Easter Cards from c. 1916-17 - Sepia Saturday 617

G.080.02 - G.084.01

Påskkort skickade till Gustaf Ekman i Brålanda, ca. 1916-17. 
Easter Greetings sent to Gustaf Ekman at Brålanda, c. 1916-17

Nyköping - Stora Torget

Market square in Nyköping, Sweden
Photo: Rud. M. Bardach, Malmö, 1906

En god och trevlig påsk tillönskas av Selma Emanuelson - Kära hälsningar
Happy and Enjoyable Easter and Best Wishes from Selma Emanuelson

  

En Glad Påsk tillönskas av Sally Emanuelson

Happy Easter from Sally Emanuelson

 

Glad Påsk tillönskas dig och många hälsningar från oss samtl. / Oscar - Tack för kort!

Happy Easter and Best Wishes from all of us /Oscar - Thanks for your card!

 

Hälsningar från Borås. Huru mår Gustav nu? Kan helsa från Fristad, har haft kort från Sally nu. En glad och trevlig Påsk önskar Gustav Nilsson.

Greetings from Borås. How are you now? I have greetings from Fristad, I just got a card from Sally. Wishing you  a Happy and Enjoyable Easter / Gustav Nilsson.

  

Glad påsk tillönskas av E.L.
Happy Easter from E.L.

En Glad och Treflig Påsk 1916 önskas af G.J.B.
Wishing you a Happy Easter 1916 /G.J.B.

 

Glad o trevlig Påsk tillönskas av Br. Carl
Wishing you a Happy and Enjoyable Easter / Br[other] Carl

 

Fristad 21.4.1916

Lycka till, en glad och trevlig påsk med många påskägg. Det tycker jag du kunde kommit hem och ätit, det hade allt smakat bättre, eller hur? Men det är väl något som håller dig kvar emedan du vänt Fristad ryggen som det synes för alltid. Ännu en gång, en trevlig påsk önskas dig av Ernst (?) 

Fristad 21.4.1916
Good luck, and an enjoyable and happy Easter with many Easter eggs. I think you should have come home to eat those, hadn't that been more tasty? But I suppose there is something to keep you up there, as you seem to have turned your back on Fristad for ever. Again, wishing you Happy Easter. /Ernst (?)

 

Angenäm Påsk tillönskas af A---d
Enjoyable Easter from A---d

 

De bästa påskhälsningar 1917 från Ivan

Best Wishes for Easter 1917 from Ivan

  

Glad o Treflig Påsk tillönskas af Ruth H
Happy Easter from Ruth H

Why witches on Swedish Easter cards??

In Sweden and Finland, there are old superstitions about about witches flying on brooms to Blockula  (Blåkulla) on the Thursday before Easter (Maundy Thursday / Skärtorsdagen), to meet the Devil. When this was no longer taken too seriously, children dressed up as witches or old ladies (or in old men's clothing) and went door to door distributing greetings and receiving treats in return. (Similar to English/American Halloween traditions.) There also used to be fires and fireworks on Easter Eve, originally to keep evil spirits away. In some places these traditions may still live on - around here I haven't seen all that much of them in later years.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_witch#

Linking to Sepia Saturday 617

G.085.03 - G.086.01 - "I hope you don't forget your English" (1916) - Sepia Saturday 606

May 1916. Gerda is back in Lyon again, after the trip to the French riviera earlier in the spring (cf. previous post). Within a week, she writes two postcards to her brother Gustaf in Sweden: One in English,  posted in Lyon. The other in Swedish, and posted in Switzerland by a friend. She still obviously does not trust the wartime postal services. But she is also trying to encourage Gustaf not to forget the English he learned during his years in America (1902-11). It's been five years now since they both returned from there to Sweden. In her own employments as lady's maid and travel companion to wealthy ladies, Gerda has found continued use of her English (and has by now probably also learned some French). Gustaf, working on Swedish farms, most likely has not had much chance to practice his English at all since he returned.  

To me, Gerda's postcards written in English prove that she not only learned to speak the language but also to write it quite fluently. Considering she never had any higher education (probably just 6-7 years of school in Sweden), I find that quite impressive. It makes me wonder if she had the opportunity to attend some evening classes during her years in Chicago, or if she just learned from "picking things up" and reading papers etc. 

G.085.03 - Lyon 

399. - LYON.- Perspective des Ponts sur le Rhône - E.R.

To: Herr Gustaf Ekman, Backa, Brålanda, Suède (Sweden)
From: Gerda (Lyon, 24.5.1916)

Lyon d. 24 maj '16
Dear B[rother],  How are you. It is a long time since I heard from you. Perhaps it is my turn to write, I forgot. If so I hope you will forgive me. Best love from Gerda. -  I hope you don't forgot your english. I will send you some papers.  -  When I come home we will speak english all the time but I don't know when yet.

Lyon d. 24 maj '16
Käre bror, hur mår du. Det är länge sedan jag hörde från dig. Kanske är det min tur att skriva, jag minns inte. Om så är hoppas jag du förlåter mig. Kära hälsningar från Gerda. - Jag hoppas du inte glömt din engelska. Jag ska skicka dig några tidningar. -  När jag kommer hem ska vi prata engelska hela tiden, men jag vet inte när än. 

G.086.01 - Nice

66 - NICE-CIMIEZ - HOTEL RIVIERA PALACE
Edition GILETTA. - Nice

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman, Backa, Brålanda, Suède (Schweden)
From: Gerda (written in Lyon 1.6.1916 - posted in Bern, Switzerland 6.6. 1916)

K. bror! Sänder dig de hjärtligaste lyckönskningar på Gustaf-dagen! Hoppas det kommer i tid. Här kan du se hotellet som vi bodde på när vi var ute på resa. Jag märker våra rum X. Jag sänder dig några engelska tidningar, tänkte du tycker om att läsa dem. Kära hälsningar, syster Gerda.  -  Skriv snart  -  Jag har en god vän i Schweiz som sänder detta kort.

Dear Brother, I'm sending you my best wishes for Gustaf-day  [Gustaf's name-day, 6 June]. I hope it will arrive on time. [It obviously didn't.] Here you can see the hotel where we stayed on our trip. I'm marking our rooms with X. I'm sending you some English newspapers, I thought you might like to read them. Love, sister Gerda. -  Write soon  -  I have a friend in Switzerland who will post this card. 

Linking to Sepia Saturday 606 
(same as last week, since no new prompt for this week)

"Perhaps it is my turn to write"

G.085.01-02 - Greetings from Monte Carlo and Nice (Spring 1916) - Sepia Saturday 606

In March and April 1916, Gerda is writing to her brother Gustaf from Nice on the French Riviera (Côte d'Azur) - the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. (Obviously her employer/s is/are still free to travel in the eastern parts of France.) She switches languages between English and Swedish, perhaps partly because she is used to speaking/thinking in English, but it may also be that she's trying to figure out if letters/cards in English will be forwarded faster than if she writes in Swedish (if the post has to pass censorship on the way). She knows that Gustaf understands English well enough, as they both lived in America between 1902-1911. 

G.085.01 - Monte Carlo

?42. MONTE CARLO. Vue sur le Casino. 
Courses d'hydro-aéroplanes et de Canots automobiles. ND Phot.

Monte Carlo Casino "is a gambling and entertainment complex located in Monaco" [Wikipedia]

This card also features a hydro aeroplane and a motorboat. 

"The first experimenter to succeed in making an aeroplane rise from the surface of the water was the French inventor, M. Fabre, who accomplished this feat with a monoplane of his own invention the last of March, 1910. About a year later Glenn Curtiss, at San Diego, fitted a float to his biplane and made it rise from the water and alight thereon with complete success during the course of his experiments."   https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-hydro-aeroplane/ 

 

 

To: Mr. Gustaf Ekman, Backa, Brålanda, Suède (Sweden)
From: Gerda (Nice, 8.3.1916)

Nice, March 7.16 - D.B. [Dear Brother] Thank you very much for your letter today. Glad to hear from you that you are well. I am still writing to the Swedish-American soldier. Yes, he is very glad to have found somebody that cares for [him?] a little. Can you read this. Love, Gerda / I will write to you soon. It is so beautiful here. / I wish I could go with to Sweden. *
[* This PS written next to the aeroplane on the front of the card]

Nice, mars 7.16 - K.B. [Käre Broder] Tack så väldigt mycket för ditt brev idag. Glad att höra från dig att du mår bra. Jag skriver fortfarande till den svensk-amerikanske soldaten. Ja, han är glad att ha funnit någon som bryr sig om honom lite. Kan du läsa detta. Kära häls. Gerda / Skall snart skriva till dig. Här är så vackert. / Jag önskar jag kunde åka med till Sverige. *
[*Detta PS skrivet intill flygplanet på bilden.]

It seems that in some context, Gerda has come into contact with a Swedish-American soldier. I've not seen any other references to this among the postcards, so she must have mentioned him in a letter (as Gustaf has obviously asked if she's still in touch with him.) I'm feeling a bit puzzled about where she might have met him. America didn't enter the war until 1917. Were there American soldiers in France even before that? Or was this someone she had met before the war? Somehow it doesn't sound to me like she's referring to an acquaintance going back as far as to her years in America. 

A few more searches, and I find an article entitled Over There, Before 1917. 

"World War I essentially began Aug. 4, 1914, with the German army’s invasion of Belgium. The United States entered the conflict on the side of the Allies (Great Britain, Belgium, France, Italy and Russia) on April 6, 1917. During the intervening 32 months, America remained neutral ­– but many Americans did not. Thousands volunteered for the Allied cause."

Some of them joined the French Foreign Legion. As Americans, they could not swear allegiance to another country, but "in the Foreign Legion, one theoretically swore allegiance only to it, not to France". 

"If anything characterized Americans who joined the Foreign Legion, it was their variety. They had only one common denominator: the desire to fight for France. [---] Some came from wealth, others did not; some were college graduates, others dropouts; some managed to at least graduate high school, and others did not. Some were black, others white. The Foreign Legion was the only military unit of World War I in which Americans of different races were comrades in arms."

And one of them, I suppose, may have been a Swedish American, with a bit of his heart still in Europe - or maybe just feeling he didn't have much left to lose, and no one to care for him? 

A search for "French Foreign Legion Lyon" informs me that there is (now) a French Foreign Legion Recruiting Center in Lyon. I can't find the history, but it seems plausible that if they're there now, they were there back in WW1 as well. 

As for how Gerda might have met him, the photo of her as a Red Cross volunteer comes to mind for me - previously posted here for Sepia Saturday 596. (Copying the photo below as well.) Date and place for the photo unknown, but as I now feel sure that Gerda lived in Lyon for the duration of the war (apart from occasional 'holiday' trips to Lake Geneva and the Riviera!), it seems likely that it was also in Lyon that she sometimes helped out as a Red Cross volunteer. 

It's rather satisfactory when one manages to come up with a theory - even if I'll never know for sure! ;-)

G.085.02 - NICE

34 - NICE - Avenue de la Gare

To: Herr Gustaf Ekman, Backa, Brålanda, Suède
From: Gerda (Nice, 3 April 1916)

Nice d. 2. 4.16 - K.B. [Käre Bror] Det är visst länge sedan jag skrev till dig. Hur har du det, är du ännu kvar på samma plats. Vi äro nu här i härliga södern, 25 gr. varmt i solen i dag. Vi reser nog till Lyon igen om ett par veckor. Kära hälsningar, Gerda. / Jag undrar hur det går med vinsten?

Nice 2.4.16 - D.B. [Dear Brother] I think it's been a while since I last wrote to you. How are you, are you still staying at the same place? We are now here in the lovely south, 25 degrees in the sun today. We'll probably be going back to Lyon again in a couple of weeks. Love, Gerda. / I'm wondering how things are going with the winnings? *

*The Swedish word 'vinsten' could be interpreted either as winnings like from a lottery, or profit from an investment etc. As Gerda  on previous postcards has been wondering about "luck" connected to the 15th of a few different months, I assume that she is still  referring to some kind of lottery.

Compare the postcard from Sally in last week's post, written 27.3.1916. She too was wondering if Gustaf was still in the same place - or "if you have moved to your own farm now in March, or if you have sold your farm".  

Linking to Sepia Saturday 606

"I think it's been a while since I last wrote to you."

G.084.02-03 - Postcards from Sally (1916) - Sepia Saturday 605

 G.084.02

Wermland. Utsikt från Enkullen.

View from a hill in  the Swedish province Värmland.
There seems to be more than one place/hill called Enkullen,
so I'm not sure of the exact locality.   

 

To: Herr Gustav Ekman, Backa, Brålanda
From: Sally  (Storegården, Fristad, 27.3.1916)

Storegården den 27/3 1916
K.br. [Käre bror] Gustav! Hjärtligt tack för brevet som jag fått. Det var roligt att Gustav svara mig så snart. Vi äro någorlunda bra här. Hoppas att Gustav också mår bra. Idag har det snöat mycket här. Undrar om Ni har mycket snö däruppe. Känner Gustav igen denna platsen i Wermland? Kanske han ej gör det. Undrar om Gustav är kvar i Dalsland ännu, eller han har flyttat till sin gård nu i mars eller han har sålt sin gård. Nu har vi snart påsk igen, tänk vad tiden går fort. Jag har inget mer att skriva om nu emedan Karl skrev igår. Nu de allra hjärtligaste hälsningar från oss alla här. Skriv snart, voro roligt. Må så gott. Vänligen Sally E.  - Det är visst mycket vackert i Wermland.

Ett vykort med ovanligt mycket text-innehåll, skrivet av min farmor Sally när hon var 16 år, till hennes äldre halvbror Gustaf, 37, då bosatt i Dalsland sedan några år. Jag noterar att hon inte tilltalar honom med "du" utan i tredje person, med namn eller "han". Under större delen av Sallys liv har han varit en frånvarande bror. Han och systern Gerda utvandrade till Amerika när Sally bara var ett par år gammal, och återvände först 1911. Då bodde Gustaf dock antagligen på Storegården under ett par år, innan han våren 1913 flyttade upp till Värmland. 1914 flyttade han sedan till Brålanda i Dalsland. 

På det här kortet dyker det dock upp ny information för mig: Tydligen Gustaf på något sätt förvärvat en egen gård - och inte i Dalsland, utan någon annanstans. (Kanske Värmland?? Om Sally valde vykortet av en anledning??)  Detta får mig att undra om Gustaf kanske faktiskt vid något tillfälle vann pengar på lotteri, som några tidigare kort från systern Gerda fått mig att undra om han ett tag satte sitt hopp till. Hur som helst är det oklart om han tänkt flytta till denna gård, eller sälja den. 

Eftersom adresserna på senare vykort visar han var kvar i Brålanda även 1917, och sedan flyttade tillbaka till Storegården 1918, så antar jag att han kom fram till att inte satsa på att driva eget jordbruk utan sälja.

Storegården 27.3.1916
Dear Brother Gustav, Thank you so much for the letter that I received. I was happy to hear back from you so soon. We are all pretty well here; I hope you are too. Today we had a lot of snow here.* I'm wondering if you have a lot of snow up there, too. Do you recognize this place in Wermland? Perhaps you don't. I wonder if you are still in Dalsland, or if you have moved to your own farm now in March, or if you have sold your farm. Now Easter is coming up again soon, doesn't time fly! I haven't got much more to write about since Karl wrote yesterday. So I'll just send you the very best wishes from all of us here. Please write soon. Warmest regards, Sally E. - I understand Wermland is very beautiful.

This is an unusually long text for a postcard; written by my grandmother Sally at age 16, to her older half-brother Gustaf (37), then living at Brålanda in the province Dalsland. In the Swedish text I note that she is using a respectful way of addressing him that has long since been abandoned here - in the 3rd person. For the major part of Sally's life (so far), Gustaf had been an absent much older half-brother. Sally was not yet 2 years old when Gustaf and his sister Gerda emigrated to America in their early twenties. When they returned from America, she was 11, and then Gustaf did live at the family farm for a couple of years. But in 1913 he moved to Värmland, and then in 1914 to Brålanda, in the province Dalsland, where he is still living in 1916. 

There is some new information for me on this card, though: From what Sally writes, it seems that somehow, Gustaf has acquired a property of his own. (And not in Dalsland. Perhaps in Värmland? And that's why Sally chose a card from there?) This makes me wonder if after all at some point Gustaf did win a sum of money in the lottery - which has been implied on cards from his sister Gerda that he may have taken a chance on a few times. Whatever the story behind that, it seems he hasn't made up his mind about whether to actually move to that place, or to sell it. 

As later postcards show that Gustaf was still living at Brålanda in 1917, and in 1918 moved back to Storegården in Fristad, I can only suppose that he decided not to go into farming on his own after all. 

G.084.03

Ljusdals kyrka med Klockstapel

Church with separate bell tower in Ljusdal,

in the Swedish province Hälsingland.  

To: Herr Gustav Ekman, Backa, Brålanda
From: Sally (Storegården, Fristad) [June 1916]

Hjärtliga lyckönskningar på namnsdagen av samtliga i Storeg. 
Vi äro någorlunda friska här, hoppas Gustav också mår bra. Nils skall konfirmeras i nästa vecka. Skriv snart så vi får höra något från Gustav. De allra käraste hälsningar från oss till Gustav. Vänligen, Sally

Detta kort är odaterat, men någon före mig har gissat på 1916. Det stämmer antagligen, då Nils var född 17.8.1902 och året man fyllde 14 nog var den vanliga åldern för att konfirmeras. (Så var det fortfarande när jag själv konfirmerades 1969.) 

Kan inte påminna mig att jag sett något konfirmationsfoto av Nils (och inte heller av Sally) i foto-albumen. Det finns väldigt få foton tagna före ca mitten av 1920-talet (när någon uppenbarligen skaffade kamera). 

Heartfelt congratulations on your Name Day from all of us at Storegården. We are pretty well here, and hope you are well, too. Nils will be confirmed [in the church] next week. Please write soon and let us have some news from you. Our very best wishes from us all to you. Warmest regards, Sally.

There is no date on this postcard, but someone before me has guessed at 1916. This is most likely correct, as Nils was born 1902, and 14 was probably the usual age to be confirmed back then  (as it still was when I was confirmed myself in 1969). 

I can't recall seeing any confirmation photo of Nils (nor of Sally) in the photo albums. There are very few photos taken before the mid 1920s or so (when someone evidently got a camera). 

Linking to Sepia Saturday 605

"Today we had a lot of snow here.

I'm wondering if you have a lot of snow up there, too."