From Cobbler to Journalist - Sepia Saturday 642

In the two previous posts I introduced my p. grandfather Gustaf, and a bit about the circumstances in which he grew up: brought up mainly by his grandparents, living in a small 'croft' cottage, while his mother had to be admitted to a mental hospital.  

From Gustaf's 'teenage' years (a concept not really invented yet when he was in them) I have no stories put down in writing, neither by himself, nor by my dad. Also no photos of him between the one of him in the village football team (at perhaps 12 or so) and until he's around 18. (Cf. the post Old Friends.) 

In my head, there are still some things from Gustaf's adolescence that I know by hearsay, though. So in this post I'll try to fill in some of that.

Back in the beginning of the 20th century, children in Sweden usually started school the year they turned 7; which for Gustaf would have meant 1911. Living in a small village, it's unlikely that he got more than the basic six years in folkskola - from which he then would have graduated in 1917, at age 13. According to Swedish Wikipedia it wasn't until 1918 that another two years of school became mandatory. Before 1918, students who wanted to go on to higher education (or, whose parents wanted them to...) would have had to go into town for that. And I doubt Gustaf's grandparents were in a position to afford that. 

Instead (although I'm not sure of the year), Gustaf was taken on as apprentice by a shoemaker in the village. In a memorial article in an annual publication by the local history society in his village, written in 2004 (100 years after Gustaf was born), by a former journalist colleague of Gustaf's, I found the shoemaker's name: Ernst Karlsson. And having the name, I now also found a photo of Ernst in his old age, published in the same annual magazine in 1980. (The society seems to have caught up with scanning and making all their old publications availabe online now.)

The Swedish text under the photo says (1980): "Shoemaker Ernst Karlsson has been mending shoes for nearly 75 years, but has now given up his trade. He was only 11 years old when he started." 

Applying some math: If Ernst gave up his trade in 1980, after 75 years, he must have started as an apprentice himself in 1905. And if he was 11 years old in 1905, that in turn means he was only ten years older than my grandfather (who was born 1904). And if my grandfather was (perhaps) 13 when he started out as a shoemaker's apprentice - Ernst was still a young man himself then, only 23! 

That boggles my mind a bit, as I've somehow always imagined that it was a much older man who took Gustaf on as apprentice! 

From what I recall being told by my dad (who of course in turn could only rely on stories he'd been told), Gustaf also lodged with the shoemaker in the village for a while in his youth. I'm  thinking perhaps after his grandmother died. She passed away in September 1922. By then Gustaf was 18, and I think he had been relying more on his grandmother than on his grandfather while growing up. (My impression from various bits and pieces of family history is that the grandfather was a periodic alcoholist.)  

Gustaf's ambitions in life went beyond being a cobbler, though. He wanted to be a journalist, and worked his way towards this goal by freelancing, writing short pieces for the local newspapers in town about events in the village and countryside. I seem to recall having heard that he also learned stenography by taking a correpondence course. Later on (not sure when), he got a typewriter, and a camera, so that he could provide photos with his texts. (In my own childhood, in the 1950s/60s, he also had a "portable" tape recorder - the kind with two reels, the size of a small suitcase! - which he brought with him to record interviews.) 

According to the 2004 memorial article, it was "in the mid 1920s" that Gustaf gave up his job as cobbler, and started working full time as a journalist at a small newspaper in town (Borås), run by a friend of his. 

From photo albums and letters, I know that in 1925 (the year he turned 21), he was doing mandatory military service in Gothenburg; so I'm guessing that it was after he came back from there, that he took more serious steps towards changing his career.

"On horseback - Kviberg 1925"

(I think Gustaf is probably No 3 on horseback from the left - or else No 5.)

Just recently, I've been going through some letters exchanged between Gustaf and Sally (my grandmother) between 1925-30. The first lot were written to him by Sally while he was away in military service. I don't have any of Gustaf's letters written back to her from there; but from Sally's letters I conclude that in 1925, the two of them were just friends, not yet dating. (She was 25; he turned 21 that summer, and had been friends with her younger brother Nils since childhood.) Before his conscription, Gustaf had been a frequent guest at the farm, looking in there quite regularly. Now, being away at military service, he seems to have felt rather lonely and miserable at times. Sally and Nils both wrote to him to cheer him up, assuring him that he was missed by the whole family. And when he was back in the village on leave for major holidays, he seems to have spent time with them.

Then there are two letters from S to G, that unfortunately (for me) lack dates; and one from him to her also without date; followed by another very long and very unhappy missive from him to her dated Whit Monday1926. Other related pieces of communication between them around that time are either missing, or were dealt with face-to-face. But from those letters that have been preserved, I draw the conclusion that it was not long before Easter 1926, that Gustaf declared himself in love with Sally - but rather took her by surprise, and did not immediately get the response he'd been hoping for. 

Exactly how long it then took them to sort things out between them, I don't know. Days? Weeks? Months? Even longer? What I do know is that before September 1928, he had succeeded in winning her over. This I know because of the photo below - which includes Sally's oldest brother, Carl, who died in September 1928. (So the photo has to be from before then!)

Sally's older half-brothers, Carl and Gustav; 
Selma, mother of Hildur, Sally and Nils; 
Hildur and her future husband, Olle; and Sally with Gustaf sitting on her lap!

A note under the same photo in my grandfather's album says: "From my room at Storegården."

... which means that when this photo was taken, Gustaf was also living (boarding) with the family at the farm. What I don't know is if he moved in with them before or after he and Sally started "dating". From the letters written by Sally in 1925, it seems clear that before he went off to military service he was not living with them; only visiting quite often. A theory that seems likely is that it was after having finsished his military service that he took more serious steps to change his career from mending shoes to becoming a proper journalist; and that it was in this context that the family on the farm offered him a room there. 

I think this photo of Gustaf is also from his room at the farm.

If he had already moved in with them when he declared his feelings for Sally, and she turned out not to be quite ready for that... That must have made things double awkward for a while, though! But as I have no dates, I can only speculate. 

Anyway, there are no more letters between them (preserved), until they were on "darling" terms with each other ;-) . There are two without date, written by Gustaf on a bicycle tour together with Nils. (I've not read those in full yet, as they're somewhat hard to decipher.)  And then some from Sally to Gustaf, from 1929-30,  the year between their engagement and their wedding, when it seems Gustaf was living in town (Borås), at least during the weeks. My guess is that he sometimes had to work evenings at the newspaper; which would have made it difficult to commute back and forth. 

The house they built in 1930, and moved into after the wedding, was situated close to a railway stop, though; which made it possible for Gustaf to commute into town by train for many years to come.

The relationship issues aside, I'm finding the letters from Sally to Gustaf quite informative as to what daily life on the farm was like in those years. She was a good writer herself, and had a nice clear handwriting (easier to read than Gustaf's). I may come back with some translated quotes in future posts, trying to link them to photos. 

 

Linking to Sepia Saturday 642

Building bridges, crossing rivers, making plans...

All useful methaphors when it comes to relationships as well!