Vær Så God... Tusen Takk!

Curious about the words above? Here's a translation:

"Vær så god" literally means "be so good" as in "be so good as to join me." It is an idiom often used to call everyone to the table, and would mean "here you go" or "dig in." I'm using it somewhat liberally in this post, with the emphasis on "join me." 

"Tusen takk" means "a thousand thanks." I heard "tusen takk" or "mange takk" over and over as a child. If my parents visited at a friend's house, it was "tusen takk" as they left. "Mange takk" is "many thanks."

I'm sure that Otto and Henrietta used these words often in the restaurant. There was a certain pleasure and pride in offering hospitality, never mind the hard work. Otto spent most of his daylight hours at the restaurant. For a while, he even ran two restaurants on Main Street until a friend pointed out that Otto was competing with himself. Maybe that struck a chord because soon he was back to one restaurant.

Once her children were old enough, Henrietta went to help at the restaurant. I think everyone shared jobs there, but apparently she baked all the pies. In order to take care of household needs, she sometimes hired a woman to come to the house and sew for her. This beautiful quilt, passed down to me, is an example. 

I remember sleeping under this quilt as a child, especially when we had a full house. We think it was made by one of Grandma's seamstresses, perhaps a woman from the Fossum family.

This brings us to an early memory. My sister Marion remembers walking with Margaret, Emil Jr. and our cousin, Virginia Ike, from the restaurant to Otto and Henrietta's one evening when they were all quite young. They walked along the dirt alleyway, between big bushes and through scary shadows, and into Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was dark inside so they turned on a light, probably a single lightbulb in the ceiling, when they saw an old woman, unknown to them, come out of the pantry. Her hair was white, her gown was long and white, and she spoke a language they didn't understand. Maybe she was a ghost! The kids screamed and ran back to the restaurant.  Once they explained their fright and were calmed down, they found out that she was a seamstress, a friend to the family, hired to come and do some sewing for Grandma. Whew! Close call!!! 

Virginia Ike, Marion & Margaret play wedding.

My family had many reasons to say "mange takk" to Otto and Henrietta. During the depression, when my oldest siblings were small and my father was between jobs, our grandparents said "vær så god" and our family moved in with them. Several times my older siblings lived there, went to school in Spring Grove, ate at the restaurant, and slept in the upstairs of the big old house. They remember those days fondly, and surely we can't say "tusen takk" enough for the generous support of our family.

Three Brothers:

Jacob & Johanna...Otto & Henrietta... Edward & Ingen

Otto had three brothers who emigrated to the US, several seen in the photo above. Jacob and Johanna moved to North Dakota to pursue farming. Edward and Ingen lived in Spring Grove and raised ten children there. The tenth was a boy named Timan, which translates from Norwegian to "tenth man." I rather love that bit of the story, especially since our family had ten kids also. 

Hans Evenson

Otto's brother Hans went to prospect for gold in the Klondike and, like many others, he came back penniless and in poor health. Apparently Otto again said "vær så god" because Hans lived with Otto and Henrietta for a while, and would be seen in the restaurant.  When Hans died, Otto provided a gravestone by donating a portion of the marble countertop from the restaurant. 

You can still find it in the Trinity Cemetery in Spring Grove.

Mange tusen takk to Otto and Henrietta, for all their hard work and hospitality. And tusen takk to all who stop by to read about them. Much appreciated!

Husker Du? Part II of Otto Evenson's Restaurant

Long before "husker du?" referred to a rock band, it was a phrase used by many Scandinavians.  "Husker du?" asks... do you remember?  Although I remember my grandparents and the town of Spring Grove, I don't personally remember the restaurant. It closed before my time. Still, it has been a rich topic of conversation with family members as I've asked... husker du?  Here are some of our stories.

 Otto's business evolved over its 40-year lifetime. Below is a photo showing Otto Evenson's Cafe in the early 1900s. 

By the time my dad was four or five years old, serving as the batboy for the the Spring Grove Baseball team as seen in this photo circa 1908, you can see at least one team member and possibly several are sponsored by Otto Evenson's Restaurant. No longer a cafe, it was now a restaurant. When I imagine sewing all those letters on a shirt, I have to laugh. By current standards we might name the restaurant Otto's, or Otto's and Etta's... and the name would be embroidered or printed on by machine. Not so easy in 1908.

Anyway, that's my dad, Emil Evenson, in front of my Grandpa Otto. Otto loved sports, but especially baseball. He often listened to games on the radio and attended local games whenever he could. Fact: The first World Series was played in 1903. Baseball was big...

Spring Grove was never big, but in the early 1900's it had something of a heyday. It had a baseball team, an opera house and it also hosted Chautauqua assemblies. I was pleased to learn that Spring Grove also had it's own cartoonist, Peter J. Rosendahl, who included Otto in some of his cartoons. This one shows a Totning festival... folks from the Toten area of Norway celebrating their heritage. Otto was a Totning, and you can see him in the middle right of the cartoon, standing next to barrels labelled Flatbrød and Sur Melk.  Flatbrød is a traditional Norwegian unleavened bread that has a long history, a staple food for shepherds, peasants and Vikings. The original ingredients were barley flour, salt and water, although over time every family made their own variations on this theme. It is served with just about anything, often fish and potatoes topped with sour cream. Otto may have sold it as a light meal, or as a sweet treat with berries and sour cream or "sur melk." From what I can gather, Norwegians love milk, cream, cheese, and butter... and more is better.

Speaking of dairy products, Grandpa always served ice cream at his soda fountain and with his desserts. The grandkids loved it! Talking about ice cream brought up a story about Grandpa Otto and an ice cream salesman. In the early '40s when money was tight, the Dolly Madison ice cream supplier came to the restaurant and took pains to show Grandpa how to save money by serving a scoop of ice cream that looked full and round, but was actually hollow. Grandpa watched, becoming more and more irate as the salesman proceeded. Otto Evenson's Restaurant was known to serve a good honest meal. How dare someone suggest he cheat his customers out of a full scoop of ice cream? He couldn't stand for such a thing! Otto took the salesman by the neck... and I remember that Grandpa had big strong hands... and ushered him out of his restaurant.  No trickery! Otto would serve a full scoop!

Located at Front and Main streets in downtown La Crosse, the Dolly Madison Dairy began in 1919 as the Tri-State Ice Cream Corp., a company formed from two earlier companies.

In 1939, the company’s name became Dolly Madison, in honor of President James Madison’s wife, Dolley, who was the first person to serve ice cream in the White House. In the 1970s the company became part of Marigold Foods and later was absorbed by Kemp's.

That's my post for today. If you missed the first post about Otto's Restaurant, you can find it here.  I'll share more about Otto and the restaurant in the future. Don't miss it, I've saved some of the funniest stories just for you.

Velkommen til Otto Evenson's Cafe

 Meet my paternal grandparents, Otto Evenson & Henrietta Quinnell Evenson, both of Norwegian descent. Henrietta's parents emigrated from Norway to Iowa, and Henrietta was born in Iowa City in 1881.

 

Otto, his brothers, and their wives.  Otto and Henrietta are the couple in the middle.

Otto was born in 1870 on a farm near Toten, Norway. Several of his brothers had already come to the U.S., so at age 15 he left his home country, arriving in the U.S. in 1885. At first Otto tried farming or working in sawmills, but five years after he married Henrietta he started a restaurant in Spring Grove.

Otto married Henrietta in 1898

Spring Grove, Minnesota, was the first Norwegian settlement in Minnesota, located in the beautiful southeast corner of the state. Otto's establishment moved between several buildings over his 40+ years in business, the photo below pictures an early one. That's Otto in a bowler hat on the left. 

Below is a later picture, probably in a different building. You can see Henrietta in her apron, and Otto beside her. They sold candy and tobacco and other small items in the front, had a soda fountain in the middle, and tables farther back. Otto sold so much Wrigley's gum that he won two chairs and a cocoa set. 

The restaurant was open all day every day from 1904 until 1945. It became a home away from home, not just to Otto and family, but to many in the community.  Townsfolk would come in for a cup of coffee and a piece of pie, notice a loose button on a coat or shirt, and ask for a needle and thread to sew the button. And sometimes, having been supplied with needle and thread, the person might even complain that the needle was the wrong size for the task at hand.

Here's a blurb from Spring Grove: Minnesota's First Norwegian Settlement by Chad Muller:

My grandpa liked to be generous. During the depression, Otto wanted to serve a good meal for a little as possible. He offered a blue plate special of roast beef, potatoes and gravy, peas, and a scoop of ice cream for dessert. The charge was 5¢... over the years it went up to 25¢. 

Otto also had a sense of humor. When my dad, Emil, was a student at Luther College, in Decorah, IA, he would bring friends back to dinner at the restaurant. Otto would get out all the hats he could find (I assume both men's and women's) and put them on one after another, improvising a persona with each one and causing much hilarity.  The teachers in town often ate at Otto's, and he once got them laughing so hard that a teacher had to step outside and catch her breath before coming back to finish her meal. 

One of my brothers, being a small child at the time, was fascinated by a cigar lighter in the restaurant. If you bought a cigar, you could light it and smoke it right there! 

He remembers the Midland Jump Spark Cigar Lighter. The spark would be fascinating. 

I can't say the same for the cigar smoke.

My older siblings remember eating at the restaurant. It seems that grandparents were known for spoiling even then. Pies and ice creams were shared liberally, and jack knives were given to the boys, perhaps even before the boys were old enough for them.  

Grandpa was proud of his restaurant and the hospitality shown there. He and his family worked hard to provide good meals in a clean and inviting atmosphere. As his family grew up they all helped in the restaurant. Even when his own children got jobs of their own, he would call them at their jobs to say that he needed them at the restaurant. I don't know how that turned out, but I do know that these photos make me wish I could have seen it myself. 

I'll share more stories about Otto, Henrietta and the restaurant in days to come. Please stop back for more...

The Generosity of a Poet

Back in November, when life seemed normal, an unusual and wonderful thing happened.  As I was thinking about a blog post before Thanksgiving, I thought of a favorite poem titled "Applesauce" by Ted Kooser.  It gives me a warm feeling of family and kitchen, and I thought it would be perfect for the post I wanted to write.




Kooser's poetry is honest and down-to-earth, insightful and surprising. In short, it is some of my favorite. So, with that in mind, I decided to get in touch with him and see if he would give me permission to use his poem on my blog. I figured I had little to lose.

Thinking back on it, I should have known better. Publishing is a business and needs to be respected as such, poets certainly need an income, and it was cheeky of me to ask a favor of someone I've never even met. I suppose I let my optimism overtake all that. Instead, I played my only cards.  Kooser is a life-long Nebraskan and I grew up in Omaha so we share midwestern background, we both are interested in poetry, and I appreciate his work. I e-mailed my request.

Here's the interesting part. Very shortly I received a reply email from Mr. Kooser himself, saying that NO, I could not use the poem in question.... BUT... he offered me a poem of his that had not been published.



Can you believe it??? Because I can't. That was in November, and I still can't believe it. Nonetheless it is true, and today I offer you, for its debut in the blogosphere and in the world... a new poem by Ted Kooser!

Toad 

This leather bag of dimes goes hop by hop 

over the highway, a motion like that of 

a token in a board game, the little purse 

moved forward a square at a time as if 

making a bid, one toad on offer in exchange 

for something of value hidden in weeds 

in the opposite ditch. Could be a puddle 

of silver, or another few days in this world.

© Ted Kooser

A leather bag of dimes...What an unforgettable image! Hop by hop it goes, putting it all on the line. And who knows what the future holds? The toad is fully in the game, we know that much.

In case Ted Kooser is new to you, you should know that he was named the US Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry in 2004. Many of his poems feature midwestern themes or scenes that leave me nodding my head and smiling. They ring so true. Read more about Ted here. You can read his Applesauce poem here.

I am most thankful to Mr. Kooser for sharing his poem with me, and I take it as a gesture of midwestern generosity that he did so. Generosity is one reason why I love the midwest, and why you will find me mentioning it again and again.

Head on over to Carol Varsalona's Beyond Literacy Link for the Poetry Friday gathering. She's sharing some of her beautiful collection of Nature Nurtures 2020... words to help us all through this unwieldy time.  Thanks so much for hosting, Carol!

My best to you all for a good Memorial Day Weekend.