100 Years Old-- Happy Birthday, Bestemor

This week my Norwegian grandmother would have turned 100 years old.  Her birthday was May 7, 1913.  I still think about her all the time.

My grandmother, Gyda Kristiansen, around 1928.  I like this period picture of her, and I also own the necklace she is wearing.

My uncle put flowers on her grave for her 100th birthday.

Here is a list of memories I wrote down when she died:

This morning, during the funeral, I thought about those things I found most memorable about Bestemor.

My favorite childhood memory takes place in Norway for Christmas; I believe I was five or six. Bestemor was in the kitchen, making coffee in the same pink kettle, cutting bread ... preparing breakfast. I look out the window, a blanket of snow on the ground, the trees bare. Bestemor tells me to look down, below the window, on the ground. I do. There are two rabbits looking up at us. Bestemor digs in her drawer for day old bread gone hard. She opens the window and throws it out to the bunnies. I am so delighted to see them eat it on the snow. Other mornings it was a squirrel visiting, eating bread.

Bestemor made "traditional" mittens, sweaters, and hats for me my whole life. The last sweater she knit me was around 1995. Whenever I wear one of her sweaters people don't believe a person and not a machine made it. She was that good. She once told me she couldn't remember the first time she knit a sweater. She was five years old or younger. And to her knitting wasn't to be "traditional". She did it because that was who she was, a Norwegian woman in the truest sense. And a strong woman I was proud to know.

I stayed with her the summer of 1988, after graduating from college. I wanted so much to knit like she did. I can still see her face when she asked me in Norwegian, "You mean you never learned to knit? Your father didn't teach you?" It seemed to be a big faux pax that needed remedy immediately, along with my not knowing how to ski. Actually, I had no idea Dad knew how to knit until she told me she used to make him knit for her, and bake "kringlers," too. That seemed a funny image to me.
So that summer I knit my first sweater ever. No fancy patterns, but it did look like a sweater! It was Norwegian red, blue, and white.

Did I say how I got to be there that summer? As a child, Bestemor and Bestefar put money into a savings account for me. The way she explained it was that her other grandchildren were nearby and she'd buy them things occasionally. I wasn't, and so she put money in a bank account so I could one day take the Norwegian course of study at Blindern, the University of Oslo. Even after Bestefar died she continued to put money there, and that summer I was off to study Norwegian. I had three months to know her better than I ever had before.

I learned she loved her garden. I had always admired it because it was so beautiful. It always flowered in a multitude of colors in the summer. She also had strawberries, currants, and all kinds of Norwegian berries I don't know how to name ... And then there was the house she and Bestefar built together.

I can still smell her house. Sometimes I'll be hit with a scent here in the U.S. that
reminds me of it. It all comes back to me-- the small house, the bathroom that
doubles as a shower (and the same towels she's had as long as I can remember), the
sculptures she and Bestefar made years ago (the deer, the old
woman), the clock Bestefar made, the many pictures she had of her family. Oh, I forgot
her sewing machine, her radio, the "old-fashioned" furnace she used. The things that
represented Bestemor to me.

I was always amazed that I could turn around and she would have baked a
kringler, a rhubarb pie, a strawberry cake, a streudel. Just when did she do it? The
birds would have me up in the summer at 4:00 AM, not to mention the sun was already
out. But she wasn't baking even then! During the day she'd work on the garden, mow
the lawn (I couldn't even start a lawn mower). One day, I remember, I came back from
the university to find a new patio with a bench she'd built herself. She'd bought the
lumber and used Bestefar's carpentry shop below the house to cut the wood. She was
always busy. Bestemor was one of those people who "did" things. No fuss, no muss,
as we say here. Get the job done when it needs doing. Mow the lawn, build a patio,
bake a rhubarb pie all in the same day ... that and her famous boiled coffee (make sure
the grounds settle to the bottom of the kettle before you pour it). Oh, I forgot, knit a
sweater, sew a dress, too. And she'd still have time to catch the news or read the
newspaper.

Actually, back to the sewing-- when I was little it was always fun because she'd
make dresses for my doll, too. She was good at that kind of thing. If you were a boy,
she'd take you down to the carpentry shop below the house and make you a wood toy.
I remember my cousin Tord could play for hours with a homemade wooden car.
What am I forgetting? All my life I loved sitting on the swinging terrace furniture.
She had that as long as I can remember. We'd sit out there and have ice cream and
talk on a nice summer day. I can still hear the river running behind the foliage in the
back yard.

Bestemor didn't like fruit. Well, she did, but it was so "dyrt" or expensive. I'd buy
some and her eyes almost always popped out. And she didn't like it that I had "cool"
holes in my jeans once either. Patched them up with her sewing machine, she did. It
made her happy, so why not.

She got to meet her great-grandson. For that I am happy. I have pictures of her
with Kent. I have video of her explaining her pictures in the albums she had. Did you
know the album of her and Bestefar together before they were married was all shot with
a string attached to the camera? They were alone and the cameras back then didn't
have an automatic picture-taking shutter. Bestefar hooked up a string to the shutter and
posed with Bestemor throughout that photo album, all by pulling on a string. Where was
I? Yes, I also have the sweaters she knit, letters she wrote. She was good at writing.
Better than I was.

I tried to get Bestemor's recipes from her, but that was impossible. As she finally explained to me, "I just take a handful of this and a pinch of that. There are no recipes, just the way I've done it since I can remember." And that has stuck with me. I also cook this way. I never follow a recipe, just a handful of that and a pinch of that, and it comes out just fine! Maybe I can pass that on.

These are all just snatches of memories. I'm glad I was able to know what I did about her. But I'll always regret I didn't have the grasp of Norwegian to really talk freely with her. She was always mad about that, too. But at least I knew enough to get by and know her. At least I got to see her often, considering how far apart we were. Especially as an adult I was lucky to see her every couple of years, so I can really remember her. For that I am happy and thankful.

Goodbye my Bestemor; jeg elske deg.

Randi Larsdatter and Astrid Kristiansen

Click to enlarge

My great-great grandmother Randi Larsdatter Bye (1836-1921), born in Baerum, Norway, made this embroidery.  It hung on my grandmother's wall, and her sister, Astrid, used to love showing it to me when I visited.  On the right hand corner are the initials RLD for Randi Larsdatter. 1836 is her birth date, and 1869 is the year she made the embroidery. When my grandmother died, it passed on to her sister, and when Astrid died she left it to me. My Aunt Astrid was a sweet woman who loved to talk and had a bubbly personality. She had an apartment on the floor below my grandmother's house, and my brother and I loved to go down there and see her.

Both pictures are still-shots from pictures I recorded with a video-camera in 1996. Above is my gg-grandmother Randi Larsdatter and below is one of my Aunt Astrid.  She is seated, and the girl standing is my grandmother, Gyda. I don't know what happened to Astrid's albums after she died, but I hope to find them one day to do a proper scan.

Not So Wordless Wednesday -- Late!

It is late Wednesday evening, but I realized that I haven't posted in a while.  It has been a busy time, and I have also been working on cleaning up my tree.  This is actually quite time consuming!  I wish I knew better what I know now when I started my tree.  Anyway, I decided to go with FTM 2010 because of the ability to integrate with Ancestry.  So, I am now cleaning up my data so I can make some nice charts and other visually appealing documents of my genealogical research. 

In the meantime, I have made contact with my other great-uncle's family in Canada.  It is so exciting.  The funny thing is that by finding them in British Columbia we found new relatives who lived down the road from my grandmother in Norway.  My father and I had a chuckle about having to find relatives through Canada rather than his own family in Norway.  They are descendants of Margit Jordbaerhaugen, sister to my great-grandfather Kristian, and my great-uncles Kristen and Nels who both came to America.   

More soon!  And now for the Wordless Wednesday part:

Sletta, my grandmother's childhood home in Baerum, Norway

Obituary Hunt

Since most of my ancestors are in Norway and Italy, I haven't really played around with searching obituaries.  I have one ggg-grandmother and her two sons who became members of the LDS church and emigrated from Norway to Utah, whereas her daughter, my gg-grandmother, remained Lutheran and stayed in Norway.  It has been really interesting to study my Utah branch, and I have learned a lot about my gg-uncle Martin Christophersen, who was quite prominent in the LDS church and in Salt Lake City.  But I have not found much information about my ggg-grandmother Ellen Hansdatter (buried in Salt Lake City under the name Ellen Christophersen) other than a cemetery and burial record. 

The other day I was reading one of my favorite blogs, http://herstoryan.blogspot.com/, and a post about finding an exciting obituary, and I immediately thought about my ggg-grandmother Ellen who died in 1899.  This is a few years before there are available death records in Utah, so finding an obituary was my only real hope for learning more information.  So I thought, "What the heck," and I googled the search term "Utah Newspaper Archives" and found the site http://digitalnewspapers.org/.  I then browsed by county, Salt Lake City, and put in the keyword name Ellen Christophersen.  The obituary literally took me a minute to find.

Unfortunately, the obituary doesn't say how she died, but it is still a very exciting find!  Once I had my first hit, I figured I should try to find the obituaries for Martin and Hans Christophersen.  In a matter of minutes I found one for Martin and a funeral announcement for Hans (not shown).  The obituary for Martin has a lot of interesting information, so read on...

Stay tuned for more finds.

Found Descendants of my Great Uncle Christen

A few posts ago I wrote regarding my search for two great uncles who had come to America (http://haugenhistory.blogspot.com/2009/12/tale-of-two-great-uncles.html).  UPDATE: I was able to find the descendants of one of them and have made contact.

This has been extremely exciting.  By tracing the deceased son of my great-uncle, I was able to find records with the name of his children, and long-story-short, Google is a powerful thing!  I found the children and emailed my way to finally receiving a response from two of Christen's grandchildren.  This led me to finding out that one of Christen's children was still alive!  She was born in 1917, and I have talked and emailed with her daughter as well.  This was wonderful because I was able to find out quite a bit about Christen and his life in North Dakota.  He was a homesteader in Fertile Divide who met a widow, Inga, and they had three children.  Christen was quite the musician, and he had played for the King's band in Norway.  He continued to play his trumpet in Grenora, ND.  I also found out how harsh life could be in ND in the winter as I was told he would have to ride his horses in bitterly cold winter weather, 20 miles both ways, to buy coal to keep the home warm.

Here is a synopsis of things I learned from Christen's daughter:

1. Her father said he skied a lot down the hill close to his home in Norway,  and he had to walk up the hill (makes sense since the Jordbaerhaugen farm is on a hill)
2. He played the trumpet in the King's Band in Norway (I mentioned this already)
3. He was a physical fitness advocate, and every night he would lead his children in exercises
4. He started a band in Grenora-played for barn dances, at the church, anywhere they would let him!
5. He had a beautiful singing voice and started the Haug quartet with his wife and two older children

6. They belonged to Bethany Lutheran Church

7. He liked to be called Chris

I was able to inform Christen's descendants regarding the location of Jordbaerhaugen, the farm that gave them the surname Haug.  Christen's daughter had never seen a picture of her grandparents (my great-great grandparents), so that was pretty awesome to share.  I also sent some pictures of my grandmother, her first cousin.  I am in the process of collecting some more information and things to send, and they are looking for more pictures to send me.  I am posting one picture I have received so far (see below).  Christen is on the far left with his three children.  I am also posting a picture of Christen's brother, Kristian Olausen Jordbaerhaugen -- my great-grandfather.

Far left, Christen Olausen Jordbaerhaugen (1881 - 1938) or Christen Olausen Haug, in North Dakota with his children.  Photo taken July 9, 1936.

My great-grandfather Kristian Olausen Jordbaerhaugen ( 1878 - 1962)

One of Christen's grandchildren sent me a link to help me locate Christen's grave.  He is incorrectly listed as "Christian" Haug, but his grave is still there, along with his wife, Inga, and a number of other relatives.  If you would like to find a grave, the site http://www.findagrave.com/index.html is pretty good!

Next on my to-do list is to track down the other brother, Nils.  I had traced him from Norway to Ellis Island to North Dakota where his brother Christen lived.  It looks like the family rumor that he went to Canada is true, and I am attempting to contact descendants in British Columbia.  I will let you know more once I know for sure this is the right family.

Tombstone Tuesday

On Christmas eve, my uncle in Norway sent a picture of my grandparent's grave.  Shown is the traditional candle lit in their memory.  This was really nice.

Tombstone Tuesday

Visit to Baerums Verk, Norway, June 1999.  My son and niece take care of my grandfather's grave -- Thorolf Johannes Haugen (1914-1981).

A Tale of Two Great Uncles

The first time I eyed the Baerums Verk Slekstbok on my grandmother's bookshelf, I was hooked.  Norway is wonderfully rich in its genealogical information, and they even do it for you, publishing it in volumes of bygdeboks by parish, or in this case, a slektsbok (genealogy book) for the town.  It was 1994 when I first leafed through one of these books and read the history of one of my grandmother's lines that went back to 1647.  Names, birth and death dates, farms... it was all there.  Note: I have since found some errors in the information, but who cares!  It makes the research so much easier.  I believe I have stated in a previous post how curious I was regarding the names of those who "reise til America" or left for America.  Where did they go? Who are their descendants? Where do they live today?  I hoped to find out one day, and so here I am, years later, having nearly accomplished finding all who left Norway for the land of opportunity  -- those I know about anyway. 

I have posted before on finding my great-great grandmother's brothers, and even her mother (my ggg-grandmother), who left Norway for Salt Lake City in the early 1870s.  They were converted Mormons, which was a big surprise to me, and they are all buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.  I made a connection with a descendant who sent me pictures of their graves and some information, too.  But I also had two others on my family tree who went to America that I needed to find.  They are my grandmother's two uncles, or great uncles to me.  I was stumped for a while, because they had obviously changed their names when they arrived.  One of the brothers went back to visit the family in Norway in the late 50s or early 60s.  I believe my grandmother or her siblings may have kept contact with him at one time, and they probably once had an address.  But that information has surely gone with them to their graves.  Therefore, I have been trying on my own to find the two brothers, Christen Olausen Jordbaerhaugen (b. August 6, 1881) and Nils Olausen Jordbaerhaugen (b. October 31, 1885) (shown in the picture, left). 

The first records I found were from the Digitalarkivet emigration database (found in http://digitalarkivet.uib.no/cgi-win/WebFront.exe?slag=vis&tekst=meldingar&spraak=e).  After inputting several variations of my great-uncle's names, I found their departure records.  Christen left Norway on April 28, 1905.  He traveled on the Angelo from Kristiania/Oslo to Hull, England and then crossed over to Quebec on the Bavarian.  After more digging, I found a record showing he crossed the border into the U.S. on May 13, 1905 and was heading to Towner, North Dakota.  I believe he later lived in Fertile Valley, Divide, North Dakota, and he shortened Jordbaerhaugen to Haug (and who would blame him).  I found several records of a Christen O. Haug, and in some cases Christ O Haug or Christen Olausen Haug.  The birth dates and year of immigration match this person.  He married Inga from Minnesota and had a few children listed on different census records -- Sylvia, another sister, and Chester.  I was able to trace Chester Haug from North Dakota to Minnesota.  The North Dakota Death Index told me that Christen died December 26, 1938 at the age of 57, in Rolette County, and his son Chester died in Minnesota in 2002 (Social Security Death Index). 

The Angelo brought Christen Olausen Jordbaerhaugen to Hull, England.  It left Kristiania on April 28, 1905.  Below is a picture of the Bavarian, which he sailed on from Liverpool, England to Quebec, Canada.  Photos courtesy of www.norwayheritage.com .  Check out the site for detailed information on these and all ships Norwegian immigrants sailed toward a new life.

Chester had three children, who are living, so I will not name them here in case they don't wish to be publicized.  I have been trying to find a way to contact them to verify they are descendants.  But I am pretty sure my research is right.  I had posted this search on Ancestry, since I am still a bit wobbly searching records in the U.S.; most of my research has been in Europe.  But over the course of a week, I managed to find all the above information.  Then suddenly, someone posted a response to my query with the same exact research results (except for Christen's death record, which I had not found yet).  He/she seemed like an expert, so I feel like my conclusions are accurate and verified.  Hopefully a descendant will verify further.  Of course, I have this idea that everyone in the world is interested in their genealogy, so I am thinking of how much information I can give Christen's grandchildren about their grandfather's home in Norway.  Their father, Chester, was pretty young when Christen died, so their history in Norway may have been lost to them.  And I know a lot about that history and where their name Haug came from -- the Jordbaerhaugen farm that still exists in Lommedalen, Baerum, Norway (near Oslo).  

Another good reason for me to find a descendant to communicate with is that I have yet to find as much information about the brother, Nils Olausen Jordbaerhaugen.  He is the one who came to visit the family in the 50s or 60s, and I even have pictures of that visit (one is posted above).  I know that he left Norway on March 23, 1907, on the Montebello, and headed to where his brother was living in Towner, ND.  He departed from Liverpool on the Caronia and came through Ellis Island.  He used the surname Jordbaerhaugen, which was spelled Jordbarhauen on the ship manifest.  He also traveled with four friends from Lommedalen.  The manifest mentions him going to ND to his brother.  But after Ellis Island, he disappears.  Yet I know he was alive in the States at least through the early 60s.  So what did he change his name to?  I have tried every variation of his name that I can think of, but no cigar!  So, I hope one of Christen's descendants might know where he lived and his American name.

A picture of the Montebello in Kristiania as passengers board to start their journey to Hull, England.  Nils Olausen Jordbaerhaugen sailed on this ship, leaving March 23, 1907, on his way to meet his brother Christen who now resided in Towner, North Dakota, USA.  He sailed with 4 friends from Lommedalen, Norway.  Below is the picture of the Caronia the 5 friends sailed on from Liverpool, England to Ellis Island, New York.  He arrived on April 5, 1907.  Photos are a courtesy of www.norwayheritage.com .

Recap, in case by some miracle someone with information reads my blog: Christen Haug was born Christen (or Kristen) Olausen Jordbaerhaugen on August 6, 1881.  There is a draft registration card from WWI that says 1882, but this is incorrect.  Christen died 12/26/1938 in Rolette County, North Dakota -- correct birth date of August 6, 1881 in this record. He lived in Fertile Valley, Divide, ND through several census records with wife Inga.  Nils was born Nils Olausen Jordbaerhaugen, Oct 31, 1885.  The last record I have of him, as I mentioned earlier, is him going through Ellis Island upon arrival on April 5, 1907.  Their birth, baptism, and confirmation records are recorded in Vestre Baerum parish, Akershus, Norway.

Wordless Wednesday

Summer of 1999, Baerums Verk, Norway.  My son met his great-grandmother -- my Bestemor.

You don't really know where you're going until you know where you've been...

I heard the line in my blog title in a movie tonight, and it really clicked with me. Maybe this is why I am so interested in the past.

I have been working on my grandmother's line lately. I found out that my grandmother's maternal grandparents were first cousins. This was probably not so unusual at the time. I also discovered a gggg-grandfather from Denmark (Agger Sogn) who was a constable. He was born circa 1780, but I need to find his Danish birth record. One good thing is that Danish records are freely available the way Norwegian ones are. Also, Norway was a union with Denmark during this time, so it makes sense. I admit that I still need to look up more about this part of Norwegian history.

Another interesting aspect of genealogy is looking at death records. Many of them tell you what caused a person's death. I find that tuberculosis, cough, pneumonia, etc... caused the most deaths. I am sure the flu was probably a much bigger killer than it is today, and people often died from complications. I did run into one strange cause of death. One of my ggg-grandmothers was married once before to a man who died by "naturlige kopper." They had a baby daughter who also died a few months later by "naturlige kopper." I assumed that this was copper poisoning, but my father says it is small pox.  

Some other things I have been working on is planning the reunion in Norway. I have a Web site going, but I wanted to complete my grandmother's tree a bit better before going live. Then I hope to contact my grandmother's sibling's relatives through the Web site, and I also hope to contact all other relatives, too. I am still hoping to have some pictures found, especially the pictures that belonged to my grandmother's sister, Astrid. As I said in my last post, they ended up somewhere after she died. But I have found a way to get still-shots from video -- I have a video I took in the 90's of my grandmother's and her sister's pictures. So I tried to get some still-shots from it, which I am posting below. They did come out a bit warped and blurry, but I am posting a few here to give you an idea how they come out. I hope to find the originals so I can have them scanned instead and be of much better quality.

Gunnar, Kjell, and Trygve in front. Gyda, my grandmother, and her sister Astrid behind the boys. Rex the dog, too. This picture was taken circa 1926.

The oldest boy here is John, and then the other boys are Olav, Oivind, and Gunnar (the youngest). Raghnild is the oldest girl, my grandmother Gyda is on the left, and Astrid is the youngest girl in the picture. Gunnar was born in 1917, so judging by his age in the picture, this was taken circa 1920. My grandmother was around 7 years old in this picture. Trygve was probably just born, and Kjell was yet to come.

Three sisters, Gyda, Raghnild, and Astrid

Gyda, Raghnild, and Astrid

Astrid and Gyda

Jonette Kristoffersdatter Jordbaerhaugen and Olaus Kristensen Jordbaerhaugen

Ellen Hansdatter's (Christophersen) grave in Salt Lake City, Utah (1822 - 1899)

Early in September, I posted some exciting news about finding my great-great grandmother's brother, Martin Christophersen, who had left for America circa 1871. My gg-grandmother, Jonette Kristoffersdatter, stayed in Norway, and her line continued there until my father came to the U.S. in the 50's. Strangely, though, I discovered Jonette's mother, my ggg-grandmother Ellen Hansdatter, had left for America with her two sons, Hans and Martin (pictured below). They were converted Mormons and moved to Salt Lake City where they died and are buried today -- Ellen Hansdatter's grave is pictured with the surname Christophersen.  She is buried next to her sons, Martin and Hans Christophersen. So I am a first-generation American with a ggg-grandmother who lived and died in Utah. 

As far as I know, my grandmother did not know what happened to her great-grandmother and grand-uncles. However, it seems that Jonette was not raised by her mother, so perhaps she did not talk much about her own mother to my grandmother. Jonette's father died when she was about 9 years old, so this could be why she was raised by her mother's sister, Anne Hansdatter, in Skollerud (Vestre Baerum, Akershus). Jonette later married Olaus Kristensen, and circa 1883, they moved to Jordbaerhaugen farm in Vestre Baerum. As far as I know, they are the first ancestors living at Jordbaerhaugen. They had 10 children, and 7 children were born at Jordbaerhaugen farm.

Martin Christophersen 1850 - 1927

I have been searching for the pictures of Jonette and Olaus for a while now. My grandmother's sister Astrid had their pictures on her wall, but I don't know where the pictures ended up after she died. My uncle is helping me find out where all my aunt Astrid's pictures may be. However, I was smart several years ago and video-taped all my grandmother's and my Aunt Astrid's pictures. The problem is that the videotape isn't very good, and when I try and take a still-shot off the video, the picture is a bit blurry and warped. Nonetheless, I was quite lucky to get pretty good still-shots of both Jonette and Olaus.

Jonette Kristoffersdatter Jordbaerhaugen 1853-1921

Olaus Kristensen Jorbaerhaugen 1846 - 1915

Treasure Chest Thursday

When my bestemor died, I didn't get too many things, but I loved all I was given because they reminded me of her. I have the serving dishes she used on a daily basis, coffee cups, two of her mother's Bibles (one was my great-grandmother Gustava Jonsen's confirmation Bible, and the other was the Bible given when she married my great-grandfather Kristian Olausen Jordbaerhaugen). I also received a porcelain container filled with her jewelry.

Now, if you knew my grandmother, then you know she was not one to spend money on frivolous things -- jewelry included, I think. So her jewelry at first glance does not seem like much if I take away the sentimental value. Nonetheless, yesterday I decided I wanted to get the tarnish off the jewelry; they are mostly silver pieces. My eyes locked onto a locket made of painted enamel. Inside, the Roman numerals XXVI are etched into both sides. I can only guess what the numbers stand for, and the only plausible explanation is the year 1926. So, I looked up "floral enamel jewelry," and as it turns out, the Art Deco or Art Nouveou jewelry was quite popular at the turn of the 20th century through to the 1920's. So the year 1926 theory may be accurate. That would put my grandmother at 13 years old. So, of course, now I wonder where she got the piece at that age. Was it a birthday or Christmas gift? Did it belong to her mother? It is very frustrating that I will probably never know the answer to these questions. 

After studying the locket as much as possible, I moved on to a brooch with the same enamel and floral style design. The brooch is about 2 inches in diameter, and I guessed it was also made circa 1920; this seems accurate according to what I have read on the internet, and in the Scandinavian Jewelry books I have read on Amazon using the "look inside" feature. When I turned the brooch around, I noticed a stamp. It said G.G. 925 s. Well, as it turns out Norway would always mark the silver 925 to show it was the highest quality silver. But the initials G.G. had me curious. So I did some more googling and found a few similar pieces to the one I had -- nature designs, the same size and shape brooch, and the stamp, all made in Norway by Gustav Gaudernack (1865 - 1914). He was a goldsmith and designer born in Bohemia who went to Norway in 1891 where he lived in Kristiania until his death. According to this site http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Gustav_Gaudernack/utdypning, Gustav Gaudernack was one of Norway's first designers who earned an international reputation, though he is not too well known in the United States. I read on a different site that he specialized in enamel and nature designs, like animals and flowers. He went to work for the jeweler David Andersen, and he was instrumental in their designs, also for their glass works. The David Andersen company still exists today. However, Gaudernack also had his own store, starting around 1910, and when he died, his widow and son continued to make enamel jewelry. It also seems that his grandson, Christian Gaudernack, continues to make jewelry today in the Baerum area. 
But, getting back to the brooch, I read on the site for the link above, that from about 1900, Gaudernack concentrated on the Art Nouveau movement. It was with the flowing style of the flowers and insects that he had his international breakthrough, and it is the one he is remembered for today.

So now this floral piece has more meaning and more questions from me. According to other sites I found selling similar pieces, I am pretty sure the brooch is from the 1920's at the latest. I believe it was either made by Gustav Gaudernack himself in his shop before 1914, or it was made in his name by his wife or son during the 20's. My grandmother would still have been a girl, so I wonder if she received the piece then or later in life, maybe from her mother. The locket doesn't have the stamp, but it looks very similar in style, so it may have been made by the son after his death. This would fit with the 1926 etching theory, and perhaps it is the reason there is no hallmark stamp. Either way, both pieces are unique and very pretty! I truly feel like I discovered treasure yesterday.

Bestemor's Kringler... Well, Sort Of...

When I would visit my bestemor (grandmother), cakes, pastries, waffles -- you name it -- would miraculously appear. I really don't know how or when she would create her specialties, but I can tell you one thing -- they were good! She used to grow rhubarb and strawberries in her backyard and, voila, strawberry rhubarb pie on the coffee table. But getting a recipe from her was near impossible. "A pinch of this and a fistful of that," was what she would tell me. I had a hard time explaining I needed measurements. Bestemor had been throwing stuff into a bowl for so long, she didn't need the ol' faithful measuring cup. So here is my attempt at her Kringler recipe. I'm sure it isn't right, but it's as close as I'll get.

4-1/2 cups flour

2 packages active dry yeast

1 teaspoon cardammon

1-1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp salt

1 egg

2 cups raisins

Combine 2-1/2 cups flour, yeast, and cardammon. Heat and stir the milk, sugar, butter, and salt until warm (about 120 degrees F). Add the warm mixture to the dry ingredients; add one egg and beat with a mixer for 1 minute at low speed. Beat 3 more minutes at high speed. Add raisins to the mix. Add as much of the rest of the flour, 2 to 2-1/2 cups, and mix with a spoon until your arm is tired. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead in any remaining flour until stiff and elastic. Shape the dough into a ball and put into a greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double. Punch the dough and divide it in two. Cover each half and let rest 15 minutes. Shape the dough into two round or oval loaves, or into the shape of a horseshoe. Place the dough onto a greased baking sheet. Let rise for about an hour until nearly double. Stir one egg yolk and 2 tablespoons water and brush over the loaves. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes. Cool on a rack and sprinkle some powdered sugar, or create a sugary drizzle and stick crushed almonds on top.