Emil turns 50 - congratulations!

Emil in Lönneberga aka Emil Svensson lives with his family on a 

farm called Katthult, set in the village of Lönneberga a few miles from the 

town of Vimmerby. He has fair hair and blue eyes and looks like an angel, 

but is not, as he also has a prodigious knack for getting into trouble. Contrary 

to what most people around him think, Emil is not malicious, but does 

not think about the consequences of his actions....

It is 50 years since we met Emil in Lönneberga for the first time, 

the mischievous character created by the amazing author Astrid Lindgren, 

for the first time. Emil is still the wildest five-year-old in the province of 

Småland in southern Sweden...and he is still loved by children (...and 

grown ups) all over the world

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Emil, played by Jan Ohlsson (1962-)
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Emil’s official jubilee date is 23 May 2013, and to celebrate 

the sweet mischief-maker from Småland, Rörstrand has created 

a jubilee mug. The design is a cavalcade of Björn Berg’s popular 

illustrations of Emil and the other characters on Katthult Farm

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Eeeemiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiill...

 Emil states at one point that 'you don't make up pranks, they just happen'. 

The pranks come from kindly actions gone wrong, childish games, curiosity, 

bad luck and simple thoughtlessness. Most of the time Emil plays a prank, he escapes 

his choleric father's wrath by running away quickly and locking himself in a tool shed. 

Since the door can also be locked from the outside, his father responds by locking 

him in there for a while as punishment. Emil is usually embarrassed by what he has 

done, but it is not a severe punishment for Emil, who likes sitting in the shed and 

takes to carving a wooden figure during each of his stays. He eventually 

accumulates 369 of them, except for the one his mother buries 

because she claims it looks too much like the rural dean. 

Emil is extremely intelligent and creative, and tends 

to think in very unconventional ways, which the 

adults are more likely to misunderstand 

than to understand

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Alma Svensson - Emil's (and Ida's) mother -

writes about Emil's latest pranks...'He is a good boy, but...'

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Illustrations by Björn Berg

Purchase the poster here

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 Ida and Emil

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 Emil carving yet another wooden figure...
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He made 369 wooden firgures...369!
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 The wooden figures come in many forms and shapes...
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If ever there was a good boy...and a good friend

Emil is such a good and brave boy! Remember when he saves the 

farmhand Alfred's life when he had blood poisoning? Alfred was near 

death and the road to the doctor was covered in snow from a severe blizzard. 

Emil defied the bad weather and traveled by horse and sleigh to the 

doctor, thus saving Alfred's life. And Emil did that all on his own!

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...you and me, Alfred....you and me, Emil...

Two very friends...

 Emil, played by Jan Ohlsson (1962-) and
Alfred, played by Björn Gustafson (1934-)

Alfred and Emil, by Björn Berg

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....and remember when Emil...?

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Yes???! So do I...oh, my...!

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...and so that story ended...

Silver and textile jewellery by Karin Ferner

The Swedish silversmith Karin Ferner's website

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By the artist Kuutti Lavonen

 Rafael

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Kuutti Lavonen (born 7 February 1960 in Kotka, Finland) is a 

Finnish painter, photographer, and graphic artist, who has worked 

as professor at the Academy of Fine Arts (Finland)

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Gabriele

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Uriel

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Yrjö Ollila (1887-1932): 'Gulf of Finland'

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'Spyd'/'Spear' from Ferm Living

'Spyd'/'Spear' from Ferm Living. Ferm Living draws 

on Scandinavian desgin traditions and retro charm - but with a distinctive 

graphic edge that makes every item firmly contempoary. Ferm Living is rooted 

in Denmark, where Trine Andersen founded a graphic design studio in 2005 

who then expanded her business into interior products out of the frustration 

of the unavailability of items to furnish her home.

'Spear' tray - small and large

The trays are made with an birch veneer 

bottom and an oak wood frame.

 100% organic cotton canvas 'Spear' cushion
Filing: feather and down

'Spear' porcelain bowl

Oskar Levertin (1862-1906)

Carl Larsson: 'Oscar Levertin', 1906

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Oscar Ivar Levertin (1862-1906) was a Swedish poet, critic 

and literary historian. Levertin was a dominant voice of the Swedish 

cultural scene from 1897, when he started writing influential high-profile essays 

and reviews in the daily paper Svenska Dagbladet. From 1899 until his early 

death in 1906 he also occupied the first Chair of literary history at the  

University of Stockholm, in which role he published extensive studies, 

particularly in Swedish 18th century literature

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Oskar Levertin (1862-1906)

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Carl Larsson: 'Oscar Levertin', 1906

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Hi again!

I hope you have had a GREAT Whitsun!

The skvader

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The skvader is a Swedish fictional creature that was 

constructed in 1918 by the taxidermist Rudolf Granberg and is 

permanently displayed at the museum at Norra Berget in Sundsvall. It 

has the forequarters and hindlegs of a European hare, and the 

back, wings and tail of a female wood grouse

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Skvader by Anna-Karin Bergkvist

~akbergkvist on deviantART

The skvader originates from a tall tale hunting story told by a man 

named Håkan Dahlmark during a dinner at a restaurant in Sundsvall in the 

beginning of the 20th century. To the amusement of the other guests, Dahlmark 

claimed that he in 1874 had shot such an animal during a hunt north of Sundsvall.

 On his birthday in 1907, his housekeeper jokingly presented him with a painting 

of the animal, made by her nephew and shortly before his death in 1912, Dahlmark 

donated the painting to a local museum. During an exhibition in Örnsköldsvik in 

1916 the manager of the museum became acquainted with the taxidermist 

Rudolf Granberg. He then mentioned the hunting story and the painting 

and asked Granberg if he could re-construct the animal. In 1918 

Granberg  had completed the skvader and it has since then 

been a very popular exhibition item at the museum, which 

also has the painting on display

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Vintage Swedish wood skvader figurine, 1950s

Taste Vintage, Etsy

Rudolf Granberg's prepared skvader

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Vintage postcard
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...a few drops of rain...

Children in Ryssa, Sweden 1916

 Photo by Johan Öhman

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Rhubarbs...and rabarbrakake

 Carl Larsson: 'Karin peeling Rhubarb', 1911

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Norwegian rhubarb cake - rabarbrakake

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mace
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar, plus 1-2 tablespoons for rhubarb
• 1/4 cup melted butter, plus more for cake pan
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 large stalks rhubarb  
   Preparation Instructions:
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9 inch round
  cake pan.Slice rhubarb stalks into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle them
  with 1-2 tablespoons sugar. Set aside. In a small bowl, sift together flour,
  baking powder and spices.In a large bowl, beat 2 eggs with 1 cup sugar until
  pale and fluffy. Add almond extract, melted butter, and milk and stir until well
  mixed. Stir in flour mixture and stir until smooth. Pour batter into cake pan and
  scatter the rhubarb pieces over the top. Optional: sprinkle with coarse
  sugar. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted
  into the center comes out clean.
  
  Found here: The Spice House
     

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