VIKTOR DONOVAN

Monday, November 11, 2013

MYSTERY GIFT 1844

For years I saw this silver tea pot on a shelf in my grandmother's serving hall. It stood there with many more silver pieces, always perfectly polished by her loyal Linnea.

I never noticed that there was an inscription on one side. It wasn't until I was given the teapot by my mother who had had it for a few years that I looked more closely at it and noticed the rather strange inscription.

The tea pot is silver plated (and thus not of any great value) and the thin outer silver layer has worn off from the frequent polishing. It is difficult to read the letters -- but the teapot is interesting because of the inscription:

MR. JOHN WYLD

FROM A FRIEND

1844

I am not sure about the letters, so I am guessing. Any suggestion is welcome. It would be interesting to find out more about John and who the mystery friend was.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

TIME FOR CHRISTMAS CARDS

This year I ordered some of my own Swedish Folk Art cards to use for Christmas cards: "Our Noble King" and "Kurbits Wreath".

See all cards at the CHRISTMAS CARD SHOP. The cards have a very fine glossy finish and are delivered in a sturdy green box. At no extra cost, one can get a personal message inside.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

INSPIRING SPIRIT

Many people around the world are fascinated by what people will do to build or rebuild their dream home. The program GRAND DESIGNS shows the trials and tribulations people go through and it is sometimes painful to watch.

But in the two programs below, the two couples have worked their asses of and they have shown such remarkable good cheer and calm that one wonders how that is possible.
Watch and enjoy!

The episode below shows a truly remarkable carpenter who builds his home almost single handedly -- and what an artist he is. The guy is not very big, but a hard and strong worker -- truly inspirational. The best Grand Design episode ever. You feel better as a human being after you watch such a fellow.

Alan Dawson below is a wizard with steel and his vision, talent and hard work is also to be admired.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

JANI CERAMICS FROM LAHOLM IN SWEDEN (1949-1970)

JANI Ceramic production (1949-1970) in the Swedish city of Laholm employed around 20 people and sold their items world wide. It was started by Jane Wahlstedt. She and her husband Nils Larsson used the Sgraffito technique on Swedish red clay.

Salt, Sugar and Pepper

Rooster candle stick
The hole for the candle does not show

Ash Trays were so common in the 1950ies

Friday, July 5, 2013

INGEMAR JOHANSSON - THE FAMOUS BOXER FROM GOTHENBURG

In the summer of 1959, Ingemar Johansson, the 27 year old boxer from Gothenburg departed for the US to fight Floyd Patterson. I remember the fantastic atmosphere when Ingemar vas victorious and won the World heavyweight Championship - everyone in Sweden glued to their radios in the middle of the night What a feat for the stone-worker from Gothenburg.

Monday, July 1, 2013

AMAZING LACE

This is the sort of lace my mother and grandmother had on their tables. Young people today might laugh at it but stop!
This is serious art.

Such workmanship!

The pattern around the edge reminds me of corn on the cobs

NEW BOOK!

Much of human activity is centered around food. We think of food whether we’re hungry or not. We spend a great deal of time buying it. We take hours preparing it (well, some do). We talk about it. We read about it in cook books. We watch television when chefs talk about it (sometimes to excess). When we socialize, it is often centered around the communal intake of it. We give it as gifts. Food, we can’t escape it! Some people become keenly interested in preparing food for themselves and others; many have become what we call “good cooks”. Usually a degree of creativity is involved together with a keen interest to entertain and a need to take care of others, to be a good host. It is such people that one remembers, and that is how I got started on Food & Folk, remembering, for example that excellent couple, Beatrice and Clayburn La Force on their ranch in Alpine California. After that I just kept going.

MY HOMETOWN GOTHENBURG

A series of closeups (224 photos) of Gothenburg, Sweden. Language: English and Swedish.----- This book consists of a series of closeups of Gothenburg. It is no history book but, hopefully, it will generate some curiosity about our city. When you walk in a city like London you are struck by Britain’s colonial past and its enormous wealth which manifests itself in buildings and institutions all over the city. When you walk in “Little London” as Gothenburg is often called, one is keenly aware of its importance as the best fortified city in Northern Europe. Two forts still watch over it. Remnants of the seventeenth century wall, and the meandering moat are a reminder of the city’s military past. Positioned on the West coast of Sweden, Gothenburg was once a world leader in ship building and shipping and evolved naturally into a merchant’s city. The English and Scottish heritage here is very important. There are clues and traces everywhere. One has only to look.

A GARDEN IN MY HOMETOWN

A book in English and Swedish about the Garden Society of Gothenburg--TRÄDGÅRDSFÖRENINGEN -----The Garden Society of Gothenburg is one of the best preserved early 19th century parks in Europe. It is situated directly downtown, offering lovely walks in the park or in the shaded woodland areas along the canal/moat, waterfront. The garden recently went through a major renovation under the auspices of Ulf Nordfjell, the internationally known landscape designer. The aim was to bring the garden back to its old nineteenth century glory. Carpet bedding returned and five new woodland areas were designed by five international garden designers. A superb new rose park was added, a successful blending of historical roses and perennials.

Love letters from my Swedish grandfather Folke to my American grandmother Olga 1909 - 1961

My American grandmother, Olga, met my Swedish grandfather, Folke Jonsson, in Brussels in 1909. Olga was 18 and Folke, 23. They settled in Gothenburg and Särö, Sweden. Olga, being American, had her family in Florida, and Folke soon came to realize that if you marry a woman from another continent, and this woman is charmingly independent, innovative and brave, and has her own means to boot, she is bound to want to visit her native country some time -- or several times -- or more than several times. To Folke, a sensitive soul, the long separations were quite painful and he suffered till his darling Olga returned. He “talked” to her in his frequent letters. Olga saved all his letters, in their original envelopes, in neat little bundles held together with different coloured ribbons. They were a treasured lifelong testament of his love. Olga and Folke corresponded in English as Olga was American and preferred writing in English. Had my grandfather Folke married a Swedish woman who had stayed at home, there would not be this stack of his letters today. He never intended the letters to be shown to others, but more than one hundred years have passed since Folke wrote them to his darling Olga. I have enjoyed getting to know my grandfather in this manner and I think others, not only relatives, should also share that privilege.

A pictorial Companion to the letters in the book above: 150 pictures of Olga & Folke 1909-1978

NEW BOOK BY DONOVAN O'MALLEY

REVIEW: "...O'Malley continues to prove that he is one of the more important writers around, a writer who with every book brings into our lives some very strange, often exceedingly humorous, and now, frequently very lonely people. His ability to create language for each of his characters is sharp, well studied and written, and without belittling anyone he, in language, shows the difference between class, and education, and exposure. Likely that comes from his experience in writing plays where characters are alive and moving, but with his considerable literary skills he makes his written page people morph into real life folks. He is in top form here ... " Grady Harp, June 12 (Hall of Fame reviewer)