Greetings from the Past: 1909

Showing posts with label 1909. Show all posts

2021-05-06

Christmas / New Year 1909/10

G.041.01

To: Mr Gust Ekman, Galeton, Pa (Box 342)
From: sister Gerda (Chicago, Dec 23, 1909)

G.044.02

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman, Galeton, Pa - Box 342
From: Gerda (Chicago, 30 dec 1909)

Hjärtligt tack för presenten och kortena. Jag sänder dig de hjärtligaste lyckönskningar till Ett godt nytt år. Hälsningar från syster Gerda.

My heartfelt thanks for the present and the cards, and best wishes for the New Year! / sister Gerda.

G.044.03

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman, Galeton, Potter Co, Box 342, Pa, U.S.A.
From: Familjen Wilander (Gustaf's sister Emma & family) (Sweden, Dec 1909)

G.045.01

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman, Galeton, Potter Co, Box 342, Pa, U.S. America
From: Gustaf's brother Oscar (Sweden, 25 Dec, 1909)

Hjärtligt tack för det genom Carl sända! Bekom det igår, julafton. Undrar om du ej kommer hem snart. Önskar att du kunde komma till våren, det skulle vara roligt. Välkommen hit då! Medsänder hjärtliga hälsningar från oss alla. / Broder Oscar

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

G.045.02

To: Mr Gust Ekman, Galeton, Potter Co, Box 169, Pa
From: H. Johnson (Jamestown N.Y., 25 Dec 1909)

Tack för kortet, jag önskar dig en trevlig jul. / Din kamrat H. Johnson
Thanks for the card, I wish you a happy Christmas. / Your friend H. Johnson

G.045.03

To: Mar Gust Ekman, Galeton, Potter Co, Pa.
From: H. Johnson (Jamestown, N.Y, 29 Dec 1909)

Hallo Kamrat, tack för kortet, jag hopas du hade en rolig jul. Ja hade det ganska roligt. Hälsningar i mängd samt ett gott nytt År tillönskas af H. Johnson

Hello my Friend, thanks for the card. I hope you had a good Christmas, mine was pretty good. All my best wishes and Happy New Year from H. Johnson

G.046.01

To: Mr Gust Ekman, Box 342, Galeton, Pa
From: E. o J. (?) (Galeton, Dec 31)

2021-05-03

G.044.01 - "French Dressing"

"Photo only copyrighted 1909 by Theodor Eismann, New York"

Why all the men stared.
Miss Madeleine: All men are staring at us as though they were going to eat us up.
Miss Blanche: Yes, most men like "French Dressing".

To: Mr Gust Ekman, Galeton, Pa.
From: John Beckman (Jamestown, N.Y., Oct 7, 1909)

Hello Gust. Thank you very much for the postal I just got now. Can't you have any good time in Galeton. All [I'll] tell you I have good time here in Jamestown. I was to a dance last night and after the dance was done I whent home whed the sweed girl and I stop to her home to 3 clock morning and I had good time whed her to. / Best regards to you from John Beckman / 27 Broadhead Ave, Jamestown, N.Y. / Ans. soon. Don't send it to Barrow St.

Note: Barrow Street was the address where John used to live with a girl called Manda (cf G.041.03, G.042.02)

"Hej Gust. Tack så mycket för vykortet jag just fick. Har du inget roligt i Galeton. Du ska veta jag har roligt här i Jamestown. Jag var ute och dansade igår och efter dansen följde jag med den söta flickan hem och stannade till 3 på morgonen och hade roligt med henne också. Bästa hälsningar till dig från John Beckman. / 27 Broadhead Ave, Jamestown, N.Y. / Svara snart [men] skicka det inte till Barrow Street."

Anm: Barrow Street var den adress där John tidigare samma år bott tillsammans med en flicka vid namn Manda. (Jmf G.041.03, G.042.02)

2021-05-02

G.043.03 - Country Club, Geneva Lake (1909)

Country Club, Golf Grounds, Geneva Lake, Wis.

To: Mr Gust Ekman, Galeton (Box 342), Pa.
From: Gerda (Chicago, Sept 9, 1909)

Jag är nu i Chicago igen, men tycker ej mycke om det ännu. Jag saknar landet så mycke, och sjön. Jag kan ej simma här. Men jag blir väl snart van vid stadslifvet igen. Kära hälsn, skrif snart. / Syster Gerda / Jag vet jag är skylding dig bref, men jag är så upptagen med arbete nu för 2 veckor. Jag önskar du sänder mig ett kort snart.

I am back in Chicago again, but I'm not liking it much yet. I miss the countryside so much, and the lake. I can't go swimming here. But I suppose I'll soon get used to city life again. Best wishes / Sister Gerda / I know I owe you a letter, but I am very busy with work now for 2 weeks. I hope you will send me a card soon.

It seems that the Schmidt family, for whom Gerda was working, was in the habit of spending the summers at Lake Geneva, where Mrs. Schmidt's mother, Mrs. Seipp, had a house (or even two). See G.043.01 - Lake Geneva 1909 (recent post from April 2021).

From finding Gerda in the 1910 US Population Census (post from August 2012) I know that her employers in Chicago, Dr. Otto Schmidt and his wife Emma, had three teenage children: Ernest, Alma and Clara. Besides Gerda, the family had three more female servants + a chauffeur with wife and two children also registered at their address in Chicago. How many of their servants they took with them when they went on holiday, I don't know! In my imagination, I'm thinking that perhaps the Doctor, quite a prominent Chicago physician, had to spend more time in the city, while Mrs. Schmidt and the children were able to spend most of the summer at the lake, with perhaps only one or two of the servants to accompany them.

Svenska

Med hänvisning till ett tidigare vykort från Gerda till Gustaf i juli samma år (1909) drar jag slutsatsen att familjen Schmidt, som Gerda var anställd hos i Chicago, hade för vana att tillbringa somrarna vid Lake Genva, där Mrs. Schmidts mor, Mrs. Seipp, ägde ett hus (eller t.o.m. två). Från folkräkningen 1910 vet jag också att Dr Schmidt och hans hustru hade tre barn i tonåren (Ernest, Alma och Clara), och att familjen förutom Gerda också hade ytterligare tre kvinnliga "servants", samt en manlig chaufför med hustru och två barn skrivna i sitt hushåll. Hur många av tjänstefolket de tog med sig på semestern vet jag inte. Men jag föreställer mig att doktorn, som var en framstående läkare i Chicago, antagligen behövde tillbringa betydligt mycket mer tid i staden, så att det antagligen främst var hustrun och barnen samt kanske en eller två av tjänstefolket som vistades hela sommaren vid Lake Geneva. Det framgår inte av folkräkningsprotokollet exakt vilken position Gerda hade i hushållet jämfört med de andra. Men tydligen var hon i alla fall en av dem som fick flytta med till landet på sommaren.

2021-05-01

G.043.02 - Boat Landing at Celoron, Chautauqua Lake, N.Y. (1909)

Boat Landing at Celoron, Chautauqua Lake, N.Y.

(Can't interpret the publisher's symbol)

To: Mr Gust Ekman, Galeton Pa, Box 342
From: John Beckman (Jamestown N.Y., Aug 26, 1909)

Hello Gust
I thougth I will send you a postal now and thank you very much for the letter you sent. I se[e] you whont [won't] come over to Jamestown. I was to a picnic 2 weeks a go, and here is the boat. How do you like it all. Tell you Gust I had [a] pretty good time that day. Ans. soon. - Best regards from your friend J. Beckman. Send my best regards to mine girl, you know who that is.

Hej Gust, jag tänkte jag skickar dig ett kort nu och tackar så mycket för brevet du skickade. Jag ser att du inte tänker komma över till Jamestown. Jag var på en picknick för 2 veckor sedan, och här är båten. Vad tycker du om det hela. Du ska veta att jag hade roligt den dan. Skriv snart. - Bästa hälsningar från din vän J. Beckman. Hälsa så mycket till min flicka, du vet vem jag menar.

***

I googled "steamboats celeron new york", and found a web page from Chautauqua County Historical Society: Large Chautauqua Lake Steamboats. (Phew, that is one tricky name to keep spelling...) Evidently there were several steamboats of this kind in traffic on this lake in the late 19th /early 20th century. On a previous card (G.042.03) from John B. we had the steaner City of Buffalo, The one on this card looks similar but not identical. The card does not reveal its name, and I can't find an exact match on that web page either.

2021-04-24

G.043.01 - Residence of Mrs Otto Young, Lake Geneva, Wis. (1909)

Residence of Mrs Otto Young, Lake Geneva, Wis. (1909)
R.B. Arnold, Lake Geneva, Wis. No 112

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.

***

So, just like last summer (G.038.01) Gerda is spending some time at Lake Geneva. The address she gives on this card seems to confirm that she was there with the family she worked for in Chicago. Compare an old post of mine from 2012-09-03: Otto L. Schmidt, Gerda's employer in Chicago 1910. Dr. Otto Schmidt's wife was Emma Seipp, daughter of Conrad Seipp, a Chicago brewer.

On a whim, I also googled "Mrs Seipp, Lake Genva, Wis." (... even if that was 112 years ago...) This led me first to a magazine entitled At The Lake - Geneva Lakes Area Magazine, and an article from Nov 20, 2017, entitled In Her Own Words. This article turned out to be about one of the daughters of Otto and Emma, Alma Schmidt Petersen. In 1914, as a young upper-class woman in her early 20s, Alma was travelling in Germany to visit relatives there when WWI broke out; and she kept a journal and wrote letters, which have been preserved and are held at the Newberry Libarary in Chicago.

This strikes me as quite a remarkable coincidence, as I know that when WWI broke out, Alma's parents' former maid Gerda was in France (and got 'trapped' there during the war). As far as I know, Gerda did not keep a journal (or if she did, I've never heard of it being preserved). But there are some WWI postcards sent from France, which will turn up here later on, if I manage to keep up the blogging.

The same Google search also took me to the website of Wisconsin Historical Society, and a photo of what seems likely to be the very house that the Schmidt family (including their maid Gerda) visited in the summers: Bartholomay House* - built in 1905 for Emma Schmidt's mother, Catherine Orb Seipp. (Follow the link to the website for more details.)

As for the building featured on this postcard, entitled "Residence of Mrs. Otto Young", a search on that takes me to a blog article from 2010 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 jewelry and real estate, and ended up very rich. He had this 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.

Really, once again I'm amazed at how much history can be "hidden" in a simple postcard.

G.042.03 - Steamer 'City of Buffalo', Celeron, N.Y. (1909)

Str City of Buffalo, landing at dock, Celeron, N.Y.

Made expressly for S.H. Knox & Co. Printed in Germany

To: Mr Gust Ekman, Galeton, Pa
From: John Beckman (Jamestown N.Y., Jul 18, 1909)

Hello Gust. I will send you a postal now and thanks you very much for the postal you send me. I hear you had good times on 4 of July in Buffalo, did you have any girls whed [with] you all [-?-] Gust. I had lovely times out here in Jamestown to[o]. Alfred and Henning is working here in town now so pretty soon all de Boy [all the boys] from Galeton will be here in Jamestown. I supoese Hilding have a picnic now whed all de girls. Good bye, ans. soon. / John Beckman, 27 Broadhead Ave., Jamestown N.Y.

Hej Gust. Jag skickar ett kort och tackar så mycket för det kortet du skickade mig. Jag hör att du hade trevligt 4 juli i Buffalo, hade ni några flickor med er? Jag hade det härligt här i Jamestown också. Alfred och Henning arbetar här nu, så snart är väl 'alla pojkarna' från Galeton här i Jamestown. Jag antar att Hilding kan välja och vraka bland alla flickorna nu. Hej då, skriv snart. /John Beckman, 27 Broadhead Ave., Jamestown N.Y.

***

So instead of Jamestown, it seems Gustaf went to Buffalo for 4th July 1909.
And his friend John has a new address in Jamestown.

Så istället för Jamestown firade Gustaf tydligen 4 juli 1909 i Buffalo.
Och hans vän John har en ny adress i Jamestown.

G.042.02 - Celeron, Chautauqua Lake, N.Y. (1909)

G.042.02

Shore view of Celeron on Chautauqua Lake, N.Y.

Made expressly for S.H. Knox & Co. Printed in Germany

To: Gust Ekman, Galeton, Pa
From: John Beckman (Jamestown, N.Y., July 5, 1909)

Hello Gust.Thank you for the postal, glad to hear from you. I have been to the Picnic theday [today] and I had good times and to morning [tomorrow] I and Manda will go done [down] to Celaron and se[e] the big fireworks. I wich [wish] you had been here this fourth of July and wi [we] should have good times together. Best regards to you from your friend J.B. - What is Axel doing in Galeton, is he working there?

Hej Gust. Tack för kortet, roligt att höra av dig. Jag har varit på picknicken idag och hade roligt, och imorgon ska jag och Manda gå ner till Celaron och titta på de stora fyrverkeriet. Jag önskar att du hade varit här denna fjärde jul så att vi kunnat ha roligt tillsammans. Bästa hälsningar till dig från din vän J.B. - Vad gör Axel i Galeton, jobbar han där?

***

Evidently, Gustaf did not go to Jamestown for the 4th July celebrations in 1909.
Tydligen åkte Gustaf inte till Jamestown för 4-juli-firandet 1909.

2021-04-23

G.041.03 + G.042.01 - Chautauqua N.Y. Celoron (1909)

Två likadana vykort, postade med bara några dagars mellanrum; skrivna av två olika personer, som dock verkar stå varandra nära.

Two identical cards (same image), posted only three days apart; written by two different people who seem to be in a close relationship.

G.042.01 - from John

Chautauqua, N.Y. Celoron

To: Mr Gust Ekman, Galeton, Potter Co, Pa
From: J. Beckman (Jamestown, N.Y., Jun 13, 1909)

Hello Gust. Thanks for the postal you sent me, glad to hear from you. I don't think I will go to Galeton so soon now, because I struk pretty good work so all [I'll] stay here this summer. When are you coming to Jamestown next Gust, you better come 4th July and we will have a good time Gust. Best regards to you from your friend J. Beckman - Send me a postal again please and let me know what you are going to do.

"Hej Gust. Tack för kortet du skickade, roligt att höra från dig. Jag tror inte att jag kommer till Galeton så snart nu, för jag fick ganska bra arbete [här] så jag kommer att stanna här denna sommaren. När kommer du till Jamestown härnäst Gust, du måste komma till 4 juli så ska vi ha trevligt. Bästa hälsningar till dig från din vän J. Beckman - Var snäll och skicka mig ett kort igen och låt mig veta vad du tänker göra."

G.041.03 - from Manda

Chautauqua N.Y. Celoron

Photo and pub. by Geo. H. Monroe, Jamestown, N.Y.
Printed in Germany

To: Mr August Ekman, Galeton Potter Co, Pa. - Box 342
From: Manda Henrickson (Jamestown N.Y., Jun 16, 1909)

Här har jag det trefligt i Jamestown. Jag och Beckman lefver tillsammans, vi arbetar hvarje dag på stål möbel factory. Här ser ut att vara godt om arbete. Bästa hälsningar till dig från Manda Henrickson, 234 Barrow St, Jamestown N.Y.
[Adressen är densamma som John angav på sitt förra kort, G.041.02 - se föregående inlägg.]

I'm having a good time here in Jamestown. I and Beckman are living together, we work every day at a steel furniture factory. There seems to be plenty of work here. Best wishes to you from Manda Henrickson, 234 Barrow St, Jamestown N.Y.
[The same address that John Beckman wrote on his previous card, G.041.02 - see previous blogpost.]

***

"Celoron is a village in Chautauqua County, New York. It is part of the town of Ellicott and sits on the west boundary of the city of Jamestown." [Wikipedia]

2021-04-22

G.041.02 - Jamestown, N.Y., South Main St. (1909)

Jamestown, N.Y. South Main St.

The Hugh C. Leighton Manufacturers. Portland, M.E., U.S.A.
Printed in Frankfort o/Main, Germany - No 4831

To: Gust Ekman, Galeton, Potter Co, Pa
From: John Beckman (Jamestown, N.Y., June 4, 1909)

Hello Gust
Jag vill senda et postkort och låta dig veta at jag har hälsan och mår bra, ock önskar dig det samma. Hur är det med arbete i Galeton nu för tiden, jag ledsnar här i Jamestown. Vill du Gust vara snäl ock senda mig ett kort ock tala om hur det är med arbete där. 234 Barrow St, Jamestown N.Y.
Helsning til dig från John Beckman

Hello Gust
I want to send you a postcard and let you know that I am well, and hope you are, too. How is the work situation in Galeton these days? I'm getting fed up with Jamestown. Will you please send me a card and tell me if there is any work there. 234 Barrow St, Jamestown N.Y. Greetings to you from John Beckman

Kommentar: Det här kortet får mig att tänka om angående ett tidgare kort (G.033.02), där avsändaren (Hilda) säger sig ha hört att Gustaf tillbringat 4 juli 1906 i "Jamest." Det framgick inte där vilket Jamestown som åsyftades. Men nu (1909) dyker det här kortet upp från Jamestown New York, som även följs av fler kort därifrån (som kommer att visas i kommande inlägg). Detta gör det troligt att det var Jamestown NY som Gustaf besökte i juli 1906 (snarare än Jamestown PA).

Comment: This card reminds me of an earlier card (G.033.02) which suggested that Gustaf spent 4th July 1906 in "Jamest." It was not clear from that card which Jamestown was referred to. Now, 1909, we have this greeting from Jamestown New York - also followed by more cards from there (which will turn up in blog posts to follow). This makes it likely that it was Jamestown NY that Gustaf visited in July 1906 (rather than Jamestown PA).