I recently found (or re-found) this photo of my grandmother Sally's younger brother Nils as a bus driver. I recall being told in the past that he worked both as a bus driver and a taxi driver. I don't know the exact year when this photo was taken, but I'd say around 1930 (give or take a few years). From the text on the bus I can see that it ran between the centre of the town of Borås and one of its outskirts (Hestra) - which in those days must have been more of a rural area than it is today.
Last year in my online searches I found a population census from 1930. It must have been carried out in the month of December that year, as it has my newly-wed (since September 1930) grandparents Gustaf and Sally settled in their new house, Nils and his Carin (married 30 November) at another address, but their older sister Hildur still living at the farm, listed as unmarried (she and her fiancé Olle got married on 30 December that year, and then moved into the upstairs flat in my grandparents' new house).
Nils was born in 1902, and lived on the family farm until he got married (28 years old). In the 1930 census, his profession is listed as "driver" (not specified whether taxi or bus, so it may have been both), and on the side also working at a driving school, teaching others to drive. The same census also contains the information that back in 1925 his main occupation was farm work. So evidently it was between then and 1930 that he sought a new career. I've also already concluded from Sally's letters that in 1930, he must have had a car (or at least access to one).
Nils' wife Carin was born in 1903, in the province of Småland. How or where she and Nils first met, I don't think I've ever heard, but I think she probably moved to Borås to work in one of its many textile factories. According to the church record of their wedding, she was a seamstress. Oddly the 1930 census does not mention her occupation, even though it does state an annual income - it just has her down as "married" and "wife". I don't know if she gave up her job already in connection with her marriage; but about a year later, their first son was born, and followed by two more sons and one daughter over the next few years - so from then on I guess she was probably busy enough "just" being a housewife.
Their oldest son (Sten) was born only a couple of months after my dad, towards the end of 1931; and their next son only a year after that. I've been told that in their childhood, Sten periodically stayed with my grandparents and my dad (who was an only child), to ease the situation for his own parents a bit during the years when they had three or four young ones. Sally and Gustaf did not get any more children; but my dad and Sten remained rather close throughout life, and he was also almost like an uncle to my brother and me. He was a journalist, and when I've thought about it in later years, I guess he may have been influenced by my grandfather in that choice of career. He did not have any children of his own, but several nieces and nephews (the children of his younger brothers), and also still kept in touch with me even after my dad died. And when Sten died in 2016, I attended his funeral.
In my dad's and his cousins' childhood, the extended family had a tradition of coming together most years at midsummer at my grandparents' house and garden. Midsummer Eve (back then always on 23 June) also happened to be my grandfather Gustaf's birthday. There are quite a few photos in the old albums to confirm that these family gatherings were a recurring tradition. Most of those also include some people I can't identify - but I think they were Carin's siblings, with spouses and children.
In this photo from 1937 we have Nils on the left, probably holding his youngest son Olof. (The daughter Marianne was not born yet.) I suppose it must be Carin to the right of them, even if I can't say I quite recognise her here. Of the three boys standing in front it's my dad (Bertil) to the right, probably Sten in the middle and his younger brother Bernt to the left. Behind my dad is their grandmother Selma; on her left her daughter Hildur; and behind Hildur to the left her husband Olle. Behind Selma to the right is my grandmother Sally. The rest of the faces unknown to me. My grandfather Gustaf is not in the picture - I assume he was behind the camera.
This one is from 1939. Here my grandfather Gustaf is in the picture, on the far right, next to Nils. Hildur in front of them, and her husband Olle on the far left. In front of him my dad - wearing glasses now. Probably Sten next to him and Bernt behind (one step up?) - not all easy to tell them apart at that age, though! The woman standing with a baby on her arm is Carin, with daughter Marianne. Sally's face in the middle of the back row; and Selma in the row below, wearing glasses.
Collage of three more similar photos from 1940, 1941 and 1942, just to show that the summer reunion tradition continued. (In the top one my dad is half hidden behind one of the other boys.)
Linking to Sepia Saturday 681
SVENSKA
Det första fotot är av min farmor Sallys yngre bror Nils som busschaufför, ca 1930. Bussen gick mellan Borås centrum och området Hestra (som på den tiden måste ha varit ganska lantligt).
Den svenska folkräkningen från 1930 måste i den här delen av landet måste ha utförts i december månad, ty av densamma framgår att Gustaf och Sally (som gifte sig i september) nu var bosatta på Nysäter, medan Nils och Carin (som gifte sig 30 november) var registrerade på adress Öreberg, men Hildur fortfarande bor kvar på Storegården. (Hon och Olle gifte sig 30 december 1930, och flyttade då in på övervåningen i mina farföräldrars hus.)
Nils var född 1902 och bodde på Storegården tills han gifte sig vid 28 års ålder. I folkräkningen 1930 anges hans yrke som chaufför, med bisyssla “bilskola”. (Jag tror att han förutom buss även körde taxi.) Samma folkräkning innehåller också uppgiften att han 1925 var "jordbruksarbetare".
Nils hustru Carin var född 1903 i Lenhovda i Kronobergs län. Var och hur hon och Nils träffades vet jag inte, men antagligen flyttade hon till Borås för att arbeta på någon av textilfabrikerna. I vigselregistret anges att hon var sömmerska. I folkräkningen 1930 står hon bara som "gift", och “mor/fru”. Om hon fortsatte att arbeta under första året som gift vet jag inte. Deras förste son föddes i slutet av 1931 och sedan fick de ytterligare tre barn (totalt tre söner och en dotter) ganska tätt, så snart lär hon i alla fall ha haft fullt upp som hemmafru.
Äldste sonen Sten föddes bara ett par månader efter min pappa (Bertil). De två kom att stå varandra ganska nära under hela livet. Efter vad jag hört berättas, så bodde Sten periodvis hos mina farföräldrar i barndomen, som avlastning för Carin och Nils. (Min pappa var enda barnet.) Sten blev till yrket journalist, och jag tänker att han kanske påverkades i sitt yrkesval av Gustaf (min farfar).
I min pappas och hans kusiners barndom var det tradition att familjerna/släkten samlades hos mina farföräldrar vid midsommar. (Midsommarafton, som på den tiden alltid firades den 23 juni, var också min farfars födelsedag.) Ett antal gruppfoton bekräftar denna tradition. Med på dessa är också en del personer som jag inte kan identifiera – antagligen Carins syskon med familjer.
I think our family only had one big gathering in the 40s summertime, in honor of my grandfather'ss 70 or so birthday. These people enjoyed meeting and having a day of fun, then posing for photos. Or maybe they did the photo early before the kids had a chance to romp around and stain their knees. Once again, I've enjoying getting to know your ancestors!
ReplyDeleteThanks Barbara. I imagine that my grandfather enjoyed these big family gatherings because he had nothing like it in his own childhood.
DeleteMy goodness - the latter part of 1930 was full of weddings! The reunion photos are wonderful. Reunions are such a fun thing - at least for most families. We've been having summer reunions at Lake Tahoe for the past 32 years where some camp, and some rent cabins. Some years there have been 30 of us, other years less, but it's been such fun as generations grow up & get married and then we're on to the next generation! Of course some of us are getting on up there in age & we've already lost one of our elders, darn it. But the rest of us keep going. We always have at least one campfire where we all sit around roasting marshmallows & singing all the old camp songs! The kind of wonderful fun you can't buy! :)
ReplyDeleteGail, my parents did try to resurrect that tradition a few times - gathering dad's cousins and their families. My second cousins were (are) all quite a bit younger than me though, we only met on a few occasions far apart, and I never really got to know them very well.
DeleteBravo for finding an excellent match for our auto/bus theme! But Nils' bus is so small it must have been difficult if he ever used it for carrying large family reunions without having some folk stand in the aisle. :–) Until today, I had not recognized that Swedes once drove on the left like the British. That must have been a dramatic political/social challenge to flip the rules of the road.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about that, Mike. The change was made in 1967 and I was only twelve at the time, so for me personally it was just about remembering to cycle on the other side of the road to/from school (and to re-learn in which direction to look first when crossing a road). But I remember my dad making quite a fuss about the change, putting signs up on our garage doors at home to remind himself and us, etc. Thinking about it now, I also suppose that the fact that he was used to driving on the left himself was of great help on our car holidays in Britain in my teens (1971 and 1974, and he and mum went back a few times more after that as well).
DeleteThat's a great photo of Nils with the bus! I wonder if the Great Depression had anything to do with so many family weddings happening in your family in 1930? A desire for family and security amid uncertainty perhaps? Or maybe just coincidental. The family reunion photos are fabulous. You are lucky to have them.
ReplyDeleteMolly, my own theory about all three couples getting married in 1930 is to do with their older brother Carl - the main owner of the farm - passing away in 1928. Alas I don't seem to have a copy of the estate inventory, so I don't know if there was a will or not, or how the inheritance was divided. Carl was not married and had no children of his own. His younger brother Gustav seems to have taken over the farm and stayed living there, but whether there was a will to leave the farm to him alone, or if he bought his younger half-siblings (Sally and Nils) out of their inherited shares, I don't know. I'm leaning towards the latter. Hildur was only step-sister to Carl, though, so she's not likely to have inherited anything. But Sally and Gustaf building a house with an extra flat to rent to Hildur and Olle (+ mother Selma) until they too could afford a house of their own may have "sealed the deal" for them as well. All three couples got engaged in 1929, and all three got married and moved away from the farm a year later. (I might write a separate post on this some time, but without the estate inventory I can really only guess..)
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