The Veranda - Sepia Saturday 779

I searched in vain in my old albums for a photo of someone standing next to a chair (as in the Sepia prompt photo.) In my inherited photos, if there is a chair, there is usually someone sitting on it, though! 

However, in one of the envelopes I've been going  through recently, I found a photo of my grandfather Gustaf as a young man, sitting alone on a chair on/in the "glass veranda" at the farm Storegården, which belonged to my grandmother Sally's family. Gustaf was friends with Sally's younger brother Nils; and in the mid 1920s, when Gustaf was trying to change his career from a shoemaker's apprentice to becoming a journalist, Nils' family let him rent a room with them (probably in a small cottage on the grounds rather than in the main house). (Cf. my post for SS 773 - The Desk.) I would date the photo below to around that time (mid 1920s) - after Gustaf had recently moved to the farm to live, but before he and Sally became romantically involved.

It was not an open veranda, but more like an extra room with many windows - and probably  no heating, so primarily used in summer. 

In one of the albums, there is this photo of Sally and Gustaf. They seem to be sitting in the same corner of the veranda as in the first photo, but now with plants behind them. My guess is that this is from their engagement (Sept 7, 1929). 

This photo shows what the veranda looked like from the outside. (The entrance door is to the right, I know from other photos.) Two of the women are unknown to me. Standing at the back are Gustaf, one of the guests, and Sally. Sitting down are another guest, Hildur (Sally's older half-sister), Selma (mother of Hildur, Sally and Nils), and Hildur's fiancé Olle. 

To finish off, a photo of Gustaf some 25-30 years later than in the first photo; sitting and looking contemplative. Possibly on the sofa in his own kitchen (that door behind him could be to the larder). But I'm not sure. It might also be somewhere unknown to me.

Linking to Sepia Saturday 779  

Sepia Saturday 777 - The Radio

 

The prompt for this week's Sepia Saturday immediately reminded me of a photo I recently noticed in one of my grandmother Sally's old "anonymous" photo albums (totally without written notes). Can't say I've ever really noticed it before - but I did now, because after recently having studied various photos in an envelope marked 'Tvärred' (the name of a place), I'm now pretty sure I recognise the two men as my grandmother's friends Evert and Anders - who have also figured in a number of recent Sepia posts on this blog. 

It's obviously the Radio that is in focus in this photo, though; and my guess is therefore that it was taken when this device was still a novelty. Swedish Radio started broadcasting on 1st January, 1925, at 10:55 am. The very first program on the air was a church service live from a church in Stockholm, which could be heard by around 40.000 receivers. In the beginning, on weekdays, they only broadcasted like half an hour at noon + half an hour in the evening. However, in May 1925, a Radio Choir was also established to give radio concerts; and in September a children's program was started that came to last until 1972. (I remember it from my own childhood!) They also got started with broadcasting certain big sports events; and radio theatre (written especially for the radio). 

In 1928, they started broadcasting "school radio" (educational programs); and introducing new music from gramophone records. In 1930, daily short "morning devotions". (Still going on! but I'm never up at 5:45 myself...) In 1932, the first political debate before an election could be heard on the radio. In 1933, they were broadcasting 8 hours per day. In April 1937, the number of radio licenses issued passed 1 million. (The total number of citizens in Sweden back then was around 6.2 million.)

I doubt that my grandparents' friends Evert and Anders were among the 40.000 to listen to the first radio broadcasts ever. But I guess they may have been among the first million to have one. (?) Just based on its very existence, I'd date this photo to the mid 1930s or so - i.e. while a radio was still not something you saw in each and every home. (The photographer is likely to be my grandfather Gustaf; and even if I can't swear to it, I can't recall having seen a radio in any early 1930s photo from my grandparents' own house.)

Linking to Sepia Saturday 777 - The Radio

Links in Swedish about Swedish radio history:

Sveriges Radio – Wikipedia

Sveriges Radios historia – år för år - Om Sveriges Radio | Sveriges Radio

Sepia Saturday 774 - The (Wet) Look

 

The only person in this photo whom I recognise without doubt is my grandmother Sally, in the middle. It's the small girl in front who makes one smile at these photos, though - isn't it? 

Because of the photos being found in an envelope marked Tvärred, I'm guessing that the man to the right may be my grandparents' friend Anders Andersson (who lived there) - but I'm not sure. I'm also not sure when to date it. The photo seems to be of later date than most of those in the same envelope. Mid 1950s? I was born in 1955 myself, and I remember my grandfather often wearing a beret similar to those worn by the two gentlemen here. I also have a memory (unsupported by photos) that there was a girl at Tvärred who must have been some 6-7 years or so older than myself. Whether she was the daughter of Anders or someone else, I can't recall. All I really remember is that she introduced me to the dance called "twist", playing music on a small record player up in her room!

Linking to: Sepia Saturday 774 - The Look

Sepia Saturday 773 - The Desk

If this post seems familiar to some readers, that will be because it's basically the same as my post for Sepia Saturday 713 ("Going to Work"), about a year ago...   

My grandfather Gustaf (born 1904) started out as a shoemaker's apprentice in his early teens, but what he really wanted to do was write. He gradually managed to shift to a career as journalist, by taking a few correspondence courses (cf. SS 675 - "Book-keeping, Stenography and Typewriting") + freelancing for a local newspaper, until eventually he got employed there full time as journalist in 1926. He also usually took his own photos when he was out and about on various jobs. 

Young Gustaf at his desk in his room at the farm

While being a shoemaker's apprentice, Gustaf lived with the shoemaker and his family; but later on, he  was offered a room at the farm where his childhood friend Nils lived (with his mother, two sisters and one or two older half-brothers). One of Nils' sisters, Sally, was to be his future wife - but from what I've gathered from letters, when Gustaf first moved to the farm to live, there was not yet any romantic relationship between them. My impression is also that Gustaf's room must have been in a separate small cottage rather than in the main farm house with the family.

This photo shows one of Gustaf's colleagues at the newspaper where he worked between 1926-1938. (In 1938 he was recruited to another newspaper in the same town.)

In this photo Gustaf is obviously older, and I think it's probably from his office at the other newspaper, where later on in his career he also advanced to be editor. But I think his main passion was always to write his own articles about local history and people. 

Linking to Sepia Saturday 773 - The Desk

On the Beach Again - Sepia Saturday 772

 

The original size of this photo is only 5.5 x 8 cm, and I had no idea who the people were. Having scanned and enlarged it, I think the woman and the man to the left are probably my grandmother's sister Hildur and her  husband Olle - the same couple that we also saw on a beach in my post for Sepia Saturday 770 - but then in swimsuits! I'm not sure about the identity of the man to the right, but because of other photos in the same envelope, I think it may be their friend Evert (cf my post for SS 768). From the background scenery, it looks to me like the lake could be the one close to where Hildur and Olle, and my grandparents Sally and Gustaf, lived after they got married (1930-). (But there may of course be other lakes offering similar scenery that I'm not familiar with.) 

Linking to Sepia Saturday 772

Svenska: 

Orginal-fotot är endast 5,5 x 8 cm, och i det formatet kunde jag inte känna igen personerna. Efter att ha skannat och förstorat fotot, tror jag att kvinnan och mannen till vänster är min farmors syster Hildur och hennes man Olle - samma par som också ses på stranden i mitt inlägg till Sepia Saturday 770, men då iförda baddräkter. Mannen till höger tror jag kan vara deras vän Evert (från Tvärred), som kan ses i gruppfoton i inlägget för SS 768. Från bakgrunden här tror jag att sjön kan vara Öresjö i Fristad. Som gifta (1930-) bodde Hildur och Olle, liksom mina farföräldrar Sally och Gustaf, på nära gångavstånd till en strand där.

On the Beach - Sepia Saturday 770

 

"You can't beat a picture that gives you more questions than answers."

(Alan Burnett) 

The prompt for this week's Sepia Saturday made me think of this photo, which I have so far hesitated to publish - not because I don't know who the couple are, but because I do, and therefore still have a hard time imagining them ever willingly having posed for a photo dressed only in swimsuits - and yet they both look fairly comfortable doing so here! 

The couple are my grandmother's older half-sister Hildur, and her husband Olle. They were both born 1892. I am pretty sure that the beach is the one by the lake only a few minutes walk from the house that my grandparents Sally and Gustaf built in 1930. Sally and Gustaf got married in September that year, Hildur and Olle at New Year, and they then moved into the upstairs flat in the same house. (Later on they built a house of their own very close by.) 

I would date this photo to the summer of 1931 - simply because I can even less imagine "Aunt Hildur" agreeing to pose in a swimsuit before they got married... In my own childhood, late 50s/early 60s, I never saw neither Hildur nor my grandmother on the beach, or ever dressed in anything else than skirts that went well below their knees! 

And I've never seen a photo of my grandmother wearing a swimsuit either. The closest to that is the one below, also from the lakeside, with her wearing her long hair down, but dressed in what to me seems to be a long bathrobe. As I know from an old letter that she had her hair cut short in October 1929, I would date this photo to the summer of 1929. She later let her hair grow out again, though - and didn't cut it really short again until she was in her 70s. (Even in my childhood when she let her hair out at night, it was as long as in this photo. She wore it rolled up at the back in the daytime, and in a long braid at night. And I remember her telling me once that my grandfather liked her to keep her hair long.)

But... I think it is probably also Sally you see in the background of of the first beach photo, fully dressed in hat and all. And it strikes me now, that if that photo is from 1931, she would that summer have been rather heavily be pregnant with my dad (born towards the end of August). So probably even less willing to pose in a swimsuit for that reason... 

No doubt it was my grandfather Gustaf behind the camera with both photos, whenever they were taken.

Linking to Sepia Saturday 770

People Wearing Hats - Sepia Saturday 769

From an envelope marked Tvärred (the name of a place where friends of my grandparents lived; cf my previous post for SS 768), I pick this photo as the closest match for today's Sepia prompt:

The photo is rather blurry, which may be one reason why it never ended up in one of the albums. I imagine they took it because they themselves found it rather funny that they were all wearing hats! I would date the photo to around 1927-28, as it includes (I think) my grandmother's older brother Carl, who died in September 1928 (which makes the preceding summer the latest possible time for it).

No 3 from the left (the man with the biggest hat!) + the man furthest to the right, must be the brothers Evert and Anders Andersson (also featuring in last week's post).

  

No 1 from the left must be my grandmother's brother Nils (born 1902), and I think the woman next to him may be his future wife Carin. Just like my grandparents, they did not get married until 1930, but had been "dating" for a few years before that (I'm not sure exactly for how long). 

As all seven people are holding on to one another here, the relationships between them are not all easy to sort out just from this photo, though!

No 4 is my grandmother Sally, No 5 (I think) her older half-brother Carl, No 6 her sister Hildur, and No 7 I think is their friend Anders. And behind the camera was most likely my grandfather Gustaf. (I know from at least one other photo that he and Sally were officially a "couple" before Carl died, even if they did not get formally engaged until 1929, and married in 1930.)

Linking to Sepia Saturday 769

Uncertainty - Sepia Saturday 768

 In his introduction to Sepia Saturday 768, Alan Burnett writes: 

"Just as a good novel guarantees that you are never sure where the plot is going to take you next, a good collection of old photographs means that you are likely to be taken to the most unexpected places and unexpected times. It is this pleasure, this uncertainty, that we celebrate here on Sepia Saturday."

So I'm grabbing the opportunity to share four photos that still involve quite a bit of uncertainty.

The original photo prints are no larger than 6x8 cm. I  scanned them to enlarge them on my computer screen, which does help a little bit, though. One thing they have in common is that they probably include some people from the parish where my great-grandmother Selma came from (Tvärred). Whether these people were related to her or "just friends" is something I've never been sure of, though. 

In the first photo all but one of the six people are familiar to me, though. The boy at the front is my dad. He was born 1931 and I suppose he must be around 10-12 here (?)  Behind him to the left are his parents (my grandparents) Gustaf and Sally; and to the right his uncle and aunt - Sally's sister Hildur with husband Olle. The one I'm not certain about is the man in the middle. From somewhere at the back of my memory I seem to recall that there were two brothers (?) named Anders and Evert, living at Tvärred, whom I even met a few times in my own early childhood. Who of them is who in old photos, I no longer know, though. And if I ever knew their surname, I've forgotten.

This photo is from earlier in my dad's early childhood. (Does he look 3 or 4 years old to you?) The old woman to the left is my great-grandmother Selma. (She died long before I was born, but I recognise her from many photos.) To the right of the boy who became my dad (Bertil) is my grandmother. The woman with curly hair behind him is her sister Hildur; and behind her, her husband Olle. I suppose the two men to the left must be be the afore-mentioned brothers. As for the third man and the other two women, I have no idea, though. 

 
Judging by their clothes, I'd say this photo must be from the same occasion.

And this photo must be even earlier. 1932 or possibly 33, but no later (my grandmother in the middle, holding a very young version of my dad). Again I'm not sure about where the photo was taken, but it strikes me that this one might be from the farm where my grandmother was born and grew up (and remained living until she got married in 1930). 

I know that besides the farm house (the "big" house), there was also a smaller cottage on the grounds there, which remained my great-grandmother Selma's property until she died. Although the farm was sold after 1930, and Selma too moved in with her daughters and their husbands in the new house that my grandfather built, I recall having been told that the small cottage was still hers, and she liked to spend the summers there. (It was not very far from the new house that my grandfather built.)

It was a common arrangement in old times that when an old farmer retired and let his oldest son take over the running of it, a small cottage + a small piece of land was set aside for the parents, and remained theirs for life. My great grandfather Samuel did let his oldest son (Carl) take over the running of the farm a few years before he died; but remained living on the property with his 2nd wife and three young children. Samuel died in 1907 (when my grandmother was 7, and her younger brother Nils 5).  Carl was a bachelor and never married and had no children himself; and my impression is that he and his step-mum Selma joined forces best they could to make the best of the situation. They probably even all lived together in the main house (or if anyone lived in the small cottage, it was probably Carl). Later on, periodically, Carl's younger brother Gustav (who emigrated to America in 1902, but later returned) also lived on the farm and helped out. 

Carl died in 1928. I've not seen the estate inventory, but I suspect that as he did not have any children of his own, the estate was then inherited by all seven of his siblings and half-siblings still living; and that this led to the farm (except the small cottage belonging to Selma) being sold in 1930/31 - after all three of Selma's children (Nils, Sally and Hildur) had got married and moved out during 1930. 

PS.  /2025-03-31/ A comment from La Nightingale below made me remember where I might find the answer to who's who of the two brothers in the photos above. Some years before my dad died, I sat down with him and went through an envelope of photos that had belonged to Hildur and Olle, my grandmother's sister and brother-in-law. I then put those photos in a special album, with some notes added. And among those is another photo including both brothers from Tvärred. Their surname was Andersson, and from my dad I got the impression they were "friends" rather than relations. The man in the middle in the top photo here is Anders; and second from the left in the 2nd photo is Evert.

(I may be adding a Swedish version of all this below later.)

Sisters Reunited - Sepia Saturday 766

Yesterday, opening another envelope of miscellaneous old photos taken by my grandfather, I found two of my grandmother Sally (in the middle above) with her sisters (+ brother-in-law) that I can't recall  having seen before. But they were obviously taken on the same occasion as the portraits below of my great-aunt Gerda proudly wearing a medal - previously posted on this blog in a post entitled Gerda's Medal, for Sepia Saturday 634, in August 2022.

That post was about my research to try and establish when and why Gerda was presented with that medal; and my conclusion was that it was probably after 30 years of service to the countess Estelle Bernadotte. Estelle was American (born Estelle Romaine Manville, 1904). She got married to the Swedish count Folke Bernadotte in December 1928; and  Gerda - by then 47 years old and an experienced lady's maid who had worked as such not only among nobility in Sweden, but had also lived in both America and France, and was well used to travelling - got  employed as lady's maid to Estelle from shortly before their wedding; and ended up staying with that family the rest of her life.

If Gerda got the medal after 30 years of service, that dates this photo to 1958. An alternative might be if she received it in connection with her 75th birthday, in 1956. (She was born in 1881, and lived to be nearly 92 years old.) Either way, it seems that shortly after Gerda was presented with this medal, not only did she visit my grandparents Sally and Gustaf, but they also managed a reunion with all four sisters still alive. 

The woman next to Gerda here must be her sister Ester, who was born 1876 (five years older than Gerda), and died in 1959. (So this may even be the last time they got together.) The one standing in the middle behind Ester is Hildur (born 1892) - older half-sister to Sally on their mother's side, and step-sister to Gerda and Ester. The man to the left is Hildur's husband Olle. (They lived only a few minutes walk away from my grandparents.) And to the right, my grandmother Sally (born 1900). 

Below to the right is a double portrait of Ester and Gerda together from their youth (some time before Gerda emigrated to America in 1902); and to the left, one of Ester on her own (obviously some years later, but I don't know the year). 

Linking to Sepia Saturday 766

I ett kuvert med foton märkt "efter 1930" fann jag två foton som jag inte kan påminna mig att jag sett förut, men som uppenbarligen måste vara från samma tillfälle som andra foton av min farmor Sallys halvsyster Gerda Ekman med samma medalj, sittande i mina farföräldrars vardagsrum. Jag har tidigare spekulerat kring dessa och årtalet för och anledningen till medaljen, i ett inlägg från augusti 2022, Gerda's Medal. (Text där på både engelska och svenska.) 

De nytillkomna fotona ovan visar att även Gerdas och Sallys äldre syster Ester Ekman, (1876-1959), var med vid den här syskon-träffen. Detta bekräftar väl också min teori att Gerda troligen fick medaljen antingen år 1958 efter 30 år i tjänst hos familjen Bernadotte; eller möjligen i samband med sin 75-årsdag två år tidigare.

Med på gruppfotona här är också min farmor Sallys halvsyster Hildur (1892-1964) och hennes man Olle Hellsten, som bodde bara ett par minuters gångväg ifrån mina farföräldrar. (Hildur var dotter till Sallys mor Selma från hennes första äktenskap; medan Gerda och Ester var döttrar till Sallys far Samuel Emanuelsson från hans första äktenskap.)

Sally and her House - Sepia Saturday 765

Last week I posted three photos of my grandmother Sally celebrating her 50th, 60th and 70th birthday. Below are some photos of her in more of an "everyday" context, and I think all from the 1960s. 

This photo is of my grandparents Sally and Gustaf sitting in their garden - the photo probably taken by my dad. Gustaf, born 1904, died in 1969 of Parkinsons' disease, which he had by then suffered from for a number of years. My guess is that this photo is from the early/mid 1960s. There is a very similar photo in an album, obviously taken at the same time - but there is no note of the year there either.

Here we have Sally sitting at her kitchen table, drinking coffee. Probably early/mid 1960s, and I'm guessing it was Gustaf who took the photo. It's typical of how I remember the kitchen from my childhood. The sofa was painted red. To the left of where Sally is sitting is a tiny sink. Dishes  were always washed and dried directly after a meal, as there was no place for a dish rack. (And no other "work surfaces" either - the kitchen table was also used for preparing meals and baking etc.) 

 

On a sunny day in the summer, they loved to have coffee outdoors in the garden. From my early childhood I remember the garden table being placed in an arbour of lilac bushes, but I don't think I have any photo of that. The house back then was painted dark brown. In the early 1970s, after the death of my grandfather, my dad had the facade clad with some maintenance-free yellow material, though (but still looking much like wood). 

In this photo I think Sally looks much like in the one from her 70th birthday, and I'm guessing this was taken after Gustaf died. Here too, she is sitting next to the kitchen sink. 

On the wall behind her, in both kitchen photos, you can see a small mirror. Before my dad had some updates made to the house in the 1970s, the only WC (+ a bath tub, but no sink for just washing your hands) was down in the cellar. (They also had an outhouse, which was still used in the summers.) There was also a small sink in one of the two bedrooms upstairs - which back in the 1930s had been another kitchen. The house, built in 1930, originally had two flats, each consisting of one room + one kitchen. The first few years, Sally and Gustaf - and my dad, born 1931 - lived downstairs; and Sally's sister Hildur + her husband Olle + Sally's and Hildur's mother Selma lived upstairs. Later, Hildur and Olle built their own house nearby, and their room became Sally's and Gustaf's bedroom. And after Selma died, the upstairs kitchen became my dad's bedroom. Anyway... Still in my childhood, the kitchen sink and mirror were also used for washing your hands and face, shaving, fixing your hair, or whatever.

After the death of my grandfather, my dad had a WC + sink installed in the wardrobe of the living room downstairs for my grandmother (who then also preferred to sleep in the kitchen); and another WC in a wardrobe upstairs, between the two rooms there which we used when visiting her. 

The last years of her life, Sally moved to an old people's home in the village, but sometimes visited the house with us when we were there. We kept the house as a holiday house; and in the early 1990s, my parents added a substantial extension - including new kitchen and proper bathroom and large new living room downstairs + upstairs a large home office for my dad - and moved there for their own retirement years. Below is a collage showing what the house looked like when my brother and I finally sold it in 2014. The old kitchen was to the left of the new entrance seen in the top photo. (The two very small windows belonged to the original pantry.)

PS. Considering this weeks photo prompt for Sepia Saturday, maybe I should add a comment that Sally kept her hair naturally dark, and also long, well into her 70s. Only in her last few years did it turn grey, and then, while living in the old people's home, she also had it cut short and permed!

Linking to Sepia Saturday 765

Milestone Birthdays - Sepia Saturday 764

I've been taking a break from family history and old photos for a few months, but I still have a number of envelopes of old photos that never reached the albums to go through. My father obviously started a sorting process many years ago, so some envelopes are marked with a name, or other themes. But very few of the  photos have any notes on the back to identify individual people or places or year. (That goes for most of the old photo albums as well, though!) 

 As Sepia Saturday just now does not really have any special themes for each week, I'm thinking I might just randomly dive in now and then, though, and pick whatever I happen to find interesting...

My grandmother Sally was born 3 February 1900, so that date, a month ago, was the 125th anniversary of her birth. I can't say I "celebrated" it, but I did remember, and think of her. 

Today, opening a photo envelope with her name on it, I found (among others) these three below, which clearly must represent three of her "major" birthdays.

This is from her 50th (1950). There is a very similar photo in her photo album, with a note to confirm that; and the photo is unmistakably from my grandparents' living room. (I myself wasn't born until 5½ years later, but I recognise the corner cabinet!) 

With that established, it was also easy to deduct that the following two photos must be from 1960 and 1970 respectively. (She died at 79, so did not live to celebrate her 80th.)

My grandfather Gustaf died in 1969, so the photo from 1970 was presumably taken by my father. You may notice the Christmas tree to the right... That does not necessarily mean that her birthday was celebrated in advance, as I remember that she did actually often (if possible) keep the Christmas tree over her birthday. Checking a calendar online, I see that 3 February 1970 was a Tuesday, though - so I suppose the celebration may have taken place on the weekend before. 

Linking to Sepia Saturday 764