Friday

Friday's Faces from the Past - Laverne Kallman Johnson

A 40's "pin-up girl" type pose of my Aunt Laverne. She was a cutie wasn't she? 
More importantly, she was a really nice lady.  Missed by her family. A lot.


my father's younger sister and my aunt
 LaVerne Esther Ruth Kallman Johnson
b: 29 Apr 1923 in Crystal Lake, Illinois
d: 29 Jun 2009 in Chicago, Illinois






**click on photo to enlarge for easier viewing**

Family Friends Friday- Anna, Lydia & friends


Judging by the dress I am guessing this photo to have been taken sometime between 1915 and 1920. To the left is my grandmother Lydia Kallman and top middle is her sister Anna Jacobson. Who are the other two gals? I would think they must all have been good friends to go to a studio to pay and pose for a professional photograph. Are they all somehow extended family or perhaps cousins? Are they all from Östra Frölunda Sweden sending a photo and their good wishes home? Or are they new American friends posing together in honor of their friendship? I most likely will never know. Nor will I ever know why the gal in the middle seems so sour! Maybe her spirits improved as the 20's came in with shorter shirts and less dowdy (nice way to say ugly) dress styles became popular. Let's hope so.


Fyriskaka (Apple, cardamom and cinnamon cake)

Yesterday my husband and I were canning tomatoes. 65 lbs. of tomatoes in fact. I was cleaning, par boiling to remove the skins and chopping. Meanwhile every burner on the stove had a pot of stewed tomatoes, salsa or marinara sauce simmering while hubby sat on the patio overlooking quart jars bubbling away in a water bath on the camp stove. A real assembly line. Each batch has to sit in the boiling water about 45 minutes and I am a pretty quick chopper so I had some downtime. On my laptop, at the kitchen table, I cruised some of my favorite websites and blogs.

check this out↓
a wonderful recipe (and easy) from THE PICKLED HERRING (a favorite blog I follow)
photo compliments of The Pickled Herring
Apple, cardamom and cinnamon cake, fyriskaka, I knew this just HAD to be a winner in our Scandinavian/German household. I was right. This recipe is a perfect FIKA cake. Warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. OMG  My only input is that I recommend sweet apples like Fuji as opposed to Granny Smith's as the cake itself is not overly sweet. The recipe for this particular scrumptious piece of Swedish heaven can be found here↓


Kathryn, the blogger, said the recipe came from this Swedish cookbook.↓




This cake was so good I ordered the cookbook myself from Amazon. 


Tack så mycket! Thank you Kathryn!



Tuesday

Tombstone Tuesday - Hugo and Sarona Alvine



my Great Aunt and Uncle 
Hugo Henry Alvine
b: 6 Aug 1875 Väderstad, Östergötland, Sweden
d: 9 Jan 1952 Turlock, Stanislaus, California

Sarona Rebecka Källman Alvine
b: 11 Dec 1878 Tjällmo, Östergötland, Sweden
d: 28 July 1956 Turlock, Stanislaus, California

married: 4 Dec 1907 in Chicago, Illinois




**click on photos to enlarge for easier viewing**

Friday

The 37th Annual Scandinavian Day Festival


35W217 Route 31
Elgin, Illinois


This coming Sunday September 11, 2016
10am to 6pm
35W217 Route 31, Elgin, Illinois
for more info click ↓


A good time in a beautiful park setting along the Fox River.


Thursday

The SWEDISH AMERICAN MUSEUM in Chicago, Illinois

Today my husband, my sister-in-law and I went into Chicago to see the Swedish American Museum. The museum is located on 5211 N. Clark Street in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago. Andersonville was initially a neighborhood heavily populated with Swedes. Times have changed however and there is not a Swede to be seen walking the streets of Andersonville and very little evidence of  Swedish influence today except for the museum and one or two restaurants and  shops. I was worried that I had dragged my family members to see an old storefront where inside a couple of tired old Swedes would be sitting at a folding table passing out pamphlets detailing the Swedish glory that once was (or was it?) and now is long gone. From the outside, the museum did seem fairly simple and unimpressive.



The museum was however well worth the trip. There were three stories. The first floor was dedicated to Swedish glass work and art. The second floor had a lovely display detailing who the typical Swedish immigrant to Chicago was and the reasons why they left Sweden. The museum detailed their journey from their poor home farm across Sweden to Gothenburg where they boarded a ship to Hull, England. In Hull the immigrants took a long train journey to Liverpool where they boarded an even larger ship for the trip across the Atlantic. Landing in the United States at Boston, New York or one of the other harbors they still had a ways to go. They would still experience Ellis Island and additional journeys by train and horse cart depending on the year of immigration. Why they settled in Chicago and the life they lived here in Chicago is shown with lots of pictures and artifacts that give a person a real feel for the times and lives of those long ago immigrants who were our ancestors. On the third floor was an interactive museum for children.



Upon leaving we passed through the gift shop, full of T-shirts, Swedish flags, Swedish Cookbooks and all manner of souvenir doodads. I have plenty of that sort of thing but I was interested to hear they often sponsor guest speakers and have genealogy workshops on a monthly basis.

All in all a trip worth taking and with living in Chicagoland all my life I am almost embarassed to say I only now went. They opened in 1976 and are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year.

The SWEDISH AMERICAN MUSEUM
5211 N. Clark Street
Chicago, Illinois 60640

check out their website for hours and events↓



Tuesday

Tombstone Tuesday - A Thankful Prayer for his Brother

"Tombstone Tuesday" is a daily blogging prompt suggested by GENEABLOGGERS.


Pastor Arthur Jacobson says a prayer at the grave of his brother, Pastor Paul Jacobson.


my father's cousins

Arthur Jacobson
b. 28 July 1920 Geneseo, Henry, Illinois
d. 10 Feb 1991 Los Angeles, California  
Paul Emil Jacobson
b. 22 Sep 1922  Prophetstown,  Illinois USA
d. 1 Sep 1981 Mt.Vernon, Washington, USA

**click on photo to enlarge for easier viewing**

Friday

Rev. William (Bill) Liljegren

Retired Covenant pastor, and member of our extended Swedish family, William Herbert Liljegren died Saturday, August 27, 2016 in Turlock California. The COVENANT COMPANION,  official magazine of the Evangelical Covenant Church has posted a lovely tribute.

to read it in its entirety CLICK ▼



husband of the late Esther Soderstrom Liljegren,
my first cousin once removed:
Rev. William (Bill) Liljegren
Jan 2, 1923 - Aug 27, 2016


Lord, now lettest now thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word.  - Luke 2:29