"Look at the Birdie, please!" (or not...) - Sepia Saturday 750

 

To celebrate Sepia Saturday #750, Alan chose the collage above, with the prompt:

"Our theme this month on Sepia Saturday is "New Arrivals" and right in the middle of the month we have the 750th week of the internet meme that celebrates the very opposite of all things new and allows us to share our love of old photos. It is, however, possible to combine the two, to link new and old. Most collectors of old photographs know the thrill of the arrival of a new batch of old photographs. You can celebrate that, this week, or new discoveries, or new interpretations or - being Sepia Saturday which has battled against rules for 750 weeks now - anything you want as long as it is somehow linked to old photographs. ---"

Well, I have no "new" photos, but do I still have a box full of old ones that never made it to the family albums... Most of them were at some point sorted into different categories by my dad, and put in envelopes; but for some reason, I have to confess that so far I never really felt "thrilled" by the thought of sorting through them again myself. Most of them seem to just be copies of others that I've already seen elsewhere - or similar, but not very good... 

But perhaps it's time to take closer look at some? Today I decided to check out an envelope marked "Before 1930", where I found (among others) these four group photos below - from Christmas celebrations at the end of the 1920s.

(Unedited photos straight from the scanner)

A touch of digital editing helps a little - but not really enough... ;-)

This I'm pretty sure is from Storegården, i.e. the farm where my grandmother Sally, born 1900, grew up and lived until she got married to my grandfather Gustaf T in 1930. The elderly woman in the middle is her mother Selma. To the left of her, her oldest daughter, Hildur (from her first marriage), and her son Nils (two years younger than my grandmother). To the right of Selma, my grandfather Gustaf. If this is 1929, he was by then engaged to my grandmother - but he had been a friend of the family long before that. I don't recognise the man on the far right. Behind them, standing, are my grandmother's older half-brother Gustav (the "postcard collector", for readers remembering the postcard correspondence between him and his sister Gerda that inspired this blog in the first place) - and Sally. I suspect that one reason this photo never made it to the albums is that at least three of them look half asleep here!

Same room, but probably a different year (different curtains!). Gustav, Olle (Hildur's fiancé), Sally, Gustaf T, Hildur and Selma. Aside from everyone looking in different directions, I don't think Hildur would have appreciated that photo of herself!

Same room again. Selma, Olle, Hildur and Sally sitting; Nils, unknown woman (perhaps Nils' fiancée Carin? but I can't say I really recognise her in this photo) and Gustaf E. (Something spooky going on with theChristmas tree here...)

Different room, and the only people I recognise are Hildur to the left, Sally with an unknown girl on her lap, and my grandfather Gustaf on the right. No idea who the others are. Again, a photo where they're all looking in different directions!

Sepia Saturday 748/749 - New Arrivals

 

These photos would have been a better match for last week's Sepia prompt, but I didn't get round to participating then. To the left, my grandmother Sally (age 55) with little me on her lap, Christmas 1955. To the right, she is holding my father in the same position, Christmas 1931. My dad and I were both born at the end of August, so we're both four months old in these photos - 24 years apart.

At first I had some other photos in mind for this week, to do with dogs - but then realised that I already used those a year ago, for Sepia Saturday 698. Click on that link if you also want to see photos of my grandparents' dogs (they had two in my childhood, one at a time).

Linking this post to Sepia Saturday 749

Royal Confirmation, 1952 (Sepia Saturday 745)

My paternal grandfather Gustaf T. was a journalist at a local newspaper (in Borås, Sweden). He also often took his own photos to go with his articles. Unfortunately, the notes in his private albums are usually very brief with few details about when, where or who. 

For Sepia Saturday's October theme "Special Times", one album page with three photos on it came to mind for me. The only note is Royalty at Levene. 

I could see that the photos must be from the early 1950s, and that they included members of the royal family. But I've never known the occasion, nor been sure who of the princesses it is who is in focus here, or why. So I decided to try some googling...

Levene is a small village in the province of Västergötland (the same province where my grandfather lived; as do I). The vicar there (Tell Törnblad) happened to have connections in some noble families in Stockholm, and the royal family came to choose to send three of their princesses to him in the small remote countryside village for summer confirmation teaching; including having the ceremony in that church rather than in Stockholm. The first to have her confirmation at Levene was princess Margaretha, the oldest; in 1950. But she is not the one coming out of the church in my grandfather's photos. 

Googling a bit more, I found an online photo (No 4 below), which is clearly from the same occasion as in the photos I have: the confirmation of Princess Birgitta, in July 1952. 

"Royalty at Levene"

 

Princess Birgitta receiving flowers from a little boy outside the church; and that must be the vicar Tell Törnblad behind her.

Princess Sibylla (mother of princesses Margaretha, Birgitta, Desirée and Christina and their younger brother, our present king Carl XVI Gustaf; and widow of crown prince Gustaf Adolf, who tragically died in plane crash in 1947, when his son was only nine months old.)

Queen Louise (born Mountbatten), grandmother

King Gustaf VI Adolf, grandfather.
Princess Margaretha, older sister

Photo found online: 

Prinsessan Birgittas konfirmation 18/7 1952.
Prinsessan konfirmerades i Levene 1700-talskyrka.
Högtiden bevittnades av Kung Gustaf VI Adolf,
Drottning Louise samt prinsessorna Sibylla och Margaretha.

Foto: Historisk Bildbyrå / Svenskt Fotoreportages samling

Photo of  Levene Church from the Church of Sweden's website.

Linking to Sepia Saturday 745

Cartoon Postcards - Sepia Saturday 738

From my great-uncle Gustaf's collection, my impression is that sending cartoon postcards was most common at Christmas/New Year and Easter. Well - at least among his family and friends!

I'm picking a few examples that I think weren't previously linked to Sepia Saturday.

A card sent to Gustaf in America, from his brother Oscar in Sweden at Christmas 1909:

Many thanks for what you sent via Carl [another brother]! I got it yesterday, Christmas Eve. I'm wondering if you won't come home soon. I wish you could come in the spring, that would be good. Welcome here then! I'm sending heartfelt greetings from all of us. / Brother Oscar

Note: Gustaf did return to Sweden in 1910, but I think probably not as early as in spring. He managed to be recorded in both the American census of 1910 (still living in Galeton, PA) - and in the Swedish census for the same year, as living with his brother Carl and their sister Ester at the family farm in Fristad, Sweden. Their father (Samuel) had died in 1907, and in 1910 his widow (2nd wife) Selma and her three children (including my grandmother Sally) were registered as a separate household on the same farm. 

All is well that ends well
said he who ate
... Christmas Ham ...

 

Another Christmas greeting from Oscar to Gustaf. At Christmas 1912, Gustaf was still living at the family farm with his brother Carl, their stepmother and her children. 

"Sly as a snake you may be, but you have won my heart"

In 1913, Gustaf was living at a place called Värmlands Nysäter. This card has no sender, but seems to suggest that there was some romance going on in his life... (The illustration on this card was made by Jenny Nyström, a famous Swedish illustrator.)

From Oscar

By Easter 1914, Gustaf had moved on to a place called Brålanda. Again, cards sent to him there seem to suggest a romance. (Whether with the same woman or a different one, I'm not sure.) 

Happy Easter from Alfhild, Ivan and Ruth

Gustaf remained living at Brålanda until the spring of 1918 (so more or less throughout WWI); but then moved back to the family farm in Fristad again. 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year 1918, from Alfhild, Ivan & Ruth

Linking to Sepia Saturday 738

Greetings from Ulriksdal, Stockholm (Sepia Saturday 737)

 (Reposted card; first shared on this blog in February 2013.)

 

Stockholm - Ulriksdals slott
No 1378, Ferdinand Hey’l, Stockholm.
A. Blomberg, Photo

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman, Storegården, Fristad (1902)

The postcard was sent to my great-uncle Gustaf in 1902 (before he emigrated to America), from friends visiting Stockholm. I have still not managed to decipher all the words in the message, but it starts with "We are now in Stockholm", and seems to also include greetings from some mutual friend that they happened to run into there.  

(Edited colours) 

A comment on my original post back in 2013 points out how back then they liked to make photo postcards look like paintings. (I suppose the colours were added to a b&w photo.)

Photo from Wikipedia (2011)

Ulriksdal Palace was originally built for Count Jacob De la Gardie in 1645 and then called Jakobsdal. About 25 years later it was bought by Queen Hedwig Eleonora for her grandson Ulrik and renamed Ulriksdal after him. The little prince however died at the age of one. After the death of Hedwig Eleonora in 1715, the palace was transferred to the Crown.

In 1902 (when this postcard was sent), the King of Sweden was Oscar II. I’m not sure how Ulriksdal Palace was used in his day. Later on in the 20th century, it came to be much used by his grandson, crown prince Gustav Adolf (later king Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden, 1950-1973). Since 1986 it has been open to the public. Parts of the former living quarters are nowadays used to exhibit items from king Gustaf V's silver collection, and king Gustaf VI Adolf's art and crafts collection. (Wikipedia)

Linking to Sepia Saturday 737

Greetings from Lake Geneva, Wis. (Sepia Saturday 736)

 

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman, Galeton, Box 342, Potter Co, Pa
From: Gerda (sent from Chicago, Jun 9, 1908)

Käre bror! Undrar hur du mår. Jag är nu på landet, detta är platsen som jag arbetar, men den är så otydlig. Du väntar nog på bref, jag skall snart skrifva. Här är så vackert, jag önskar du vore här. Jag har just varit och badat i sjön idag. Kära hälsningar frän syster Gerda. 

Dear brother, I'm wondering how you are. I'm now in the countryside, this is the place where I work, but it [the picture] is very blurry. You will be waiting for a letter, I will write soon. It is so beautiful here, I wish you were here. I have just been to the lake for a swim today. Love, sister Gerda

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman, Galeton, Box 342, Pa.

From: Gerda (Lake Geneva, Wis, Jul 23, 1909)

Käre bror! Jag är nu på landet, och jag har ej hört någonting från dig på så länge. Jag undrar hur du mår. Jag mår fint. Jag minns ej om jag skref till dig innan jag lemna Chicago, så kanske är min tur. / Här är förtjusande vackert, jag önskade du kunde komma hit. Jag kanhända lemnar här nästa vecka. / Min adr. är c/o Mrs Seipp, Lake Geneva, Wis.

Dear brother, I'm now in the countryside, and I haven't heard from you in so long. I'm wondering how you are. I'm fine. I don't remember if I wrote to you before I left Chicago, so perhaps it's my turn. / It's charmingly beautiful here, I wish you could come here. I might leave next week. / My adress is c/o Mrs Seipp, Lake Geneva, Wis. 

After a few shorter employments in Chicago, my great-aunt Gerda ended up working in the household of a well-known physician, Otto L. Schmidt. (Among other things, he was prominent enough to be one of 25 citizens to have his name engraved on The Illinois State Archives building in Chicago in 1938.  He was also the first physician in Chicago to use X-rays.) His wife was Emma Seipp, daughter of a wealthy Chicago brewer, Conrad Seipp. They were both of German heritage; and had three children: Ernst, Alma and Clara.  

I have written about them before on this blog (some of the posts not linked to Sepia Saturday). For example, you can read more about Otto L. Schmidt in a post from September 2012, and about his wife Emma and the Seipp family in a post from April 2021. 

Here, I'll just repeat that it seems the Schmidts (and at least some of their servants) used to spend the summers at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where Mrs Schmidt's mother had a house - or even two. An article I found online says that the Seipp family built a summer home there in 1888, and after the death of Conrad Seipp, his widow (Catherine Orb Seipp) added a rather large and more modern "cottage" in 1905 - "to also accommodate her large and growing family".

I have also come to the conclusion that the two photos below of Gerda together with other servants were probably taken at Lake Geneva, on two different occasions. My guess is that both these photos show the summer staff at the Lake Geneva houses, consisting of Mrs Seipp's own servants +  those that Mrs Schmidt brought with her from her own household in Chicago. (In case you are wondering, Gerda is standing in the middle of the top row in the first photo, and sitting down on a tree stump or a rock in the second.)

The second postcard above (with the boat) shows the residence of a Mrs. Otto Young. I also found an article about Otto Young and his stone manor. It seems that Young was another German immigrant who arrived in New York in the 1850s, worked his way up in business (involving jewellry and real estate) and ended up very rich. He had a stone manor built at Lake Geneva, and died there in December 1906. I suppose that after his death the manor came to be known as the residence of his widow - and so named on this postcard.

To finish off this post, I recently noticed two more postcards of residences along Lake Geneva, Wis.,  in Gerda's collection of unwritten cards. I have not yet done any research on those names - maybe I'll return to them some other time... (I'm already late with this post as it is!)

Linking to Sepia Saturday 736

 

On the Water - Sepia Saturday 734

I found this old postcard just recently when going through a box of letters and drawings sent from me to my grandmother in my childhood. It struck me as a good match for this Sepia Saturday.

The card was written by me to my grandma Sally when I was 10 years old. 'Lyckorna' was a seaside resort near Ljungskile on the west coast of Sweden, some 30+ min drive from where we were living back then. 

(13/8 1965) Yesterday we went to 'Lyckorna' at Ljungskile to bathe. I picked a lot of sea shells, but forgot to take them home. It was lovely in the water, and I only saw two jellyfish. The sea bed was nice and sandy. It was low tide and very hot. I must go now. Greetings to Grandpa and Max*. Monica.

(*Max was my grandparents' dog)

Linking to Sepia Saturday 734

On the Beach - Sepia Saturday 733

 

This is a photo from my great-aunt Gerda's album. Those who have been following this blog for a while may remember her. She was an older half-sister of my grandmother; and a lot of this blog was based on her postcards and photos. She emigrated to America in her youth, worked her way up as lady's maid and travel companion to wealthy ladies, and from 1928 onward ended up working for Estelle Manville-Bernadotte, married to the Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte (related to the Swedish royal family, acting as diplomat during WWII, and tragically assassinated in Jerusalem in 1948. 

Gerda's photo album is in no particular order and without notes about names or dates. My best guess is that this photo shows Gerda together with a great-niece of hers, in the mid/late 1940s - probably on holiday on the west coast of Sweden? To me the sand dunes look rather typical of beaches in the province of Halland. If my guess is correct, Gerda would be around 65-68 years old here. (She lived to be 92.) I know from postcards she wrote back in her youth that she loved to swim/bathe. 

Linking to Sepia Saturday 733

At the Seaside - Sepia Saturday 731-732

 

Laxvik Havsbad (Sea Bath),Trönninge (Halland, Sweden)

Postcard sent to my dad in August 1943, from his friend Olle.
Dad was 12 years old in 1943, so presumably Olle was around the same age.

Laxvik 6 August 1943

Hello! Thanks for the letter, I was so happy to get it.
It's raining just now when I'm writing this.
 I will be going back home from the summer holiday soon.
I'm swimming a lot, would you believe it -
I'll soon be beating Björn Borg*.
Greetings from your friend Olle

*Björn Borg, born 1919, was a famous Swedish swimmer

Björn Borg
(photo from Wikipedia)

This post would have been a better
match for Sepia Saturday 731... 

. . but I didn't get it done in time, so
instead I'm linking to Sepia Saturday 732...