Sepia Saturday 851 - Göta Älvbron, 1940s

A postcard showing Götaälvbron (a bascule* bridge over the river Göta Älv) in Göteborg (Gothenburg); probably from the early 1940s. The construction started in 1937, and it was inaugurated 26 November 1939. It was replaced by a new bridge in 2021 (Hisingsbron). 

*a type of bridge with a section which can be raised and lowered using counterweights

The stamps have been removed from the back of the postcard, and I don't know what year it was sent. But it was written by my grandfather Gustaf to my dad, who was born in 1931; and the message reveals that it was written on 7th January. Gustaf also addresses his son by a nickname which suggests that he was still quite young (I never heard that name used myself). The earliest possible year is 1940, when the bridge was brand new; but looking up some old weather statistics, my guess is 1942 (when January temperatures in Gothenburg as low as -26 C were recorded). And then my dad would have been 10 years old (+4 months) when receiving it. My grandfather in turn must have been attending some kind of lectures to do with his job as journalist at a local paper.

The message on the back of the card runs:

"Göteb. 7 jan. Hello Putte! It's icy cold here in in G. - 21-24 C, but feeling even colder because of the humid air. We're staying at the Fenix (a beautiful old mansion) and attending lectures in another location, where it's only +12'C. Best wishes to you and Mum. / Dad "

SVENSKA: Göteb. den 7 jan. Hej, Putte! Här i G. är kallt, må du tro. 21-24 grader, men det känns kallare än hemma på grund av den råa luften. Vi bor på Fenix (ett vackert gammalt f.d. borgarhus) och går på föreläsningar i en annan lokal, där det endast är 12 g. varmt. Hälsningar till dig och mamma. /Pappa

Linking to Sepia Saturday 851 

Randolph Street, Chicago (1904) - Sepia Saturday 692

G.027.2 - Randolph Street, Chicago (1904)

Reposted from 2019-06-17

Randolph St., east from La Salle St., Chicago

E.C. Kropp Publ., Milwaukee, No. 441.

To: Gustaf Ekman, Galeton, PA

From: Gerda, Chicago; Oct 25, 1904 *

K.B. [Käre Broder] Hjärtligt tack för pengar o för v.k. [vykort] som jag idag fick.* Många kära hälsningar från Gerda. 

* 25 oktober var Gerdas födelsedag. (Hon var född 1881; så 1904 fyllde hon 23.)

Dear Brother, Many thanks for the money* and for the postcard that I received today.
Lots of love from Gerda.

* October 25 was Gerda's (23^rd) birthday; so the money was probably a birthday gift.

Sister and brother Gerda and Gustaf were older half-siblings of my paternal grandmother Sally. They both emigrated from Sweden to America in 1902 and stayed there for about 8 years. Gustaf went to Pennsylvania to work in the lumber industry, and came to spend most of his time in Galeton. Gerda went to Chicago to work as a housemaid, and  worked her way up to lady's maid. Both siblings returned to Sweden in 1910/11. Gustaf went back to farm work. Gerda continued to work as lady's maid, and most of her employments after she returned from America still involved travelling abroad. During World War I she was in France. From 1928 onward she was employed by the Swedish count Folke Bernadotte and his American wife Estelle Manville-Bernadotte. 

Zooming in the street picture on the postcard: 

The vehicles on this photo seem to be horse-drawn, except for the tram/streetcar/trolley. The first streetcars in Chicago were horse cars, but the companies began substituting cable cars in the 1880s. By 1887, Chicago had the largest cable railway system in the world. It was also in the 1880s that electric-powered trolleys first became practical. The Chicago companies hesitated at first to install these faster and more efficient systems, but by the mid 1890s most of them had begun the conversion to electricity, which was completed in 1906. [Source: Wikipedia - Chicago Surface Lines] 

The busy city life in Chicago must have been such a contrast to the Swedish countryside where Gerda had lived all her life (21 years) until she emigrated.

Linking to Sepia Saturday 692

Dijon, France, c.1918 - Sepia Saturday 688

The Sepia Saturday theme for September, On the Street, made me go back and look at some unwritten old postcards from my great aunt Gerda's collection. 

Readers who have been following me for a while probably remember Gerda - my grandmother's older half-sister, the travelling lady's maid. When World War I broke out, Gerda "got stuck" in France, where she spent the war years working for someone living in Lyon. I've not been able to establish whom. (In my imagination, a wealthy American woman who "got stuck" in France during the war as well - but I have no real evidence of that.)  What I do know, from Gerda's postcards written to her brother Gustaf during the war years, is that they were also able  to travel a bit now and then, in the eastern parts of France.

 

Dijon is situated north of Lyon, and they/Gerda could have travelled there by train. The last of the postcards below gives me an important clue as to when she actually bought that one, though: It can't have been until July 1918 at the earliest; and may not have been until on her way back home to Sweden in 1919, after the war was over...

I like how all these street photos also have people in them.

34. DIJON - Rue de la Liberté 

40. DIJON - La Caisse d'Epargne

3. DIJON - Place de la République et Monument Carnot

9. DIJON - Fontaine de la Jeunesse ('the fountain of youth')

27. DIJON - Eglise Saint-Pierre - Place du Président Wilson

 Wikipedia : "The square was originally called St. Peter's Square. In 1904, during a campaign of "secularization of the streets" led by the radical municipality, the square was renamed People's Square. During the First World War, on July 5, 1918, the municipality of Dijon gave it the name of Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), 28th President of the United States, to salute the entry of the United States into the war on the side of the France."

All the cards also include the printed names Caloin, Dijon and Cl. Baudinfère. I got no relevant hits when googling, but I assume the latter to be the name of the photographer.

Linking to Sepia Saturday 688 - On the Street