Midsummer Family Gatherings - Sepia Saturday 780

My grandfather Gustaf was born on Midsummer Eve, 23 June 1904.

Back in those days, Midsummer Day, also known as St John's Day, was always celebrated on the 24th - and Midsummer Eve thus always on the 23rd. Since 1952, however, St John's Day/Midsummer Day is always celebrated on a Saturday, and Midsummer Eve on a Friday. So during my own whole life, Midsummer Eve has always been a Friday, but the date shifting from one year to another.

But for my dad, back in his childhood, Midsummer always coincided with his dad's birthday - and my grandparents liked to make use of that for annual extended family gatherings. 

I've never had the impression that these parties involved any dancing and singing etc round a traditional Midsummer Pole (maypole), though. (I suspect my grandmother probably found those traditions "pagan", even if I can't actually recall anyone talking about that.) 

I just recently "re-found" a series of six  photos from family midsummer gatherings taking place between 1937-1948. (The years added on the back of them by my dad.) I remember using these for a display at my dad's funeral back in 2011, as his cousins, also included in these photos, were also among the guests attending.

1937

In this photo, my dad, Bertil, born 1931, had not yet turned 6 years old. He's the one furthest to the right of the three standing. The two to the left of him must be his cousins Sten (also born 1931), and Bernt (1932). Their father was my grandmother Sally's brother Nils, who is standing furthest to the left, holding yet another boy, who must be the third one in that family: Olof. The next year, those three brothers would also be getting a little sister, but she's not in the picture yet. Behind my father stands an old woman with head-scarf and glasses - that's my great-grandmother, Selma. I also recognise my grandmother Sally, her sister Hildur, and Hildur's husband. The rest of the people I can't identify, but they're probably "in-laws" from Nils' wife's family. 

1939

In the photo from 1939, my dad (soon to turn 8) is the boy with glasses, to the left. The baby girl, on her mother's arm, must be cousin Marianne - born 1938. A bit unusual is that for once, the "birthday boy" himself, Gustaf, is also included: standing furthest to the right. (Makes me wonder who was behind the camera!)

1940

In the photo from 1940, my dad is hiding behind a taller cousin...

1941

In 1941, my great-grandmother Selma is no longer in the picture. She died in March that year (five months before she would have turned 80). With the photo enlarged now, I notice that Gustaf is actually included in this photo, too - right in the middle in the back row.

1942

A smaller gathering in 1942, it seems - but all the boys present. My dad still the only one with glasses. I'm not sure who is who among the others, or who the fifth one is - but probably "a cousin of the cousins", on their mum's side. 

1948

Skipping forward to 1948, and who knows what the teenage boys were up to... The girl must be cousin Marianne, now 10 years old. My grandmother Sally behind her, holding a cat. The woman to the left of her I think I recognise as a "friend" rather than relation.

Happy Midsummer to all my fellow "Sepians"!

PS. After having finished this post, I find that I've used the same photos before on this blog, in a post from 2023, entitled Nils, the Bus Driver - for Sepia Saturday 681. (99 Sepia Saturdays ago!) 

Linking to Sepia Saturday 780

Uncertainty - Sepia Saturday 768

 In his introduction to Sepia Saturday 768, Alan Burnett writes: 

"Just as a good novel guarantees that you are never sure where the plot is going to take you next, a good collection of old photographs means that you are likely to be taken to the most unexpected places and unexpected times. It is this pleasure, this uncertainty, that we celebrate here on Sepia Saturday."

So I'm grabbing the opportunity to share four photos that still involve quite a bit of uncertainty.

The original photo prints are no larger than 6x8 cm. I  scanned them to enlarge them on my computer screen, which does help a little bit, though. One thing they have in common is that they probably include some people from the parish where my great-grandmother Selma came from (Tvärred). Whether these people were related to her or "just friends" is something I've never been sure of, though. 

In the first photo all but one of the six people are familiar to me, though. The boy at the front is my dad. He was born 1931 and I suppose he must be around 10-12 here (?)  Behind him to the left are his parents (my grandparents) Gustaf and Sally; and to the right his uncle and aunt - Sally's sister Hildur with husband Olle. The one I'm not certain about is the man in the middle. From somewhere at the back of my memory I seem to recall that there were two brothers (?) named Anders and Evert, living at Tvärred, whom I even met a few times in my own early childhood. Who of them is who in old photos, I no longer know, though. And if I ever knew their surname, I've forgotten.

This photo is from earlier in my dad's early childhood. (Does he look 3 or 4 years old to you?) The old woman to the left is my great-grandmother Selma. (She died long before I was born, but I recognise her from many photos.) To the right of the boy who became my dad (Bertil) is my grandmother. The woman with curly hair behind him is her sister Hildur; and behind her, her husband Olle. I suppose the two men to the left must be be the afore-mentioned brothers. As for the third man and the other two women, I have no idea, though. 

 
Judging by their clothes, I'd say this photo must be from the same occasion.

And this photo must be even earlier. 1932 or possibly 33, but no later (my grandmother in the middle, holding a very young version of my dad). Again I'm not sure about where the photo was taken, but it strikes me that this one might be from the farm where my grandmother was born and grew up (and remained living until she got married in 1930). 

I know that besides the farm house (the "big" house), there was also a smaller cottage on the grounds there, which remained my great-grandmother Selma's property until she died. Although the farm was sold after 1930, and Selma too moved in with her daughters and their husbands in the new house that my grandfather built, I recall having been told that the small cottage was still hers, and she liked to spend the summers there. (It was not very far from the new house that my grandfather built.)

It was a common arrangement in old times that when an old farmer retired and let his oldest son take over the running of it, a small cottage + a small piece of land was set aside for the parents, and remained theirs for life. My great grandfather Samuel did let his oldest son (Carl) take over the running of the farm a few years before he died; but remained living on the property with his 2nd wife and three young children. Samuel died in 1907 (when my grandmother was 7, and her younger brother Nils 5).  Carl was a bachelor and never married and had no children himself; and my impression is that he and his step-mum Selma joined forces best they could to make the best of the situation. They probably even all lived together in the main house (or if anyone lived in the small cottage, it was probably Carl). Later on, periodically, Carl's younger brother Gustav (who emigrated to America in 1902, but later returned) also lived on the farm and helped out. 

Carl died in 1928. I've not seen the estate inventory, but I suspect that as he did not have any children of his own, the estate was then inherited by all seven of his siblings and half-siblings still living; and that this led to the farm (except the small cottage belonging to Selma) being sold in 1930/31 - after all three of Selma's children (Nils, Sally and Hildur) had got married and moved out during 1930. 

PS.  /2025-03-31/ A comment from La Nightingale below made me remember where I might find the answer to who's who of the two brothers in the photos above. Some years before my dad died, I sat down with him and went through an envelope of photos that had belonged to Hildur and Olle, my grandmother's sister and brother-in-law. I then put those photos in a special album, with some notes added. And among those is another photo including both brothers from Tvärred. Their surname was Andersson, and from my dad I got the impression they were "friends" rather than relations. The man in the middle in the top photo here is Anders; and second from the left in the 2nd photo is Evert.

(I may be adding a Swedish version of all this below later.)

"Look at the Birdie, please!" (or not...) - Sepia Saturday 750

 

To celebrate Sepia Saturday #750, Alan chose the collage above, with the prompt:

"Our theme this month on Sepia Saturday is "New Arrivals" and right in the middle of the month we have the 750th week of the internet meme that celebrates the very opposite of all things new and allows us to share our love of old photos. It is, however, possible to combine the two, to link new and old. Most collectors of old photographs know the thrill of the arrival of a new batch of old photographs. You can celebrate that, this week, or new discoveries, or new interpretations or - being Sepia Saturday which has battled against rules for 750 weeks now - anything you want as long as it is somehow linked to old photographs. ---"

Well, I have no "new" photos, but do I still have a box full of old ones that never made it to the family albums... Most of them were at some point sorted into different categories by my dad, and put in envelopes; but for some reason, I have to confess that so far I never really felt "thrilled" by the thought of sorting through them again myself. Most of them seem to just be copies of others that I've already seen elsewhere - or similar, but not very good... 

But perhaps it's time to take closer look at some? Today I decided to check out an envelope marked "Before 1930", where I found (among others) these four group photos below - from Christmas celebrations at the end of the 1920s.

(Unedited photos straight from the scanner)

A touch of digital editing helps a little - but not really enough... ;-)

This I'm pretty sure is from Storegården, i.e. the farm where my grandmother Sally, born 1900, grew up and lived until she got married to my grandfather Gustaf T in 1930. The elderly woman in the middle is her mother Selma. To the left of her, her oldest daughter, Hildur (from her first marriage), and her son Nils (two years younger than my grandmother). To the right of Selma, my grandfather Gustaf. If this is 1929, he was by then engaged to my grandmother - but he had been a friend of the family long before that. I don't recognise the man on the far right. Behind them, standing, are my grandmother's older half-brother Gustav (the "postcard collector", for readers remembering the postcard correspondence between him and his sister Gerda that inspired this blog in the first place) - and Sally. I suspect that one reason this photo never made it to the albums is that at least three of them look half asleep here!

Same room, but probably a different year (different curtains!). Gustav, Olle (Hildur's fiancé), Sally, Gustaf T, Hildur and Selma. Aside from everyone looking in different directions, I don't think Hildur would have appreciated that photo of herself!

Same room again. Selma, Olle, Hildur and Sally sitting; Nils, unknown woman (perhaps Nils' fiancée Carin? but I can't say I really recognise her in this photo) and Gustaf E. (Something spooky going on with theChristmas tree here...)

Different room, and the only people I recognise are Hildur to the left, Sally with an unknown girl on her lap, and my grandfather Gustaf on the right. No idea who the others are. Again, a photo where they're all looking in different directions!

Nils the Bus Driver - Sepia Saturday 681

 

I recently found (or re-found) this photo of my grandmother Sally's younger brother Nils as a bus driver. I recall being told in the past that he worked both as a bus driver and a taxi driver. I don't know the exact year when this photo was taken, but I'd say around 1930 (give or take a few years). From the text on the bus I can see that it ran between the centre of the town of Borås and one of its outskirts (Hestra) - which in those days must have been more of a rural area than it is today.  

Last year in my online searches I found a population census from 1930. It must have been carried out in the month of December that year, as it has my newly-wed (since September 1930) grandparents Gustaf and Sally settled in their new house, Nils and his Carin (married 30 November) at another address, but their older sister Hildur still living at the farm, listed as unmarried (she and her fiancé Olle got married on 30 December that year, and then moved into the upstairs flat in my grandparents' new house). 

Nils was born in 1902, and lived on the family farm until he got married (28 years old). In the 1930 census, his profession is listed as "driver" (not specified whether taxi or bus, so it may have been both), and on the side also working at a driving school, teaching others to drive. The same census also contains the information that back in 1925 his main occupation was farm work. So evidently it was between then and 1930 that he sought a new career. I've also already concluded from Sally's letters that in 1930, he must have had a car (or at least access to one). 

Nils' wife Carin was born in 1903, in the province of Småland. How or where she and Nils first met, I don't think I've ever heard,  but I think she probably moved to Borås to work in one of its many textile factories. According to the church record of their wedding, she was a seamstress. Oddly the 1930 census does not mention her occupation, even though it does state an annual income - it just has her down as "married" and "wife".  I don't know if she gave up her job already in connection with her marriage; but about a year later, their first son was born, and followed by two more sons and one daughter over the next few years - so from then on I guess she was probably busy enough "just" being a housewife. 

Their oldest son (Sten) was born only a couple of months after my dad, towards the end of 1931; and their next son only a year after that. I've been told that in their childhood, Sten periodically stayed with my grandparents and my dad (who was an only child), to ease the situation for his own parents a bit during the years when they had three or four young ones. Sally and Gustaf did not get any more children; but my dad and Sten remained rather close throughout life, and he was also almost like an uncle to my brother and me. He was a journalist, and when I've thought about it in later years, I guess he may have been influenced by my grandfather in that choice of career. He did not have any children of his own, but several nieces and nephews (the children of his younger brothers), and also still kept in touch with me even after my dad died. And when Sten died in 2016, I attended his funeral.

In my dad's and his cousins' childhood, the extended family had a tradition of coming together most years at midsummer at my grandparents' house and garden. Midsummer Eve (back then always on 23 June) also happened to be my grandfather Gustaf's birthday. There are quite a few photos in the old albums to confirm that these family gatherings were a recurring tradition. Most of those also include some people I can't identify - but I think they were Carin's siblings, with spouses and children.  

In this photo from 1937 we have Nils on the left, probably holding his youngest son Olof. (The daughter Marianne was not born yet.) I suppose it must be Carin to the right of them, even if I can't say I quite recognise her here. Of the three boys standing in front it's my dad (Bertil) to the right, probably Sten in the middle and his younger brother Bernt to the left. Behind my dad is their grandmother Selma; on her left her daughter Hildur; and behind Hildur to the left her husband Olle. Behind Selma to the right is my grandmother Sally. The rest of the faces unknown to me. My grandfather Gustaf is not in the picture - I assume he was behind the camera.

This one is from 1939. Here my grandfather Gustaf is in the picture, on the far right, next to Nils. Hildur in front of them, and her husband Olle on the far left. In front of him my dad - wearing glasses now. Probably Sten next to him and Bernt behind (one step up?) - not all easy to tell them apart at that age, though! The woman standing with a baby on her arm is Carin, with daughter Marianne. Sally's face in the middle of the back row; and Selma in the row below, wearing glasses. 

Collage of three more similar photos from 1940, 1941 and 1942, just to show that the summer reunion  tradition continued. (In the top one my dad is half hidden behind one of the other boys.)

Linking to Sepia Saturday 681

SVENSKA

Det första fotot är av min farmor Sallys yngre bror Nils som busschaufför, ca 1930. Bussen  gick mellan Borås centrum och området Hestra (som på den tiden måste ha varit ganska lantligt). 

Den svenska folkräkningen från 1930 måste i den här delen av landet måste ha utförts i december månad, ty av densamma framgår att Gustaf och Sally (som gifte sig i september) nu var bosatta på Nysäter, medan Nils och Carin (som gifte sig 30 november) var registrerade på adress Öreberg, men Hildur fortfarande bor kvar på Storegården. (Hon och Olle gifte sig 30 december 1930, och flyttade då in på övervåningen i mina farföräldrars hus.) 

Nils var född 1902 och bodde på Storegården tills han gifte sig vid 28 års ålder. I folkräkningen 1930 anges hans yrke som chaufför, med bisyssla “bilskola”. (Jag tror att han förutom buss även körde taxi.) Samma folkräkning innehåller också uppgiften att han 1925 var "jordbruksarbetare".

Nils hustru Carin var född 1903 i Lenhovda i Kronobergs län. Var och hur hon och Nils träffades vet jag inte, men antagligen flyttade hon till Borås för att arbeta på någon av textilfabrikerna. I vigselregistret anges att hon var sömmerska. I folkräkningen 1930 står hon bara som "gift", och “mor/fru”. Om hon fortsatte att arbeta under första året som gift vet jag inte. Deras förste son föddes i slutet av 1931 och sedan fick de ytterligare tre barn (totalt tre söner och en dotter) ganska tätt, så snart lär hon i alla fall ha haft fullt upp som hemmafru.

Äldste sonen Sten föddes bara ett par månader efter min pappa (Bertil). De två kom att stå varandra ganska nära under hela livet. Efter vad jag hört berättas, så bodde Sten periodvis hos mina farföräldrar i barndomen, som avlastning för Carin och Nils. (Min pappa var enda barnet.) Sten blev till yrket journalist, och jag tänker att han kanske påverkades i sitt yrkesval av Gustaf (min farfar).

I min pappas och hans kusiners barndom var det tradition att familjerna/släkten samlades hos mina farföräldrar vid midsommar. (Midsommarafton, som på den tiden alltid firades den 23 juni, var också min farfars födelsedag.) Ett antal gruppfoton bekräftar denna tradition. Med på dessa är också en del personer som jag inte kan identifiera – antagligen Carins syskon med familjer.

Conscription - Sepia Saturday 645

On horseback - Kviberg 1925

The Göta Artillery Regiment (Swedish: Göta artilleriregemente), designation A 2, was a Swedish Army artillery regiment that traced its origins back to the 17th century. From 1895, and until it was disbandoned in 1962, it was garrisoned at Kviberg in Gothenburg (Göteborg). And that's where my grandfather Gustaf did his compulsory military service in 1925, at age 21. 

Gustaf in  uniform, 1925

Kviberg 2006 - Photo from Wikimedia Commons

In the area today, you'll find housing, municipal offices, businesses and various association premises. Recently, a theme playground was added, inspired by the history of the place. A friend of mine visited it and posted some photos on Facebook. I asked her permission to show those here as well:

Kviberg, playground 2022 - Photo: G.C.

Kviberg, playground 2022 - Photo: G.C.

Kviberg, playground 2022 - Photos: G.C.

For my grandfather Gustaf in 1925, Kviberg seems to have been rather the opposite of an "amusement park", though. While I do not have any letters written by himself from his time there, I do have some written to him by Sally (my grandmother) and her brother Nils, which also reflect a bit of what Gustaf in turn wrote back to them.

In earlier posts I have shared my deduction that Nils and Gustaf were friends since childhood, having grown up in the same village. In 1925, Gustaf and Sally were also still just "friends". (She was four years older, and if deeper feelings had begun to develop, at least they were not yet pronounced). 

The first letter (following below) is from Nils, with a short PS from Sally added at the end; and obviously written not long after Gustaf had gone off to Kviberg. Nils, two years older than Gustaf, had his own military service behind him (1923, and I think in Borås).  (Correction will be added in the next post.)

Nils to the far right in the middle row.

Nils in a somewhat more elegant uniform

Military terminology is not my area of expertise (in any language!); but I hope my translation will convey the general idea, and the 'tone of voice'. (Further comments about the content, and people mentioned, will follow below the letter itself.)

Fristad, 22.3.1925

Dear Conscript 24331 Johansson  [---]

Thanks for your letter. So, you're already angry with the commanding officers. Way to go! Completely natural, and very expedient - especially if shown openly. Should make things sooo easy when you need to ask for leave of absence...

I gather from your letter that you appreciated the enlistment ceremonies. Getting a tunic that fit seems to have been particularly difficult. You know, when I read that, a poem by [our friend] Klas came to mind --- [quote referring to conscripts being given ill-fitting clothes]

Yesterday evening I went to the annual meeting of the Farmers' Association, to write a report [for the newspaper]. Then I went to visit Karl Nilsson  and he gave me a cigarillo, which I smoked. He accompanied me to the church, and asked me if I had heard from you. I said ”yes” - and then some more. After that I met Arvidsson. He asked the same question, and got the same answer.

No need to worry about T. [Gustaf's grandfather]. I was up there today, but he wasn't home. But I looked through the window, and saw that he'd made the bed, and everything seemed to be in order. When I see him, I'll pass on your greetings.

So you didn't get to be a signalist. I kind of suspected you wouldn't. Being a coachman should be better than serving the cannons, though – I think.

Not much to report from here. Life goes on as usual. Mum and Hildur  have gone to church. Kalle keeps nodding off, and Sally is snapping her fingers.  A typical peaceful Sunday. In a few minutes I'll be off to the annual meeting of  the cooperative association. Looking forward to the walk, as we're having beautiful spring weather. Tonight I'll be seeing Nilsson at the 7 o'clock train, to give him the report from the meeting. And on Wednesday we'll probably be going to visit Klas together. 

Sally wants to add a few lines, so I'll say bye for now.

Your friend, Nils

[PS written by Sally] 
Greetings to you from ”Mor Bengta”. Thanks for the greetings I was about to get in your letter to Nils. Actually, we thought it got so empty here after you left that we almost felt like shedding a few tears – well, by ”we”, I mean we three women... Welcome home for Easter!  "Bengtamora"

Comments:

"Dear Conscript 24331 Johansson" - The original letter starts with a long line of abbreviations that Nils calls a "puzzle", and asks Gustaf to work out the meaning himself. (If he can't, Nils will explain it in his next letter - which unfortunately, I don't have!) But the first few obviously refer to Gustaf's conscription number and surname. At the time, he was still using his father's surname, Johansson. (He changed to his mother's surname later.) 

Klas - Must refer to a local poet and historian, Klas Olofson, who was well known in the village where they lived. I don't think he ever reached national fame, but he was a great inspiration to Gustaf when it came to collecting stories and folklore from their own neighbourhood. Nils quotes only a few words from the poem by Klas that he's thinking of - something about the military jacket not made to fit a dromedary. Since I've never seen/heard the full poem, I confess I'm having trouble fitting the dromedary into a Swedish army context. But it obviously refers to the fact that conscripts have to make do with the clothes they're given, and can't be fussy.

The uniform jacket referred to??

Karl Nilsson - Another friend and mentor to my grandfather, working at the small newspaper in town, where Gustaf started out as a journalist. From this letter it seems that Nils also contributed freelance reports to the paper sometimes. Or maybe he was just helping out with that while Gustaf was away. (From what I know, after Nils got married and moved away from the farm, he worked as a bus driver and taxi driver. His oldest son became a journalist though.)

T. - Gustaf's grandfather, 70 years old in 1925, and a widower since 1922, was now living alone in the small 'croft' cottage on the grounds of a neighbouring farm. I have got the impression that he was also a periodic alcoholic. Whatever the main reason, Gustaf was obviously worried about him, and had asked his friends to keep an eye on him. 

Kalle (Carl) was Sally's and Nils' oldest half-brother (by their father); running the farm where they lived, and 55 years old in 1925. (As far as I know he never married. He died in 1928.) Hildur was Sally's and Nils' older half-sister by their mother. - 33 years old and still single in 1925. 

"Sally is snapping her fingers" - I don't know if this was a habit of hers; or if she was just impatient to take over the pen from Nils and add her PS to the letter!

"Mor Bengta" or "Bengtamora" =”Mother Bengta”. This seems to have been a private joke between Gustaf and Sally – a nickname he had given her, perhaps? The name Bengta doesn't ring a bell with me, so I don't know what or who it might refer to (a real person, or a fictional character). Sally does not seem to mind the nickname though, because she keeps signing herself so in a few more letters to come. (Perhaps she was acting "motherly" towards Gustaf sometimes?)

- - -

Linking to Sepia Saturday 645

(going with "groups" and "damaged photos")

SVENSKA

Brev från Nils (med PS av Sally); till Gustaf (på Kviberg) 

Fristad d. 22/3 1925

K. dr. vpl. 24331 J-n o. k. G. a. A2 K. G. ä. f. på 3. b. o. i. e. s-n. f. s.

Detta är en rebus. Kan du lösa den, så sänd mig lösningen i nästa brev! Varom icke, skall du sedan få reda på, vad den betyder.

Tack för brevet. Jaså, du har redan blivit lömsk på befälet. Rätt så, rätt så. Det är fullkomligt naturligt, och synnerligen ändamålsenligt att tillämpa i praktiken. Åtminstone visa det öppet. Det går så lätt att få permission se'n så –

Av ditt brev ser jag, att du tyckte stunden, då du fick ”lump”, var synnerligen högtidlig. Särskilt svårt var det visst att få en passande kollett. *

*livrock utan skört l. med korta sådana; sedan länge bl. mil.; numera bl. om dylikt plagg (med korta skört o. ståndkrage) tillhörande den dagliga dräkten vid artilleriet o. fortifikationen samt (för officerare o. underofficerare) vid vissa kavalleriregementen [SAOB]

Vet du,när jag läste det kom jag att tänka på Klas' ”Beväringens exercis”: ” --- Kronans helga jacka syddes --- ingalunda åt en dromedar” etc.

Igår kväll var jag och refererade Bondeförbundets årsmöte. Sedan var jag hos Karl Nilsson och fick en cigarr-cigarett. Jag rökade den. Nilsson följde mig till kyrkan och frågade om jag hört något från dig. ”Ja”, sa' ja'. Och sedan lite mer. Sedan träffade jag Arvidsson. Han frågade detsamma och fick samma svar.

Tulin skall du icke oroa dig för. Jag var däruppe i dag på fm, men träffade honom ej hemma. Såg genom fönstret, att sängen var uppbäddad och allt i ordning. När jag träffar honom skall han få hälsningar från dig. 

Du blev ej signalist. Jag nästan anade det. Men kusk är i alla fall bättre än vara med bland kanonservisen. Tror jag.

Härifrån är icke mycket att berätta. Allt går sin gilla gång, och mamma och Hildur hava gått till kyrkan. Kalle sover mellan han är vaken och Sally knäpper med fingrarna. Allt är söndagsfrid. Om några minuter skall jag gå till koop. fören. årsmöte.  Det skall bli härligt med en promenad, alldenstund vädret [är] vårgrannt. 

Ikväll skall jag träffa Nilsson vid 7-tåget. Han skall ha referatet från koop. mötet. På onsdag skall vi visst gå till Klas. Om det blir av.

Sally vill skriva några rader, därför ”Hej!” till nästa gång. 

Vännen Nils

PS (skrivet av Sally)

Hälsningar till dig från ”Mor Bengta”. Tack skall du ha för hälsningarna jag höll på att få i Nils' brev. Vet du, det blev så tomt efter dig här sedan du rest, tyckte vi, så det var nära vi togo till ”lipen” lite var – ja, jag menar vi tre fruntimmer. 

Välkommen hem till Påsk! D.S. ”Bengtamora”

Kommentarer:

Göta artilleriregemente (A 2) flyttade in på Kviberg 1895; och där gjorde min farfar Gustaf sin värnplikt år 1925 (21 år gammal). 

På platsen idag finns "kommunal förvaltning, bostäder, småföretag, föreningslokaler och annan verksamhet".  2022 invigdes också en tema-lekplats, vars utformning inspirerats av platsen historia. En vän till mig besökte denna nyligen, och har gett mig tillåtelse att använda hennes foton här.

För min farfar, 1925, tedde sig Kviberg dock knappast som någon ”nöjespark”, vilket framgår av brevet ovan, skrivet av hans vän Nils (bror till min farmor Sally, som också skrivit ett PS på slutet). (Sally och Gustaf var vid den här tidpunkten än så länge bara vänner.)

Nils var två år äldre än Gustaf och hade sin värnplikt avklarad (1923).

”Detta är en rebus” osv. Tyvärr har jag inte vare sig Gustafs svarsbrev eller Nils' nästa skrivelse, och det enda jag känner mig säker på är att ”vpl. 24331 J-n” måste stå för ”värnpliktige 24331 Johansson”, samt att A2 var artilleriregimentet på Kviberg. Gustaf använde vid den här tiden fortfarande sin fars efternamn, Johansson. Han bytte senare till moderns och morföräldrarnas efternamn, Thulin.

Klas – Klas Olofsson, en lokalt välkänd poet och historiker, författare till samlingsverket ”Folkliv och folkminne” (1928 + 1931). Jag tror inte han nådde nationell berömmelse men han var en stor inspirationskälla för min farfar Gustaf när det gällde att samla historier och sägner från trakten där de bodde. Klas' dikter har jag inte, och har aldrig läst.

Karl Nilsson – Också en vän och mentor till Gustaf. Han arbetade på tidningen Borås Nyheter, där Gustaf också började sin bana som journalist. 

Av detta brev framgår att även Nils ibland tydligen skrev notiser för tidningen (t.ex. från lokala årsmöten). Men kanske var detta bara tillfälligt, som ersättare för Gustaf? Vad jag vet, så arbetade Nils (efter sitt giftermål) som busschaufför och taxiförare. Hans äldste son blev dock journalist till yrket.

Tulin (Thulin) var Gustafs morfar. 1925 var han 70 år,  änkling sedan tre år, och bodde nu tydligen ensam i torpet (som löd under en granngård till Storegården). Jag har av andra anteckningar fått intrycket att han var periodisk alkoholist. Vad än huvudorsaken var, så oroade sig Gustaf tydligen för hur han klarade sig, och hade bett sina vänner på Storegården att hålla ett öga på honom.

Kalle (Carl) var Sallys och Nils äldre halvbror (från fadern Samuels första äktenskap). Han tog över skötseln av gården redan några år innan faderns död 1907. Så vitt jag vet gifte han sig aldrig. Han dog 1928. Hildur var Sallys och Nils äldre halvsyster från deras mors sida. 1925 var hon 33 år och fortfarande ogift hemmadotter. (Sally, Nils och Hildur gifte sig alla samma år - 1930.)

”Sally knäpper med fingrarna” - Jag vet inte om detta var en vana hon hade, eller om hon bara just då var otålig att få ta över pennan, och lägga till sitt PS till brevet!

"Mor Bengta" / "Bengtamora" – Detta verkar vara ett privat skämt mellan Gustaf och Sally – ett smeknamn han gett henne, kanske? Namnet Bengta säger mig ingenting, så jag vet inte vad eller vem det syftar på. Sally tycks dock inte ha något emot det, för hon fortsätter att använda det även i kommande brev till Gustaf under 1925. Kanske uppträdde hon ”moderligt” mot honom ibland? (Hon var fyra år äldre, och när de var yngre måste åldersskillanden ha känts större.)