G.056.01 - G.057.01 God Jul 1912

Merry Christmas 1912

At Christmas 1912, Gustaf has been back home from America about 1½ years, and is still living at Storegården, Fristad  - the family farm (in the province of Västergötland, Sweden), run by his older brother Carl.

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

From: Oscar & family (Norrköping, dec 1912) 

God Jul tillönskas & hjärtl. hälsn. samt d:o tack för allt "klappande". Samtl. instämmer häri. /Oscar - Skall snart skrifa bref.

Merry Christmas and best wishes from all of us, and thanks for all the presents!. /Oscar - I will write a letter soon. 

(Oscar is another brother, and he and his family seem to be living in Norrköping now - in the province of Östergötland - since all their cards are sent from there.)

(embossed card)

En Glad och fridfull jul tillönskas av  (Anna? Emma?)

Wishing you a happy and peaceful Christmas 

The card was sent from Chicago, obviously by a Swedish friend there, but the name is hard to read. 

God jul och gott nytt år tillönskas av Ruth. Välkommen hit till oss, beder Ruth.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Ruth. I bid you welcome to us. /Ruth

I don't know who Ruth is, and alas there is no postmark to reveal where she wrote from. What I do know (from postcards coming up in the next few pages in the postcard album) is that in the spring of 1913, Gustaf would move to Värmlands Nysäter (in the province of Värmland). He seems to have remained there until December 1913, and then moved on to Brålanda (in the province of Dalsland), where seems to have stayed until 1918. (I.e. more or less through the whole period of WWI in Europe.)  I think he worked as a farmhand. I'm not sure whether this implies that there wasn't enough work for him at his brother's farm - or if perhaps, after a couple of years back home (after his years in America), he again found himself longing for a more independent life.

God Jul - Merry Christmas

 

Glad jul önskas er alla. Kära hälsningar, Ester.

Merry Christmas to all of you, with best wishes from Ester 
(one of Gustaf's older sisters)

Påsk / Easter 1912

 G.052.02, G.052.03, G.053.01 

Easter 1912 (5-8 April) 

By Easter 1912, Gustaf has been back in Sweden for at least 8 months - maybe more. Postcards from 1911 show that he was still in Galteton, PA, for Valentine's day that year; but was back in Sweden at the family farm in Fristad in August (with his older brother Carl, their step-mother Selma and her children - one of them my grandmother). (The father died back in 1907.) After that card from Gerda in August, there are no more postcards in the album until Easter 1912. No Christmas/New Year cards from 1911 might indicate that he got to meet with his other siblings and their families in person instead during the holidays. But that's just a guess. Anyway, at Easter 2012, he's receiving three cards from Swedish friends, addressed to him at farm. The senders are unknown to me.

Vid påsk 1912 had Gustaf varit åter i Sverige i minst ca 8 månader - kanske t.o.m. ett helt år. Vykort från 1911 visar att både han och Gerda fortfarande var kvar i Amerika kring Alla Hjärtans Dag i februari; men att de i augusti båda befann sig hemma i Sverige, och Gustaf då på Storegården i Fristad (hos brodern Carl, deras styvmor Selma och hennes barn - Hildur, Sally=min farmor, och Nils). (Fadern, Samuel, dog 1907.) Att det saknas julkort från 1911 kan ev tolkas som att han det året kanske träffade de övriga syskonen personligen vid jultid. Men det är förstås bara en gissning. Hur som helst, vid påsken 1912 fick han nedanstående hälsningar sända till Storegården, från tre olika vänner. Avsändarna (Anna G, G.N. och E Obk)  är okända för mig.

Utsikt öfver Bernshammar, Västmanland
View of Bernshammar, Västmanland

Pleasant Easter! / Anna G. (6 April, 1912)

Glad Påsk.
Happy Easter.

(Glad Påsk) Tillönskas Gustaf från Borås. Vänliga helsningar till Er alla. / G.N.
(Happy Easter) To Gustaf, from Borås. Best Wishes to all of you. / G.N.

Huskvarna Vattenfall

Rolig Påsk! - Happy Easter! / E Obk

This card seems to have turned very yellow with age,  so I made an attempt at auto-adjusting the colours digitally: