G.025.1 - Happy New Year 1904

To: Herr Gust. Ekman

Portallegany Box 148, PA, North Amerika

Arrived at Port Allegany Dec 28, 10 AM

Forwarded to Galeton, PA; arrived there in the afternoon of the same day

From: Augusta (with Ester, Gustaf's sister)

Possibly sent from Grolanda, a location from where Ester wrote in 1902 - cf G.017.3

Godt Nytt År

Tillönskas dig af Augusta. Tack så hjertligt för kortet. Jag är hos Ester i kväll. Vi mår så godt. Ester ber om sin helsning. Skrif någon gång då tillfälle gifves. Må det kommande år blifva rikt med välsignelser och trefnad. Hjertliga helsningar från D.S. den 13/12 1903.

Happy New Year

to you from Augusta. Thanks very much for the postcard. I am with Ester tonight. We are both well. Ester sends her love. Write some time when you find the opportunity. May the next year offer an abundance of blessings and comfort. Best Wishes / 13 December 1903. *

* 13 December in Sweden is celebrated as Lucia, St. Lucy's Day. Before calendar reforms, it coincided with the Winter Solstice; so it was and is still celebrated as a mid-winter festival of light. 

G.024.3 - Christmas 1903

The Universal Postal Union (UPU) (French:  Union postale universelle), established by the Treaty of Bern  of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal system. [Wikipedia]

It's a Christmas card to Gustaf from his (unmarried) sister Ester in Sweden.  Judging by the print on the back, it's not likely to be any of their own family or friends on the photo.

The card still provides some valuable information from family history research point of view, as it can be concluded from the writing and the postmarks on the back that in December 1903, Gustaf moved from Port Allegany to Galeton (also in Pennsylvania) - where he was to remain living until he returned to Sweden in 1911.

(The previous card in the album shows that he was still in Port Allegany at the end of November.)

The postmarks on this card show that it arrived at Port Allegany Dec 25, 1903, at 3 pm; and was sent on  to Galeton at 6:30 pm the same day; to arrive there the next morning (that postmark is a bit blurry but I think it says Dec 26, ?? AM). No Christmas holiday for those handling the postal services, it seems! 

(I do wish that the stamps on all these cards had not been removed by some fanatic stamp collector in the past... whether that was Gustaf himself, or someone else!)

G.024.2 - Odla vänskap / Cultivating Friendship

To: Mr Gust. Ekman

Portallegany, Box 148,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A. (Nort-America)

Sent: From Sweden, Nov 13, 1903

Arrived: (via New York) Port Allegany Nov 25, 1903

Gods Skola d. 12/11 03.

Undrar just om du känner igen detta ställe och dem som äro med. Detta kort togs här i somras.

B.B.! (Bäste Broder!)

Tack för senaste brev. Hur mår du gamle "hedersknyffel"? Jag mår godt. Skrif snart beder (?) vännen (Georg?)  [cf. card G.021.1]

[Kan inte tyda den extra hälsningen tillagd ovanför bilden.]

Först läste jag avsändarplatsen som "Guds Skola" och undrade om det var någon slags bibelskola. Men vad är det i så fall för redskap som kvinnorna t.v. håller i - och varför? Kom fram till att det nog i stället står "Gods Skola", som i någon form av lantbruksskola (?)

Hittar också en artikel om Trädgården som bildningsmönster och pedagogisk modell under 1800-talet (av Åsa Klintborg Ahlklo, Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet), som lyfter fram att det under 1800-talet, i anslutning till nya jordbruksmetoder på gods och gårdar, även växte fram ett intresse för trädgårdsskötsel som binäring till jordbruket; och att "trädgården som lämpligt område för kvinnans engagemang är ett ämne som återkommer hos de framstående trädgårdslobbyisterna under 1800-talet". 

Jag undrar om det är Georg själv som är med på bilden, med cykeln?

In English:

[Manor] [agricultural] School, Nov 12, 1903
I wonder if you recognise this place and the people. The photo was taken this past summer.

Dear Brother,

Thanks for your latest letter. How are you, old "brick"? I am well.
Write soon asks your friend Georg (?) [cf. card G021.1]

[I can't decipher the upside-down greeting written over the image.]

At first I read the Swedish name of this school as something to do with God (Sw. "Gud") and wondered if it was a Bible school. But then why were the women to the left holding that wooden tool thing... (I'm not sure what it is, but to me it looks rather like the grip of a scythe.) I arrived at the conclusion that it must be 'gods' as in the Swedish word for manor or estate; i.e. some kind of agricultural school. If the writer is the same as on the card G.021.1 (Georg) he seems to be a friend of Gustaf's living in the Swedish countryside. I wonder if he's the man with the bicycle??

G.024.1 - Is it better over there than here? (1903)

A.B. Oscar E Kulls Grafiska Konst-Anst., Malmö. 8357

To: Mr Gustaf Ekman

Portallegany Box 148, Pennysylvania, U.S.A.

Sent from: Sweden, Nov 5, 1903

Arrived at: New York, Nov 17, 1903 ("Due 2 cents")

Arrived at: Port Allegany PA, Nov 19, 1903

Saleby den 5 Nov 1903. Bäste vän Gustaf. Må så godt är min högsta önskan, undrar just hur du mår långt bort i fjärran. Hvad tycker du om det i Amerika? Hvad gör du för något om dagarna? Tycker du dät är bättre där än här? Jag är nu hemma, reste från Karlsborg den 31 okt. Är Gärda hos dig så hälsa henne så hjärtligt från mig. Tusen kära hälsningar från Axel Thyrén, f.d. Jansson. Skicka mig några rader är du snäll. Min adress är A Thyrén, Lanna, Saleby, Skb län

Saleby socken låg i Skånings härad, Skaraborgs län, Västergötland; numera del av Lidköpings kommun. Att Axel varit i Karlsborg betyder antagligen att han gjort sin värnplikt där. Värnplikten infördes i Sverige 1901. Axels byte av efternamn kan också ha med militärtjänsten att göra (soldater med vanliga 'son'-efternamn fick ofta byta namn i det militära).

Saleby, 5 Nov 1903. Dear friend Gustaf. I hope all is well with you. I'm wondering how you are over there, so far away. How do you like it in America? How do you spend your days? Do you think it is better there than here? I am home now, left Karlsborg 31st October. If Gerda is with you, please give her my best regards. A thousand best wishes from Axel Thyrén (born Jansson). Please send me a few lines. My address is A. Thyrén, Lanna, Saleby.

Karlsborg  is a fortress by Lake Vättern, not all that far away from where the writer Axel lived. Most likely he did his military service at Karlsborg. Conscription was introduced in Sweden in 1901. Soldiers were also often given new surnames in connection with military service (because too many of them had names like Svensson, Jansson, Eriksson etc.) 

G.023.3 - Från Sveriges Bygder (1903)

Från Sveriges Bygder. / From the Swedish countryside.

Axel Eliassons Konstförlag, Stockholm. No. 3113

To: Mr Gust. Ekman
Box 148, Port-Allegany, Pennselvania, U.S.A., Nort-America

From: Elin (sister-in-law)

Arrived: Mars 7, 1903

Tack för hälsningarne genom bref! Samtidigt med "gubbens" bref vill jag medsända min innerliga hälsning. Skulle vara roligt veta om detta vykort får troget följa brefvet till framkomsten. Gunnar hälsar äfven! Vänligen, Elin

Thanks for the greetings by letter! I'm sending my heartfelt greetings together with "hubby's" letter. It would be fun to know if this card gets to travel together with the letter all the way to the destination. Gunnar also sends his regards. Best wishes, Elin.

I'd like to know that, too! But I only have postcards sent TO Gustaf, and none of the letters or replies...