S.S. Drottningholm

 

The S.S. Drottningholm was built in 1904 by Alexander Stephen and Sons in Scotland.   Her first owner was the Allan Line and was named the Virginian.  During World War 1, she was chartered by the British as a troop transport.  Sold to the Canadian Pacific Line in 1917 and then sold to the Swedish American Line in 1920, renamed the Drottningholm, and operated by the line until 1951, then sold to the Home Lines, an Italian company that renamed the ship Brazil.  The ship's final owner was the Hamburg American Line, which renamed the ship the Homeland.  She was scrapped in Italy in 1955.

It's partially obscured, but I'm fairly certain that this postcard is postmarked, "NEW YORK N.Y. SEP 10 5 P.M. 1947."  The message, "The time is getting closer but just to say "Hello" Feeling fine and all looks interesting-Don't forget to write.  Love Ingrid."  The card was mailed to "Mrs. Imogene Abzug, 1342 Sunland Ave. Jamestown, N.Y." 

And the captions, BREKVORT CARTE POSTALE, S.S. DROTTNINGHOLM, SVENSKA AMERIKA LINIEN, SWEDISH AMERICAN LINE, GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN.   Printed in Sweden, 45.1 55,000 11.6.47, 645." 

Sweden

 

Mostly because I'd like to know where this photo was taken.  Over time, I've seen enough photos where I could verify a location to give me a not infallible sense of America vs Europe, and this looks like Europe to me.  Anyway, there's a stamp on the back, "AUG 1925  A.N. DAHLSTROM"  Well, Dahlstrom is a Swedish name.  At least I think it is.  

Swedish Portraits 7

 

The last of the Swedish portrait series.  Click on Swedish CDVs to see the rest.  I saved this one for the end because it was the only one with anything written on it.  It can be hard to read, but "Grandma & Grandpa Erikson."  Grandpa is wearing a medal, but from which war?  Or is the medal military?  It could have been for years of service as a postman.  I guess we'll never know. 

Swedish Portraits 6

 

Another carte de visite from Sweden.  I can't imagine that all these photos aren't from the same family.  Click on Swedish CDVs to see more.  Only one more from this collection is left, so after a few more posts I'll return and finish things up. 

Swedish Portraits 5

 

Another Swedish portrait  from the studios of Arvid Kierling.  Click on Swedish CDVs in labels to see more. 

Swedish Portraits 4

 

I'm beginning to think I should have called this the Arvid Kjerling collection.   Anyway, click on Swedish CDVs in labels to see more.  The only child's photo in the lot. 

Swedish Portraits 3

 

I can't imagine that all of these photos from Swedish Photographer Arvid Kjerling aren't related in some way.  Some are clearly from the same family, others could be friends.  Click on Swedish CDVs in labels to bring up others.  Eventually, there willl be seven of them. 

Swedish Portraits 2

 

Well, the lady on the left is the same woman form the last post, so if nothing else we know that this photo goes with the previous.  I was able to find out a bit about the photographer Arvid Kjerling.  He was born in 1864 as Karl Teodor Arvid Kjerling.  He opened his first photo studio in 1891 in Trollhatton, and moved his business to Karlstad in 1892.  He was successful enough to have opened up additional locations before his death in 1917.  So, not a long lived person.  Click on Swedish CDVs in labels to see more. 

Swedish Portraits 1

 

I just picked up some CDVs that were taken in Sweden.  I'm trying to buy a few more, so even though there almost all certainly from the same family, I'm going to spread them out, one photo at a time.  They'll all be identified  as Swedish CDVs in labels at the bottom of the post, so they can eventually all be brought up to be viewed together.  Since these were purchased in the United States, I think we can say that they were either mailed to a Swedish immigrant family living in the U.S., or were brought here by the actual immigrants themselves.  

Crazy Swedes

There's writing on the back of the print and according to Google Translate it's Swedish and it means "It's gone and done and I'm a little alive."  Now that's crazy!

A Bit Of Sweden

Hey, I like a good smorgasbord.  A Bit of Sweden isn't there anymore.  It was at the corner of Sunset and Doheny on the Sunset Strip.  I wasn't able to find out when it went out of business, but I like the idea of Jim Morrison dropping in for some meatballs after playing  the Whiskey. 

So, information from the back, "Bit of Sweden  9051 Sunset Blvd.  HOLLYWOOD, CAL  Phone. BRadshaw 2-2800  The Unique Restaurant featuring the world's largest Smorgasbord, find foods and liqueurs."  "A Shini Color by Colourpicture, Boston 15, Mass., U.S.A. 2143 So. Alsace Ave., L.A."  Colourpicture was in business from 1938-1969. 

I found the original black and white photo on line.   The colorist at the publisher removed a poll and a lot of cars. 

Goteborg or Gothenburg?

I just picked up a small envelope of European studio portraits.  It looks like this one started as a cabinet card that someone trimmed down.  Maybe it was a family member who needed to fit it into a frame or album.  That's not so bad since more could have been had from Alfred Back, the photographer.

So, I'm always amazed by what I can find on the net.  I didn't know if Alfred Back was a complete name or not, but I gave it a whirl, and indeed it was the full name of a Swedish studio photographer from Goteborg, Sweden, properly spelled with the two little dots above the "O", which I can't type on my ever ageing desk top computer.  The weird thing is that Goteborg has an exonym that's kind of semiofficial in Sweden itself.   Goteborg, also known as Gothenburg is the second largest city in the country, and the headquarters of Volvo.  It was founded in 1621 as a Dutch trading colony and quickly became home to a number of Germans and Scots, Swedish allies from the Thirty Years War.  So, a Swedish city with a Swedish name as well as a German/English one.  Oh those Europeans and their crazy wars. 

Now, about Google/Microsoft, etc., and how tech changes language.  Exonym is a real word.  An exonym is the externally used word for a geographic name place.  A perfect example is Germany for Deutschland.  Despite exonym's long usage, according to Blogger the word doesn't exist.  This is something I run into from time to time, and I'm always left wondering, "Are we loosing words because someone in silicon valley couldn't be bothered to add it to a database?"

Any guesses about the uniforms?  They don't look military to me.  No badges of rank or decorations.  Maybe the Swedish railway.

Sverige, The Travelers Collection

To recap, a few months or so ago, I bought an envelope of prints.  The dealer told me that they all came from the same source.  Going through the photos, I noticed that this family did a lot of travelling, so it's designated the travelers collection, and, of course, can be seen in total by clicking on travelers collection in the labels section at the bottom of the post.

Written on the back, "Tommarp-Sverige"  Sverige is what the Swedish call Sweden.  Tommarp is a small town on the very southern tip of the country.  In 2010, it's population was all of 284.  I think Tommarp must have been the ancestral home of our travelling family.  I can't think of any other reason why anyone would have gone there and taken this picture.  I'd love to know if that car is an early Volvo.

The Swedish Snowman

Arghhh....The computer has been down for awhile.  About a week ago I logged on and a window popped up informing me that my computer was infected with all sorts of nasty intruders.  Windows XP security, and since I use Windows XP I followed the prompts.  Right up until I was asked for a credit card number.  Well, it doesn't take a computer genius (I'm not even close.) to know it was scam time.  And then, all of a sudden, inexplicably, the scam window disappeared and I'm back in business.  I suspect the virus is still hidden somewhere deep in the digital world that we all inhabit, but since I can't afford to get it removed by someone who knows what they're doing (Not me.) I'm just cruising along hoping for the best.

So, today's entry.  It's cold and there's snow in the local mountains.  The San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County.   Anyway, this image looked appropriate for winter weather.  I think it's Swedish.  Translations welcome.  I'll try and mix in some warmer photos over the next few months.

Swedes In America

Are there any Swedes out there?  I'm not even going to try and translate this one.  I assume it's in Swedish because it was mailed from the United States to Broby, a town in southern Sweden.  I'm not even sure from where in the U.S.  The image is from southern California.  The publisher is M. Rieder, a company in business from 1901 to 1915, located in Los Angeles, but the postmark....well, I think it's from Michigan, but I'm not even sure of that.  Did a Swedish immigrant pass through L.A. on his way to Michigan and send a card to those he left behind at home?   I would say that's most probable, but it's not the only possible explanation.  Los Angeles is a seaport, and there are also ports on Lake Michigan that service international shipping.  So, perhaps, a sailor.  Then again, the sender of this postcard might have been a tourist.  1906 seems far back in time, but like today, there were plenty of international travelers who just roamed for the sake of seeing the world.  And that's why I need someone who can decipher the handwriting and translate it into English.  It's the only way I'll know the who and the why of this message.

We have a partial translation from J'lee.  Click on  comment at the bottom to read what she has found out.  It seems Nils, in Wallace, Michigan is trying to send something to his sister Sigrid, in Sweden.  Whatever it is, it has to be well packed.  Wallace is the name of two occupied places in Michigan.  One on the southern, upper peninsula, and one not.  And I've double checked.  The entire card is visible on the post.