Cards sent to my great-aunt Gerda in Chicago for Christmas and New Year 1907/08.
(See previous post - Sepia Saturday 652 - for more background)
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| R.011.02 |
Merry Christmas from Agnes Andersson
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| R.012.02 |
Tack kära Gerda för kortet som du sände mig i jul. Jag är frisk och kry, hoppas du är också frisk. Ett gott nytt år tillönskar jag dig. Vännen Helén
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| R.013.01 |
My dear Gerda, I'm sending you my warmest and heartfelt greetings for the new year, with joy and much blessing from God, and wishing that during this new year we will be getting even closer united with our Saviour. Your friend, Ester Svenson
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| R.013.02 |
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| R.014.01 - With best New Year Wishes |
Chicago den 29/12. Tack för kortet! När kommer du opp? Låt mig veta när din dag är att stanna inne. En vacker dag kommer jag nog och ser dig om det passar för dig. Vänligen, Mary, 1619 N Campbell, City. * - Hälsningar från gubben min.
Chicago 29.12. Thanks for the card! When will you be coming up [to see us]? Let me know when it's your day to stay in. Some day I'll try to come and see you if it's convenient for you. Best regards, Mary, 1619 N Campbell, City. - Greetings from my hubby.
Cf. an earlier post, Chicago Then and Now (for Sepia Saturday 636): In December 1906, one Christmas card was sent to Gerda at 1619 N Campbell Ave and forwarded from there to 3328 Michigan Ave. N Campbell Ave may have been where Gerda worked before she started her job at Michigan Ave. Or she may have been staying with a friend there between employments.
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| R.014.02 |
Jag önskar dig all lycka och välgång på det nya året 1908 - Broder Gust.
Wishing you all the best for the new year 1908 - Brother Gust.
(Gerda's brother Gustaf in Galeton, Pennsylvania. He and Gerda emigrated around the same time, in the autumn of 1902, and both returned to Sweden in 1911. While Gerda worked as a maid in Chicago, Gustaf spent most of his time in America in Galeton, working at a lumber yard.) He seems to have been called 'Gust' during his years in America - the full name Gustaf hard to pronounce in English.)
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| R.015.02 |
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| R.016.01 |
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| R.016.02 |
Många hälsningar från O.S.
Many greetings from O.S.
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| R.017.01 |
From Julia A
Linking to Sepia Saturday 653:
"Preparations for Christmas 1907"
Interesting to look at old Christmas cards. I don't think Gustav would be hard to pronounce in English. I think some people either tend to shorten any name if they can and some people especially want to change any name out of their ordinary.
ReplyDeleteThank you for starting the Christmas posts onto the last one!
Kristin, the pronunciation of the vowel 'u' in Swedish is one of the things in in our language that is difficult for foreigners ;-) There is also a difference between English and Swedish when it comes to the use of nicknames. In English, you tend to shorten names to one syllable. In Swedish, we tend to prefer two syllables. I'm thinking that Gustaf just went along with what fell natural in the new country. I.e. others called him "Gust" and after a while he started signing himself just "Gust" as well. Even when writing to his sister!
DeleteLovely cards, and great examples of how people using the first "social media" communicated. These sentimental images still retain their charm a century later.
ReplyDeleteI remain mystified about the missing stamps and bemused that dates were penciled in. Were they reused, (which is illegal)? Did people collect them into albums? Page after page of identical 1 & 2 cent stamps? My mind boggles!
I join Kristin and thank you for posting a holiday link on S.S. No doubt Alan is distracted. I wish you and your family much joy and peace for the new year.
Mike, I think the penciled notes of dates were made by my father. There are also notes in the margins of the album of Gerda's changes of address, that look like his (printed) handwriting; indicating that he (or at least someone!) went through the album at some point. Whether he is also responsible for removing the stamps, I'm not 100% sure - even if he did collect stamps. Had he got his hands on these postcards when he was still young, he might well have separated the stamps from the cards. The thing is, though, that he can't have had access to them until after Gerda died (1973), or even after his own mother (Sally) died (1979). And by then (in his 40s or later), I'm not so sure that he would have separated them? On most of the cards the year can easily be deduced from what's left of the cancellations; so those handwritten dates weren't necessarly added in connection with removing the stamps - they may have been added later. On the other hand, I very much doubt that Gerda herself collected stamps separately; and my grandmother (who inherited the album from her) certainly didn't. So it remains a bit of a mystery - and perhaps my dad remains the main suspect after all. (The only alternative theory that comes to mind is if perhaps there was a stamp collector in one of the several families with children where Gerda served over the years.)
ReplyDelete