My paternal grandfather, born 1904, was a journalist and photographer. I think this photo may have been taken by him in the mid 1920s.
The building is the railway station at Fristad (in the province of Västergötland, Sweden). The station house was built in 1900 - the same year my grandmother was born. (There had been an older wooden building before that.)
The post office was also in the station house; and this photo obviously shows the postmen and coach drivers delivering the post to the village and surrounding countryside.
One of the men in this photo could be my grand-mother's older half-brother Carl. He was born in 1870 and died in 1928. Most likely the driver of the carriage on the right (without uniform).
Their father (my great-grandfather) Samuel, born 1835, was a farmer, and also used to deliver post back in the 1890s. The story in the family is that he met his second wife, my great-grandmother Selma, in a country store to which he delivered the post. He was a widower with several grown-up and nearly grown-up children then; while Selma was a younger widow with one daughter from her first marriage. They got married in 1898; and my grandmother Sally was born in 1900.
When Samuel retired from farming in 1903 (he died in 1907), his oldest son Carl took over the farm, and also the delivery of post.
I posted the same photo on my blog Greetings from the past back in 2013, then linked to Sepia Saturday 182. Back then, I still had the identities of two of my grandmother's older brothers mixed up. But if the one in this photo is Carl, who died in 1928, that narrows down the date of the photo to that year at the latest. And if the photographer was my grandfather (born in 1904) I don't think it can be earlier than 1922 (probably later).
Maybe... Just a guess, but it suddenly strikes me that 1925 may have been an occasion to have such a photo taken (and perhaps published in the local newspaper?), as that would be the 25th anniversary of the station house.
Below are two postcards published by Swedish Post in 1969, showing postal coaches from the 1880s (owned by the Post Museum since the early 1900s).
Linking to:
Sepia Saturday 473
i am trying to imagine how many horses it would take to deliver our mail these days by horse and wagon/buggy. boggles my mind. it would create jobs because we would need people to care for the horses, repair the buggys, scoop up the poop. sorry my mad mind went mad.... you are blessed to have all this information and photos of your family
ReplyDeleteSandra, my problem is that I have rather too many photos and not enough information... So a lot of guesswork involved!!! (It can be fun but it also means I have to change my theories every now and then...)
DeleteIt is fascinating, and I love the "detective work" that goes into your determining when a photo was most likely taken, and who the people are.
ReplyDeleteThanks Meike. I'm afraid it often feels like trying to lay a puzzle with a lot of pieces missing... ;)
DeleteAs always an enjoyable excursion through history and family. I have always had a weakness for 'stage' coaches and the like.
ReplyDeleteGraham, one of the things that impress me when looking into my inherited collection of old postcards is how efficient the postal services were back in the early 1900s. We call it snail mail now but I bet they didn't then!
DeleteWhat a charming story of how your great-grandfather and his wife met! You are truly blessed to have all these postcards from your family.
ReplyDeleteGinny, I keep getting back to my grandmother's family history, partly because of photos and postcards still in my possession to trigger my curiosity, and partly because of all the little fragments of stories I remember even from early childhood. I'm also glad I was able to go through one limited selection of old photos with my dad (identifying a few people) a few years before he started getting too confused.
DeleteI find the history of families so fascinating. Interesting that your grandfather was a journalist and photographer. You obviously have that gene.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pauline. Blogging is indeed a good tool for making some use of it even as an amateur.
DeleteI love that first photo in particular.
ReplyDeleteYes, "the real thing" usually beats reenactments! :)
DeleteHi Dawn ~ Been away so long...but so enjoyed your post today. My parents were born in that time frame. Love the old pictures. Had lunch yesterday with my friend of over 70 years. She is a Swede! A life long friend.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you "around" again Wanda!
DeleteA fascinating story of your ancestors with great photographs - and your post matches the prompt so well - carriages and the postal service,
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue. There are some pictures I keep coming back to even if I have posted about them before!
DeleteOhhhh Vastergotland, that's the same place my great great great grandfather came from. Nice to read your bit of family history, wish I had more about mine.
ReplyDeleteAmy, the province of Västergötland is where I was born and grew up. I deserted it for around 10 years in my youth; but returned. Most of my ancestors were from around where I live now. (The exception is my m. grandfather who came from far up north.)
DeleteWonderful stories, and of course when you have the photos, you must think of what these people were doing at that time.
ReplyDeleteBarbara I wish there were more names and dates to go with the old photos.
DeleteYour guess about the photograph being taken to commemorate the 25th anniversary seems reasonable. Maybe you will find out for sure one of these days. It is a great photograph nonetheless and a good family story too.
ReplyDeleteKathy, I'm not likely to ever get to the bottom of it "all" but every now and then one comes across pieces of info that add up.
DeleteThat's a terrific occupational photo! I like how the postmaster proudly stands center on the steps surrounded by his assistants. The anniversary in 1925 seems very likely given the formal arrangement of the men. It looks like it was taken by a large format camera to make a large commemorative print suitable to hang on the postmaster's office wall. Smaller prints may have been made for all the postmen.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mike. You may be right about it being a professional photo. In which case I'm not entirely sure if the photographer my grandfather. He did become a very good photographer, but in 1925 he was still only 21 years old (and from rather poor background). Not sure when he got his first camera, or of what quality. This photo was not in an album, so it could have come from my great-uncle Carl, if that's him in the photo.
DeleteAll your photos are perfect for the prompt, but the first one fits in the best! Nice work.
ReplyDeleteI like these photos of postmen and horse and carriage or bicycle. I am sorting through old family photos this year.
ReplyDelete