One of the presents I received for my birthday last week was a copy of the delightful Swedish Cultural Coloring [sic] Book. It was produced in 1976 by Nancy L Hedlund of West Covina, California. The copy I was given has an inscription on the inside of the front cover which had me intrigued.
Something that piqued my interest was how the inscription wasn’t to anyone in particular and how it, and the book as a whole, was in English. In fact, the book is crammed with lots of detailed, cultural information about Sweden. It’s a fascinating little book which somehow found its way to the Trosa loppis. And, for some reason, it remains in its pristine state; no-one coloured it in.
It turns out that Nancy produced the book in order to help finance a performance tour of Sweden by the Junior Folk Dance Club, a part of the Vasa Order of America. Nancy spent hours over many books, loaned to her by members of the club and friends, in order to write the book. It’s handy to remember there wasn’t an Internet in 1976.
Originally, the Vasa Order of America was an association of Swedish men, immigrants to the USA, who got together in order to help fellow Swedes integrate and learn the language, try and become part of the cultural landscape within the newly chosen country. The Order started in 1896, in New Haven, Connecticut
And the Vasa order is still in operation. The West Covina lodge is only one among 150 scattered across the country. I haven’t been able to find anything about the current West Covina branch, but I have found the Minneapolis/St. Paul area Vasa Junior Folk Dance Club. It has been in operation since 1927 and, to quote their website, aims to “…preserve Swedish dance, traditions, and heritage; and to share Swedish culture with the community.“
There are lots of photographs of happy, smiling Americans dressed in colourful Swedish traditional clothes.
Obviously, they have annual Midsummer and St Lucia festivals as well as other Swedish themed events. Of course there’s a lot of dancing and singing but, given they are mostly kids, the drinking of schnapps is not mentioned.
What I find especially intriguing is how, originally the Vasa Order was created to introduce Swedes to the New World and, nowadays, the Vasa Order exists to re-introduce people to Sweden. I am always amazed at this search for a new identity, but this reversal of intent is delightfully obtuse.
I haven’t been able to find anything out about how the 1976 dancing tour of Sweden went, which is a pity. I hope the book sold enough copies to make the tour possible. After all the work that Nancy put into it, I’d like to think it was a success.
Mirinda reckons we should give the book to guests and have them colour a page. Just the one page, mind. We have a lot of guests, and it will quickly get filled up.
