ekman, Storegården, Fristad, Sverige - Suède (via Suisse)
From: Gerda (Lyon, 2.6.1915)
Lyon d. 1 juni 1915
Sänder dig hjärtliga lyckönskningar på Gustafs-dagen. [6 juni] Hoppas det kommer i tid. Undrar mycke var du är nu, det är så länge sedan jag hörde från dig. Kära hälsningar, syster Gerda. - Skriv snart är du snäll!
Lyon 1 June 1915
Sending you best wishes for Gustaf's day [=Gustaf's name day in the Swedish calendar, 6 June]. I hope it will arrive on time. I wonder where you are now, it's been so long since I last heard from you. Love, sister Gerda. - Please write soon!
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1 June, 1915. Gerda is still in Lyon, France. The family has always celebrated her brother's name-day on 6 June (evident by lots of name-day greetings in Gustaf's postcard album from previous years). For this occasion she doesn't want to send a card with images of La Guerre (the war), but chooses one with nice views - maybe bought on her pre-war travels.
It's been so long since she last heard from her brother that she doesn't feel sure if he's still living in Brålanda. So she sends the card to the family farm at Fristad. Should he not be there, she trusts that they will forward it to him. She also does what she can to get the card sent to Sweden (Suède) via Switzerland (Suisse) - another neutral country - rather than via Germany. (Possibly she also has in mind that Sweden and Switzerland often get mixed up by people of other nationalities, so by writing "Suéde via Suisse" she may also be hoping to point out the difference.) As the other postmark is illegible, we have no clue which way the card really took to Sweden, though - or when it arrived.
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1 juni 1915. Gerda befinner sig fortfarande i Lyon i Frankrike. I familjen har de alltid firat Gustafs namnsdag den 6 juni (det framgår av otaliga namnsdags-hälsningar från tidigare år i Gustafs vykortsalbum). Som gratulationskort väljer hon ett annat motiv än de från La Guerre (kriget) - antagligen köpt på någon av hennes resor före kriget.
Det är så länge sedan hon sist hörde från sin bror att hon inte känner sig säker på om han fortfarande bor kvar i Brålanda. Hon väljer att skicka kortet till Storegården i Fristad, familjens "fasta punkt", där den äldste brodern Carl bor tillsammans med faderns änka och de yngre halvsyskonen. Om Gustaf inte befinner sig där, så vet hon att de kommer att eftersända kortet till honom. Hon gör också vad hon kan för att få kortet sänt till Sverige (Suède) via Schweiz (Suisse) - också neutralt i kriget - istället för via Tyskland. (Möjligen har hon också i åtanke att Sverige och Schweiz ofta förväxlas av personer av annan nationalitet . Genom att skriva "Sùede via Suisse" kan hon ha försökt vara övertydlig.) Eftersom den andra poststämpeln är oläsbar så framgår det dock tyvärr inte vilken väg kortet i själva verket tog, eller hur lång tid. Men kom fram gjorde det i alla fall!
G.076.03
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| Gen. Dubail - Gen. Joffre - Gen. de Maud'huy - Gen. de Pouydraguin La Récompense Impromptue. La Médaille Militaire accordée au chasseur Lamadon |
*Footnote: When I first tried to interpret/decipher the meaning of the French text of this card, I happened to read chasseur as ”chausseur”, which means shoemaker. It didn't make much sense, but on the other hand, all the men on the card were wearing rather elegant boots ... An observant reader made me aware of my mistake, though, so I have now revised my original text above! ;-)
*Fotnot: När jag först försökte tolka innebörden av den franska texten på det här kortet, så råkade jag läsa chasseur som "chausseur", vilket betyder "skomakare". Det verkade lite konstigt, men å andra sidan hade alla männen på bilden eleganta stövlar på sig... En observant läsare gjorde mig dock uppmärksam på mitt misstag i översättningen, så jag har nu reviderat texten ovan! ;-)
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| Galerie Patriotique - A.N. Editeur visé Paris N au verso |
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| Chambre Synd. Francaise des édites de la carte postale ill. |
From: Gerda (Lyon, 28.6.1915)
I'm enjoying getting to know Gerda.
ReplyDeleteIt is heart-warming to see Gerda's efforts to communicate with her brother! Thanks for posting them here.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is nice getting to know Gerda and follow her travels and attempts to keep in touch.
ReplyDeleteWith the forced separation of so many families in wartime, it's easy to understand how Gerda's best wishes were shared by many families divided by the war. It's hard to imagine the great number of postcards that were sent with simple messages like this filled with love and hope.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid you've misread the word "Chasseur" as "chausseur" adding a U. A "Chasseur" is a French term for "hunter", and is the designation given to special regiments of French light infantry. In the US army they are called Rangers and in Germany Jäger, or Jaeger. But I do like the idea of a heroic French shoemaker getting a medal. For the want of a shoenail the kingdom was lost!
How embarrassing - and amusing at the same time. My French is a bit rusty, I must have misspelled the word when checking the translation. I was puzzled, but the thing is I also found some present day French shoemaker with that name. So I thought it might be an old company going back generations, and after all, good boots were important to soldiers. :) I'll have to adjust the text in this post though, I'll get back to that.
DeleteFootnote: When I first tried to interpret/decipher the meaning of the French text of this card, I happened to read chasseur as ”chausseur”, which means shoemaker. It didn't make much sense, but on the other hand, all the men on the card were wearing rather elegant boots ... An observant reader (thanks Mike) made me aware of my mistake, though. 'Chasseur' means hunter, a designation given to certain French regiments. I have now revised my original text above in accordance with that, including a link to a Wikipedia article that provides further explanation. (10 January)
ReplyDeleteAs others have said, I, too, am enjoying getting to know Gerda through your posts. She has become a very 'real' person to me. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks to everyone who read/commented. I'm glad Sepia Saturday provides an opportunity to share :)
ReplyDelete