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
Your reference to the assassination of Count Bernadotte in 1948 reminds me that the violence there apparently never stops. People/politicians never learn ...
ReplyDeletePeter, sadly I can only agree...! Thanks for visiting my blog.
DeleteA lovely photo. I've always loved to swim or float around in the water. At 84 I just bought myself a new swimsuit so I can swim in the community pool here in our subdivision. Only problem is we have had such a long heat wave, the pool feels like swimming in a bathtub. Hopefully the weather will cool down soon and so will the pool. :)
ReplyDeleteI on the other hand have never been that crazy about being in the water, and I've never been a good swimmer. For a number of years later on in life I found exercises in a warm rehab pool helpful for muscular problems, though. But bathing in the sea is something I haven't done in a very long time now.
DeleteA perfect choice for this weekend's theme. Having enjoyed your series on Gerda's letters and cards, it's nice to meet her here pictured in a very relaxed and casual pose. Perhaps she enjoyed swimming in the many places she visited?
ReplyDeleteMike, I remember her writing about enjoying having the opportunity to do so at the summer residence (at Lake Geneva, Wis.) of a prominent family she worked for in Chicago. And knowing that later on in life she visited for example the French Riviera on more than one occasion, I imagine she probably took the opportunity there as well!
DeleteWhat a great capture of Gerda with the young girl...and I definitely am jealous that she was out in the water at so many opportunities.
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