Royal Confirmation, 1952 (Sepia Saturday 745)

My paternal grandfather Gustaf T. was a journalist at a local newspaper (in Borås, Sweden). He also often took his own photos to go with his articles. Unfortunately, the notes in his private albums are usually very brief with few details about when, where or who. 

For Sepia Saturday's October theme "Special Times", one album page with three photos on it came to mind for me. The only note is Royalty at Levene. 

I could see that the photos must be from the early 1950s, and that they included members of the royal family. But I've never known the occasion, nor been sure who of the princesses it is who is in focus here, or why. So I decided to try some googling...

Levene is a small village in the province of Västergötland (the same province where my grandfather lived; as do I). The vicar there (Tell Törnblad) happened to have connections in some noble families in Stockholm, and the royal family came to choose to send three of their princesses to him in the small remote countryside village for summer confirmation teaching; including having the ceremony in that church rather than in Stockholm. The first to have her confirmation at Levene was princess Margaretha, the oldest; in 1950. But she is not the one coming out of the church in my grandfather's photos. 

Googling a bit more, I found an online photo (No 4 below), which is clearly from the same occasion as in the photos I have: the confirmation of Princess Birgitta, in July 1952. 

"Royalty at Levene"

 

Princess Birgitta receiving flowers from a little boy outside the church; and that must be the vicar Tell Törnblad behind her.

Princess Sibylla (mother of princesses Margaretha, Birgitta, Desirée and Christina and their younger brother, our present king Carl XVI Gustaf; and widow of crown prince Gustaf Adolf, who tragically died in plane crash in 1947, when his son was only nine months old.)

Queen Louise (born Mountbatten), grandmother

King Gustaf VI Adolf, grandfather.
Princess Margaretha, older sister

Photo found online: 

Prinsessan Birgittas konfirmation 18/7 1952.
Prinsessan konfirmerades i Levene 1700-talskyrka.
Högtiden bevittnades av Kung Gustaf VI Adolf,
Drottning Louise samt prinsessorna Sibylla och Margaretha.

Foto: Historisk Bildbyrå / Svenskt Fotoreportages samling

Photo of  Levene Church from the Church of Sweden's website.

Linking to Sepia Saturday 745

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."