Sally's Long Hair - Sepia Saturday 660

Nearly all her life, my grandmother Sally had really long hair. She always wore it rolled up at the back, though - so not obvious at first glance how long. 

Sally and Gustaf at the lake, late 1920s

The third photo here is the only one I've seen of her with her hair let down. However, from staying over at my grandparents' house in my childhood, I also have images "in my head" of seeing her letting her  hair down before going to bed at night. On the occasion that has stuck in my mind, she was doing her "evening toilet" at the kitchen sink (where they also had a tiny mirror on the wall)* - while I was to sleep in the kitchen sofa. 

* (Back then, the only bathroom/toilet in their house was a W.C. and a clawfoot bathtub down in the cellar - a room of grey concrete, totally devoid of any other decorations or comforts. In summer, they still used an "outhouse". There was also a small wash-basin upstairs in the room next to their bedroom, though - which in my childhood served as my grandfather's study.) 

Anyway, on this occasion she and I were in the kitchen, and I was watching her letting her hair down and brush it, and then braiding it for the night. I'd never seen anyone with hair that long before - it reached down to her waist at least. She must have been in her early 60s then, but her hair was still dark brown and shiny, with no hint of grey. I also recall her commenting: "Your grandfather never wanted me to have it cut short..." 

This memory came back to me when I read the letter below, written in October 1929 - a couple of months after she and Gustaf got officially engaged. At the time, Gustaf was living in town - working full time for a newspaper then, I think. She was still at the farm with her mum and siblings. 

From the first paragraph of the letter, it seems Sally too was looking for a job away from the farm, though. Changes were coming up for the whole family: The oldest brother, Carl, had died the autumn before. Their brother Gustav (the one who lived in America in the first decade of the century) had taken over. All three of the younger siblings - Hildur, Sally and Nils - were now engaged to be  married and planning to move away from the farm within the next year or so. Finding ways to earn and save as much money as possible for their future needs seems now to have been a priority.

- - -

Fristad 29-10-29

Darling!

Sending you a few lines in all haste. [---] I was disappointed today when Hildur got back from the post office. I had been hoping to hear back about that position, but no such luck. I'll check again tomorrow, but after that I suppose it's no use giving it further thought. There are probably lots of people applying, and perhaps some with previous experience as well.

Now, dear, I must tell you what I have done – but don't get upset. Yesterday I did something I never thought I would do. Believe it or not! I had my hair cut!

That decision was so sudden that I don't quite know myself how it came about. Sometimes I almost regret it. The result wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I even cried for a bit today. But it's done now, and I hope you won't reproach me. You did tell me before that you don't mind. 

More when we meet. I don't know if we'll be coming [into town] tomorrow, but if you don't hear from anyone before 4 pm, I hope you will come [here] tomorrow evening.

Closing now, with my warmest greetings - Yours, Sally

- - -

How Gustaf did react to her haircut, I don't know. But as far as I know, she never had it cut really short again - until, when for the last few years of her life (some years after her husband died), she moved into an old people's home up in the village. Then she did not only have it cut short, but also permed. And at that point in time, I think she was quite pleased with the change!

Sally at 76, with short and curly hair

Linking to Sepia Saturday 660

Fristad d. 29-10-29

Älskade!

Vill i all hast sända dig några rader. --- Vet du, jag blev så besviken när Hildur kom från posten idag. Jag hade nämligen ett svagt hopp om att få höra något om den där platsen, men det hoppet slog tyvärr fel. Kanske kan det komma ännu, skall höra efetr i e.m. och i morgon bittida också, sedan är det väl ej lönt att tänka på det mera. Det var väl så många om den platsen, kanske sådana som hade vana förut.

Kära du, nu skall du få höra vad jag gjort, men bli inte ledsen. Igår kväll gjorde jag något som jag aldrig trott att jag skulle göra. Hör och häpna! Jag lät klippa mig.

Det beslutet skedde så hastigt och oförmodat att jag ej riktigt förstår själv hur det kom sig att det verkligen blev av. Ibland ångrar jag mig nästan. Det blev inte så bra som jag trodde det skulle bli. Jag har gråtit en stund i dag. Men nu är det ju gjort och jag hoppas du inte klandrar mig. Du har ju sagt förut att du inte bryr dig om det.

Mera när vi träffas. Vet inte om vi kommer i morgon, men hör du ingen av före kl 4 i morgon e.m hoppas jag du kommer i morgon kväll.

Slutar nu med hjärtevarma hälsn.

Din Sally

A Valentine's Post (Sepia Saturday 659)

G.046.03

My Valentine, Think of Me.
My air-ship is light,
my heart is free.
Young Cupid shall bear
my love to thee.

Min Valentin, Tänk på Mig.

Mitt luftskepp är lätt,

mitt hjärta är fritt.

Unge Cupid skall bära

min kärlek till dig.

To: Mr Gust Ekman, Galeton, Pa - Box 342
From: Gerda (Chicago, 14 Feb 1910)

Hjärtligaste hälsningar från syster Gerda

Lots of love from sister Gerda 

I'm going "off theme" (cars) this week, and doing a Valentine's post instead. Looking in the old postcard albums for a Valentine's card to serve as illustration, I found this airship, from 1910. The card was sent from my great-aunt Gerda to her brother Gustaf, while they were both living in America. 

. . .

Followers may remember that back in the autumn, I shared a series of letters written by my grandmother Sally (younger half-sister to Gerda and Gustaf above) to another Gustaf - my grandfather - while he was away doing his military service in 1925. At that point in time, they were still just friends.

Easter 1926 brought about a change in their relationship, as Gustaf then decided to reveal, by letter, that he had much deeper feelings for Sally than just friendship. That weekend, he wrote her two very long letters, declaring his love for her. It seems she responded to the first one in a face-to-face conversation, in which she "rejected" him. He followed up with an even longer letter, full of despair; to which he got a written reply, wishing for them to remain friends. How long it took them both to sort everything out between them, I still don't know. But because of one photo, also including Sally's older brother Carl, I know they must have become a "couple" before he died in September 1928, though.

The letters from Easter 1926 are long, introspective and full of heartache. I'm not going to render dem in full, but will summarize briefly what I learned from reading/transcribing them. 

On Thursday morning at 2 a.m. (that would be 1 April, 1926), Gustaf - obviously sleepless - decided he could not keep his feelings for Sally to himself any more. He had to tell her; and as it seemed he was never able to be alone with her for long enough, he must write a letter instead. 

A budding journalist, at age 22, he was a man of words - and put all his dramatic talent to use in this love letter (4 pages). He starts off cautiously with "Perhaps this letter will surprise you, perhaps not" but the more he writes, the more he gets carried away - I'd say to the point of emotional blackmail: "I don't want your compassion, but all your love, and I won't settle for less --- then I'd be left with ruined illusions and broken dreams..."  And then, at the end, suddenly a suprising confession of other kind: He asks her forgiveness for having taken (stolen) a letter of hers, which he's now returning. Whether that letter was written by Sally to someone else, or by someone else to her is not clear. But obviously there is a rival in the picture! Which I suppose may have been what made him decide to tell her his feelings in the first place...

The next letter is also from Gustaf to Sally, and written on Easter Monday (7 pages). In between, on Easter Eve, they've obviously had a talk face to face, but he hadn't felt able to express all he wanted then. It also seems Sally had then indicated that if he had confessed his feelings for her like two years earlier, she might have given him a different answer. 

Gustaf now puts renewed effort into convincing her that he has loved her for much longer than that - and also that the Rival can't possibly love her more than he does. And while the letters she wrote to Gustaf while he was away at military service the year before had made him increasingly aware of his feelings for her, he had indeed even felt jealous of some other boy courting her as far back as when he himself was only 16... (Sally was four years older than Gustaf - who was a childhood friend of her younger brother, Nils.)

He also again expresses utter despair at the thought of what to do with his life if she rejects him - now also realising that if he must stay away from her, he also won't be able to enjoy the company of the rest of her family any more - which would leave him feeling all alone in the world... (G. was born out of wedlock; his mother had mental health problems and was in an asylum since many years; his grandmother who raised him now dead; and he did not get along very well with his grandfather.) Towards the end of the letter, he also asks Sally to pray for him - as his own faith is gone. 

In reply to this letter, there is one from Sally (4 pages), written the next Thursday, and starting: "I too had a lot more to say to you on Saturday night, but I couldn't then. I'm also not sure I'll be able to express in writing how I feel."  She goes on to explain that she had had no idea that he had loved her for that long, and she doesn't think he had ever showed that, as he'd been dating (or showing interest in) several other girls over the years. (Thea is mentioned by name in this context - she was also mentioned more than once in the letters Sally wrote to Gustaf while he was away in military service; and when I was reading those letters I did have a feeling that she was probably feeling some jealousy towards Thea.)  

Sally then goes on to write about her own faith in God, and the comfort it gives her. She is glad he asked her to pray for him, as that request means a lot to her. She also confesses that the disdain he has sometimes shown for spiritual matters has indeed sometimes hurt her and made her remain silent rather than argue. 

Towards the end, she asks him not to stay away but to keep coming to visit them just as he used to. She'd be devastated if he stopped coming because of her - and what would the rest of the family think?! Her brother Nils (Gustaf's friend since childhood) probably suspects something already. And as for herself... "I'll never want to lose your friendship, Gustaf. Your friend, Sally."

. . .

While I don't know how long it took them after this to sort things out between them, at least I know that they did eventually get there. :)

I have one set of letters left to explore, written by Sally in 1929-30,  the year between their engagement and their marriage. It  seems Gustaf was living in town then, working full time for a newspaper; so that some matters had to be dealt with by letter. I only have hers to him (not his to her), but as Sally often writes about "everyday" things (about life on the farm etc) I'll be sharing at least parts of some of those in posts to come - also hoping to find some photos in the albums to match.

Linking to Sepia Saturday 659

Aerial Photography - Sepia Saturday 658

 

Flygbild av Mullsjö 

Aerial Photo from Mullsjö

ÄKTA FOTOGRAFI 
Ensamrätt
A/B Almquist & Cäster, Hälsningborg
Ahrenbergsflyg

GENUINE PHOTOGRAPH
Exclusive rights

This postcard was sent to my great-grandmother Selma for Mother's Day in May 1937, from her step-daughter Ester (one my grandmother Sally's older half-sisters), living in Mullsjö - a village by a lake with the same name, located some 25 km north-west of Jönköping.

At first glance, a postcard like this looks rather dull to me - but when I started thinking about it, it struck me that aerial photography like this was probably still rather new in Sweden in 1937.

The name of the company "Ahrenbergsflyg" took me to a Swedish Wikipedia article about Albin Ahrenberg, 1889-1968. Leaving military aviation in 1924 he started his own company, with flights for postal services and aerial photography. In 1929 he planned a flight from Stockholm to New York, via Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and the Labrador region of Canada. He got as far as Greenland - but was forced to return to Sweden from there (by boat), because of technical trouble.

In 1931, he returned to Greenland to help search for an English meterological research expedition that had gone missing there. He was successful and returned a hero this time. 

Later on, during WWII, he served again in some military position, with surveillance of the Stockholm archipelago. (I'm afraid my knowledge of military terms and organisation is not sufficient - in either language! - to quite grasp the details.) 

Anyway - the story serves to support my thought that back in 1937, a black and white aerial photo of a countryside village probably still seemed a lot more impressive to the recipient than it would today!

In 1937, Selma was 76 years old, and living with her daughter and son-in-law (my grandparents Sally and Gustaf), and her grandson Bertil (my father, 6 going on 7 that year). 

And below is an aerial photo of the house to which the card was sent. It's the house that my grandparents built, and moved into in 1930, when they got married. 

I'm not sure whether that photo is from the 1930s, 40s or 50s, though. (It was obviously black and white with the colours added to it afterwards.) When my brother and I sold the house in 2014 (rather different-looking by then - twice as big, and yellow), we left the original of this photo hanging in the house for the new owners, as we don't have a younger generation of family to pass it on to anyway.

"Aero Foto Vetlanda"

Linking to Sepia Saturday 658