Last week, I was reading the Swedish newspaper, Bohusläns Tidning, from 1845 and found an announcement listing the guests who had arrived at Gustafsberg’s Spa. The list included Augusta, her mother, and her brother. I got curious about the other spa guests. What could I find out about them? I decided to start with what seemed to be an important family, the family of Krigsrådet […]
Augusta’s friend Lotten didn’t cry over spilled milk. She just laughed as she spilled milk over her white dress. It turned out to be the most enjoyable evening. “My dear Augusta! Thank you, my dear friend, for your long-awaited letter… … Do you know the most enjoyable day I have had this winter? It was last Monday at my aunt’s. She had a reception and […]
Look, do you think these are Elisabeth Schwan’s? I ask Kerstin. On a small round table, some beautiful antique fans are displayed under glass. Kerstin and I are visiting Stjernsund’s Castle where Augusta’s friend, Elisabeth, lived after she and her husband bought the beautiful castle from the royal family in 1860. I wrote about her earlier this year (The Girl in the Yellow Ball Gown: […]
Kerstin and I are on standing on the deck of S/S Bohuslän, the steamer that will take us on the same journey that Augusta and her family made in July of 1850 – from Gothenburg to Strömstad. It is a beautiful day – no clouds in the sky and a slight sea breeze. We are not alone enjoying this day out at sea. We wave […]
The elusive diaries at Stockholm City Archives He had found them! He had actually found Erik W. af Edholm’s original diaries from 1843-1848! Half an hour earlier, the archivist at Stockholm City Archives had told me that the family Edholm’s archive took up several yards of shelf-space and with the diaries not specifically cataloged, I could look forward to spending weeks looking through boxes of […]
“They are not long, the days of wine and roses: Out of a misty dream Our path emerges for a while, then closes Within a dream.” (Ernest Dowson, Vitae Summa Brevis) The Summer Sejour to Gustafsberg, 1845 In the summer of 1845, Augusta turned 18. She had just finished her schooling in Stockholm and maybe her mother Anna thought it was time for her to […]
I am back to reading Lotten’s letters. Lotten, Augusta’s friend from school, wrote long letters to Augusta, updating her on the latest gossip from Stockholm. “You have to tell me if you once in a while get letters from Mrs. Edgren. Let me know how she and her husband and children are doing. Emma Almroth has had 4 letters from Mlle. Dethmar and also answered […]
Today, on the International Women’s Day, I thought about Mrs. Brandt. A sought-after seamstress who didn’t leave many historical threads to follow. All her handiwork is long gone – dresses and shirts all worn out. The only traces of her are a few sentences in Augusta’s diary and in letters between Augusta and her mother Anna. Mrs. Brandt in Augusta’s diary and correspondence Mrs. Brandt […]