This week's prompt picture for Sepia Saturday made me think of this photo in my grandmother Sally's album, which includes a woman in nurse uniform. The name of the place written below the photo (Tingsholmen) doesn't ring a bell with me, but it's likely to be somewhere within the area of a daytrip by car. It seems that Gustaf and Sally bought their first car in the spring of 1947. The same year in May, Sally started keeping a sort of journal, which is mainly a record of outings they made - the main purpose obviously to help her remember where they'd been, when, and with whom. (There are very few more personal reflections included.)
From May to September 1948, there are several posts mentioning outings made together with Sally's sister Hildur and "Sister Sonja". (The Swedish word syster and the English word sister are alike in that it can either refer to a family member or be used as title for a nurse - or a nun.) As they did not have a sister named Sonja, and because of this photo, I conclude that Sonja was a nurse. There are also other photos of Sonja in the albums, though, dressed in private clothes; so she was probably also a friend. But I from what I've heard in the past, I know that Hildur's health was not the best, and that (at least periodically) she did need assistance from some sort of district nurse, or even a live-in carer. From Sally's notes I get the impression that Sonja was not a live-in carer though, because Sally sometimes also mentions them driving Sonja home, or visiting Sonja in her own home.
But this photo shows Sonja in her uniform, and accompanying Hildur + Sally with family, on a trip. So to me that suggests that she was "on duty" here, rather than just coming along as a friend.
In 1948, my father (Bertil) was 17 years old; Gustaf 44, Sally 48, and Hildur 56.
In last week's post (for Sepia Saturday 675), I started going through a kind of CV of my grandfather Gustaf's life and career put together by my dad with help of Gustaf's old cash-books.
The last entry mentioned last week was that in September 1930 - besides getting married - Gustaf also then had expenses for getting a driving license.
I stopped there, because I knew what this week's theme was going to be...
1932, 23 July: First instalment on a motorcycle, 150 kr. After that he continued to pay 50 kr/month for it, with the last payment in February 1933. So in total it seems he paid 500 kr for it. I tried an online converter to estimate how much that would be today and got the answer around 18000 kr (SEK), which in turn would be around $1665 or £1325. My guess is that he probably bought the mc second hand.
I can't recall ever having seen a photo of Gustaf on or with a motorcycle (or even just a photo of the motorcycle itself) and until fairly recently I did not know that he ever had one. I think I first saw it mentioned in a memorial article, written by a former colleague of his, 100 years after his birth (and 35 years after his death) - that in the early years, before he had a car, he used a motorcycle in his job as journalist, to get around and interview people in the countryside etc. (I think it wasn't until 1947 that he bought a car.)
The cash-book shows that Gustaf continued to work for the newpaper BN (Borås Nyheter) until spring 1938. In May 1938, he started a new job at the bigger newspaper BT (Borås Tidning). There is also a document from 1940 indicating that he was "headhunted" for that job.
During the winter 1938-39 there are expenses recorded for "modernisation of the house". This is again something that I cannot recall ever having seen documented in photos. Checking the cash-book itself (I still have that), it seems to have included the change of heating system by installing a coke-heated furnace in the cellar. I know that originally, they had an iron range in the kitchen and a tiled stove in the living room (and I assume the same in the separate flat upstairs, where Sally's mother, sister and brother-in-law lived during the early years). I'm also not sure they even had running water installed from start. (If they did, it would have been cold water only.)
In my own childhood there was also a WC and a bathtub in the cellar. I don't when that was installed. Even in the 1960s it was still no fancy bathroom with tiles or anything, it was just a rather big room with grey concrete walls and floor, and the WC against one wall and the bathtub against the other. In the summers my grandparents still used the "outhouse". (I didn't like either of these alternatives, because the outhouse smelled, and the stairs down to the cellar were steep and scary, and it was cold down there...)
Returning to the cash-book, that also shows a regular income of 'rent' from January 1931 through June 1939 - which indicates that it was not until then that Sally's sister Hildur and her husband Olle moved to a house of their own (only a few minutes walk away). So I guess the modernisation of my grandparents' house probably also included getting rid of the upstairs kitchen and turning the house in to a home for one family only.
The photo below is probably the earliest one I have of Hildur's and Olle's house. It strikes me now that it may even be from a "housewarming" party of sorts? In the summer of 1939, my dad was 8 years old.
My dad to the left, and next to him Olle. The next three are friends of the family; then Hildur (with a scarf on her head and wearing an apron). Another friend, and then Sally and Gustaf.
This is my grandfather Gustaf; the photo probably from some time in the 1950s (when he was around 50 himself), and he's probably sitting at his desk at the newspaper where he was working then. You don't see much of the typewriter - but it's there, to the right in the picture... ;-)
Recently I went through a pile of old inherited documents, primarily in search of a certain estate inventory deed - which alas turned out to be missing... So I'll probably never know exactly how the inheritance from my grandmother Sally's older half-brother Carl was sorted out after his death in 1928. While it seems that his brother Gustav took over the farm (Storegården) and remained living there (at least for some time onward), I suspect that the change in circumstances after Carl passed away may also have contributed to the three younger siblings - Hildur, Sally and Nils - all getting married and moving away from the farm almost at the same time, in the autumn of 1930. And their mother Selma moved away to live with her daughters too - although from what I've been told in the past I also seem to recall that a small cottage on the farm was hers for life, and she used to stay there in the summers.
While I couldn't find that estate inventory, instead I found another document that I did not know existed: A kind of curriculum vitae of my grandfather's life, compiled by my dad (probably in the 1990s) and based on various certificates and letters, but also Gustaf's cash-books that he kept through the years. Which saves me a bit of work, as going through those looking for clues was something I had had in mind to try myself. (And I still might, some time.)
On thing this CV tells me is that in spite of being born out of wedlock and raised in poor circumstances primarily by his grandparents, my grandfather was quite an ambitious young man.
Born in 1904, he graduated from elementary school (it seems only four years of it) in 1917. Basically he got "excellent" in Christianity, Swedish (reading, writing and grammar), math and handicraft; "good" in geography, history and drawing; "acceptable" in science and sports; and had also "participated" in gardening. He also seems to have been a conscientious and diligent student in general (well behaved and doing his homework etc).
Gustaf's leaving certificate from the village school ('folkskola'), 30 June 1917
However, after that, only 13 years old, he was taken on as apprentice by a shoemakerin the village - and it seems he also went to live with him and his family.(Link to a previous post for SS 642)
In 1922 (18 years old) he took a correspondence course in book-keeping, and after that started keeping his own cash-book of his incomes and expenses. In 1923 he also took a correspondence course in stenography, and in 1924 a local typewriting course. His cash-book shows that in 1924 he also started writing short items for a newspaper (BN) in town; and he also did some proof-reading for them.
The cash-book also shows income from work at the farm Storegården, while work for the shoemaker keeps getting less frequent. I think this may also provide the answer to why and when (approximately) he moved away from the shoemaker's and went to live at Storegården instead. From photos I've understood that he was friends with my grandmother's younger brother Nils since their childhood and school years; and the family at the farm now probably encouraged his change of "career" (from shoemaker to journalist) by offering him a room at the farm in exchange for some farm work. (My conclusion since before is that Gustaf's room was not in the main farm house, but in a small cottage on the grounds - which would also have given him the privacy he needed for studying and writing.)
Certificates from courses in book-keeping, stenography and typewriting.
Gradually, he was working more for the newspaper. His cash-book shows that he started buying monthly train tickets, so was obviously going into town more often.
His career at the newspaper was partly interrupted by having to do military service in Göteborg (Gothenburg) from March through August 1925. (I've blogged about this before - that's when he and my grandmother Sally first started writing letters to each other.)
In January 1926, he starts working regularly for the newspaper; but also does some freelance writing for other newspapers.
1n April 1929 he gets a pay-rise as "assistant editor-in-chief" at BN. In September the same year, he and Sally get engaged; and in October he buys some furniture, and rents a flat or room in town. That he lived in town that year between their engagement and wedding, I've also learned from letters written to him by Sally during that year. Obviously his promotion required him to spend more time at the newspaper office.
In March 1930, he purchases a plot of land, and he and Sally start building their house. (Or rather, hire a builder to do that for them.)
In September 1930, he and Sally get married - and Gustaf also has expenses for a driving license.
PS. I might add that I myself learned to type (properly) when I was around 13 years old, at home - using my father's typewriter, with the keyboard covered with a paper screen, and some old touch typing correspondence course book (I'm not sure whose). A year or two later, I also go to inherit a portable typewriter that had belonged to my grandfather (who sadly died when I was 14).
After secondary school, ('senior high') I worked for a year in an office (not doing much typing though), and then went on to attend secretary school for 1½ years. This was 1975-76, and in school we were still using manual typewriters - we had one electric machine in the classroom, at which we (a dozen girls) took turns... We also studied business correspondence in Swedish, English and German (some had French instead of German) - and learned stenography in all three languages. And a little bit of book-keeping, too (not my favourite subject). After graduating from that course, I worked for a few years in various jobs where I actually had use for all those skills (although - thankfully - not much book-keeping). In those jobs I used electrical typewriters.
Then for a while I went back to university and more language studies, followed by a very short teaching career. It proved hard to find jobs in my subjects though, so I ended up back in secretarial work again - this time without much use of neither foreign languages nor stenography, but I got gradually introduced to using computers more than the typewriter. In spite of all the typing I've been doing over 55 years or so, I don't think I have a single photo of me at a typewriter! So you'll just have to take my word for it!
Here's a YouTube video I found, reminding me of the familiar sound... (I think my dad's old typewriter that I first learned to type on was also a Halda, but I'm not 100% sure.)
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