Greetings from the Past: 1905

Showing posts with label 1905. Show all posts

2021-04-06

Merry Christmas 1905 & Happy New Year 1906

G.030.03

Happy Christmas to Gustaf in Galeton
from Gerda in Chicago, 1905

The printed quote is about snow falling, and

the sound of church bells ringing in Christmas.

G.030.02

Happy New Year to Gustaf in Galeton
from Gerda in Chicago, 1905

This card makes me wonder when and why fly agarics (which are poisonous) came to be associated with Christmas - and, in this case, it seems also with good luck for the New Year! So far, I've not been able to find an answer!

Detta kort får mig att undra över när och varför flugsvampar (som är giftiga) kom att bli använda som juldekorationer - och, i det här fallet, tydligen också associerade med lyckönskningar för det nya året. Hittills har jag inte kunnat hitta något tillfredsställande svar...

G.031.01

Happy and Peaceful Christmas
to Gustaf in Galeton, from Sweden
Emma, Ester, Ella, Edit and little Eric

Emma and Ester were Gustaf's older sisters;

Ella, Edit and Eric were Emma's children.

2021-04-04

G.029.02 - "Home Sweet Home"

To: Herr Gustaf Ekman, Galeton, Potter Co, Pa, Nort America - Box 113
From: Ester (his sister in Sweden) (June 1905)

Hjärtliga lyckönskningar sändes dig på namnsdagen [6 juni]
och kära hälsningar från syster Ester
Skall snart skrifva bref

Congratulations on your name-day [6 June]
and heartfelt greetings from your sister Ester
Will write a letter soon

Comment

Gustaf's name-day in the Swedish almanac is 6th June, in remembrance of Gustav Vasa, or Gustav I, being elected king of Sweden on 6th June, 1523. The day has been celebrated in Sweden as a kind of national day since 1893, even if it did not get official status as national day until as late as 1983.

The birch tree and forest path on this post card remind very much of Sweden in early June; and I suspect Ester had the same thought, and wanted to send her brother a card that would remind him of 'home' at that particular time of year.

Whether the picture on the card is actually from Sweden is hard to tell, though, considering the very international back of the card:

2021-04-01

G.029.01 Old Faithful Geyser

To: Mr Gust Ekman, Galeton, Box 113, Potter Co, Pa
Sent from Duquesne, Pa, 4 April, 1905

Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park
Photo by F.J. Heynes

Old Faithful is a cone geyser in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, United States. It was named in1870 during the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition and was the first geyser in the park to be named. [Wikipedia]

Text

Hotel Brady

Hallo! du kompis, jag undrar hur du mår. Vi mår ganska bra och önskar dig detsamma. Vi har nu redan varit ute och haft roligt. Du skulle ha varit med. Här är det gott om arbete, så vi kommer nog att stanna här, så jag skulle nog villja att du skulle skicka oss bref och post till oss och de där komiska korten som vi tog. Min adräs är Duquesne Pa. *
Många hälsningar från oss till dig och --- /August

Hotel Brady

Hello! mate, I am wondering how you are. We are okay and hope that you are, too. We have already been out having a good time. Wish you'd been there too. There's plenty of work here, so we will probably stay here. So I would like you to send us letters and post to us, and those funny photos we took. My address is Duquesne, Pa.
Many greetings from us to you and --- / August

* Duquesne has been referred to as a “steel town,” beginning with the construction of the Duquesne Steel Company plant there in 1886. Duquesne was incorporated into a city in 1891 and by 1916 the population had grown to 19,000 people, making the city the fourth largest in Allegheny County. [From a website about Historic Pittsburgh]

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Comment

I assume that August was a former workmate of Gustaf's, probably at the sawmill in Galeton, as he is asking Gustaf to send him post and photos. (Compare my post from August 2012 about the 1910 US Population Census. Gustaf lived in Galeton 1904-1911 and in 1910 he was registred as yardman at the sawmill in Galeton and as a boarder to the township's tax collector, a Mr Near (and family), together with ten other sawmill workers. See also my post from May 2019: Gustaf in Galeton, Pennsylvania.)

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Kommentar

Jag antar att August var en tidigare arbetskamrat till Gustaf, troligen i Galeton, eftersom han ber Gustaf att sända/vidarebefordra post och foton till honom. Jmf tidigare inlägg från augusti 2012 (1910 US Population Census) och augusti 2019 (Gustaf i Galeton, Pennsylvania). Gustaf bodde i Galeton 1904-1911, och 1910 är han registrerad som "yardman" vid sågverket i Galeton och boende hos en Mr Near med familj, tillsammans med tio andra sågverksarbetare. Duquesne (också i Pennsylvania), dit August tydligen dragit vidare till sammans med en eller flera andra kamrater, var i början av 1900-talet en snabbt växande "stålindustristad" (enl Wikipedia m.fl. källor).