As mentioned in a previous post of mine on the same theme, my grandparents Sally and Gustaf seem to have been more interested in where their car could take them, than in photos of the car itself.
I think I have also mentioned that when they got their first car in 1947, Sally started keeping notes of the outings they made. For this post, I had a look at the first of her notebooks, from the beginning, and managed to match a couple of her earliest entries with these photos in my dad's photo album:
From Sally's Journal, started in May 1947
This spring I've had the opportunity to go on several outings by car in our beautiful county of Västergötland.
- - -
Thursday, 22 May (1947):
A sunny,
summery day for a celebration: Bertil's graduation from 'Realskolan'
(lower secondary school). How wonderful it felt to be standing outside
the school to greet him, and then to have a little family
feast at home, drinking coffee outdoors, surrounded by the lovely
fresh greens of early summer. So I must add thanks to God, that I got to
experience this bright day so filled with joy and happiness – one
of my most beautiful memories.
Saturday, 24 May – Whitsun
Eve:
We went on an outing to Gräfsnäs, where we had coffee in the
vicinity of the old castle ruin.
Gräfsnäs Castle Ruin (1947)
 |
| My own photos from Gräfsnäs castle ruin in 2015 |
Hildur, Sally, Gustaf and Bertil - I'm not sure exactly where, but as the photo is on the same page in the album as those from his graduation and the outing to Gräfsnäs, it's probably from the same weekend.
Whitsun Sunday (25 May): We went to Stackenäs at Karl Gustav, where we picked lilies of the valley.
Both days we travelled through beautiful scenery.
Photo borrowed from a tourist website for Kungsäter and Stackenäs Museum.
I don't know if this was a museum already back in 1947, but according the website, the first floor of this building was built in the 1670s to accommodate guests for a famous wedding in a noble family in that neighbourhood. (The second floor was added in 1895.) The story says that it was a lavish wedding, but the bride wanted to be free, and when she found an opportunity, she changed into to hunting clothes and ran away from the party on her horse - but her bridegroom caught up with her in the morning. (Alas that's all the website tells us... I really just wanted to borrow the photo as an example of the landscape Sally enjoyed on this outing - but I think Gustaf (journalist with keen interest in local history and various folklore) would have appreciated the story as well!
Från Sallys dagbok, maj/juni 1947
Tillsammans med mina kära har jag fått göra flera bilresor i vårt vackra Västergötland. [---]
Torsdagen d. 22 maj. En solljus, sommarvarm högtidsdag. Bertils realexamen. Så underbart det kändes att stå utanför Läroverket och ta emot honom, att sedan vid hemkomsten tillsammans med de närmaste ha lite festligt med kaffe I det fria, och omgivna av försommarens ljuvliga grönska. Så vill jag säga: Tack gode Gud att jag då fick vara med, denna ljusa dag så fylld av glädje och lycka. En bland de allra vackraste minnenas dag.
Lördagen d. 24 (Pingstafton) reste vi till Grävsnäs där vi drack kaffe I närheten av slottsruinen. Pingstdagen åkte vi till Stackenäs I Karl Gustaf. Där plockade vi liljekonvalje. Båda dagarna gick färden genom de mest natursköna trakter.
The castle ruin looks much the same in your photo as it did in the earlier one. That must have been gratifying for you to visit the area knowing ancestors had been there as well. The view in the last photo is amazing -- wonder what happened to that enterprising bride.
ReplyDeleteMolly, I've visited that castle ruin a few times during my life. When I revisited in 2015 I only had my own memories from earlier visits in mind. There have been some "improvements" made to the ruin over the years - to make it safer for tourist. In the past it was also just a ruin. Now also a museum, and the park a place for various events.
DeleteA perfect 'diagonal' match to the prompt - featuring the trips taken in the car rather than the car itself. The car most likely looked like many others, but the places it took them were their own delight. I have to ask, though, did your Dad (Bertil) always look so serious? My Dad's name, by the way, was Herbert and he was called Bert by his family. My Mom, however, didn't think he looked like a "Bert", so she took to calling him "Herb" & "Herbie". And speaking of couples - one does have to wonder what ever happened to that bride & groom when he caught up to her? :))
ReplyDeleteGail, to my knowledge my dad was always called by his full name (no family nickname). And if you look closely at the graduation photo, he's actually smiling for the camera there - I had some trouble with reflections when trying to copy that photo (with my camera), though.
DeleteOh to see one's father at 16 years old! What a difference to the one you knew as a child yourself. I loved the note about how grateful Sally was to have everyone eating outside with God's gifts all around.
ReplyDeleteBarbara, my dad was still rather young (24) when I was born, so actually he doesn't look all that much different here to my own earliest memories (and photos) of him. He then gradually "filled out" quite a bit over the years, though.
DeleteI think Sally and Gustaf were probably both proud of their son, as they themselves only got a few years of primary school (although Gustaf managed to add a few correspondence courses and worked his way up to be a journalist). To see their son also go on from lower to upper secondary school and then technical university must have felt like great progress.
Photos may record history but they only capture the memories of the people who were there. What I've enjoyed most about your blog, Monica, is the way you recapture those fleeting memories by finding the voices of your family. Their letters and journals add a 3rd dimension of real personality to their photos..
ReplyDeleteMike, I agree. The famous quote that "a picture says more than a thousand words" is not always true... Sometimes a few words can also make all the difference to a photo!
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