What the population of Jämtland at the turn-of-the-century was I'm not sure, but here are over 150 members of the counties population, some dating to the late 19th century. These types of portraits are called Carte de Visite's, which were traded amongst family and friends. Many of the portraits are legibly signed and some dated. I will begin adding additional name tags and info as time permits. While scanning these I noticed a handful of people who are pictured in the wedding photograph. The first block of photos has a mix of unknown's and select members of the Persson, Thilander and Eriksson families. I've been wanting to invest the time and scan all these, it's been well worth it. Enjoy!
Swedish
God Jul
Today is Christmas - Thanks for all the support and interest thus far. Here's a card addressed to Eric Holger Pearson, son of Erik Andreas, hand delivered to Holger from Grandma Brita Olofsdotter and Grandpa Pehr Persson.
Grandmother Brita was born April 4, 1883 in Brevag, Lit, Sweden and died March 20, 1913 in Lit, Sweden. She was the daughter of Olof Persson and Kerstin Olofsdotter. Grandpa Pehr was born August 16, 1830 in Nyby, Jämtland, Sweden and died December 26, 1912 in Lit, Sweden. He was the son of Bus Nilsson and Anna Andersdotter.
God Jul!
Postcards
There are some freakishly amazing postcards in this collection, I literally get lost each moment I spend going through it. Color lithographic postcards started appearing in Europe in the early 1900's. These below, addressed to Eric Holger Pearson in Krokom, Sweden (1905-1906) and sent from nearby Lit, Sweden, are truly works of art. Clearly influenced by what is known as Japonisme, each composition floats on a ground of warm gray tone. Like Japanese woodcuts of the late 19th century, the spacial content is reduced; color, contrast, line and asymmetry formally dominate overall. The high resolution detail reveals techniques similar to neo-impressionism, such as Georges Seurat's, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
As we saw in recent posts, Holger's father at this time was stationed in logging camps outside Portland, OR. The translations below are challenging; postcard no. 3 reads, "Little Holger wondering how you are feeling now hope you're good..." After trying and failing miserably with Swedish to English interpretations, it's clear teams of interpreters will be needed to unravel the collections every detail. It is known that Holger's birth mother Kristina Erika Thilander, had been dead for three years when these were posted. He was being cared for by Kristina's sister, Ottolina Thilander. Five years would pass before the two would emigrate and reunite with Erik Andreas Persson in Portland, OR.
No. 1
No. 2
No. 3
Detail, no. 1
Top to bottom: Reverse sides of numbers 1, 2, 3.