Interview with Olaf Rydstrom and Bev Bylund
Interviewed By Marina Moriarty
Mr. Rydstrom's Home, Worcester, MA
November 19, 2000

Marina Moriaty (MM): Are you ready to begin? Can you begin by spelling your name for me?

Olaf Rydstrom (OR): Olaf, O-L-A-F,

MM: And your last name?

OR: Rydstrom, R-Y-D-S-T-R-O-M

MM: And where were you born?

OR: In Sweden.

MM: In Sweden. When did you come to the U.S.?

OR: 1914

MM: How old were you?

OR: 5

MM: Five years old?

OR: Uh, huh.

MM: And did your family move directly to Worcester? Or?

OR: No, we ah, the Canard Line, we came from Sweden, took a train to Cottonberg, a boat to Liverpool, a railroad over to…Olympic…my grandfather lived here in the Village, here. All my relatives lived here as a matter of fact. That's where we came.

MM: So you moved to the Village because you had relatives here already?

OR: Oh yeah, my grandfather, a whole lot of them.

MM: What street did you fist live on?

OR: I lived on 924 Millbury street, then we moved up to Carlstead street, then we moved to Atreed street, Eckman street…and that's where we finished up. And then I bought this place.

MM: Did you go to school in Quinsigamond Village?

OR: I did, I went to eighth grade.

MM: Eighth grade, what was the name of the school?

OR: Quinsigamond , Quinsigamond School….I had to learn English very fast. As a matter of fact the church, the Lutheran church had classes that taught English. That helped a lot. I learned to read and write. Went to the eighth grade and then to high school.

MM: What did you do after high school?

OR: After high school, let me see. I got a job on different farms. Didn't pay nothing. And after that I ah, I worked at Ross Brothers, the agricultural supply house, it was on Commercial Street. Then I worked at Norton company

MM: You worked at Norton company?

OR: I finished there, yeah, worked 31 years there. 15 years at Ross brothers, No 12 years. That was it.

MM: Maybe if we jump ahead a little. How did you hear about the bombing of Peal Harbor?

OR: The radio. We had the radio then, there was no TV.

MM: What was your first thought?

OR: What year was that now?

MM: 1941

OR: I thought it was a rotten thing, but I don't know. It was far away and I didn't think much of it. But then it got worse, so.

MM: Did you have any children during the war?

OR: Yes, I had two of them. I had this one, and her sister. And I joined the Navy. I served a couple years there and ah, I ah, went from Catrole bay, down to, oh yeah, Senegal, where there used to be a big oil station owned by the French. But the Germans got it, we got it back again. Then we took a great big tank, oh yeah. Oil slick 2 miles long and a mile wide. It smelled terrible.

MM: What year did you enter the navy?

OR: 44, yeah.

MM: Were you drafted?

OR: I enlisted.

MM: Why did you enlist?

OR: I really can't think why I enlisted now. I had a good reason in my own mind at that time.

MM: Did you feel that it was important for the US?

OR: I, they took me in. I felt I had to repay them one way or another. Or I tried. Oh boy. I went from [unintelligible portion] in West Africa and from there down to Cape town.

MM: How did you think about the enemy?

OR: I saw, I saw the oil coming up, the poor guys, I felt sorry for them. They were just guys like me.

MM: Did you have any thoughts about the Japanese? Or were they all the same?

OR: They were all the same. War is the dumbest thing. They shouldn't be no war. That's all I can say about the war.

MM: Why did you think that we were fighting the war? If you can remember.

OR: When you join the Navy they put you on a ship, and that's what you do then. That's how you fight the war.

MM: Before you left did you see a lot of patriotic posters and signs?

OR: There were a few. Yeah, not too many. The recruiting station had them. I went to the auditorium to sign up.

MM: I'm sorry, where did you sign up?

OR: The auditorium I think.

MM: Is that downtown Worcester?

OR: Uptown, I think.

MM: Before you left for the war, did you think that the war was something that was happening far away or did you feel…

OR: No, I know exactly what it was. I knew exactly what it was. I wish that it were farther away.

MM: Where did you hear about the news of the war, when you were still at home?

OR: On the radio. There was no TV and it was in the papers too. I'm glad to get home. I was glad to see my wife, my sister.

MM: What did you and your friends in the village talk about right after the bombing happened?

OR: They were pretty mad about it, most of them. We thought it was a bad deal. So did everybody else. They gained nothing by it. It was wrong. The village was quite a place. A lot of Swedes, polish and Irish…it was a cohesive community.

MM: It was a community, you felt loyalty to each other?

OR: In, in a way, cause the young bucks, they had a gentleman's club. I was only a kid at the time. And Segals, up on Segal Street, had a club up on they had a club called the [unintelligible portion] I guess. And they used to invade each others territory. Battle it out with their dukes, out by the railroad where nobody could see them. Fight it out down there?

MM: So this was between the greenwood club and the Yarmouths?

OR: Elmwoods of Segal Street yeah.

MM: Where these all Swedish groups or?

OR: Oh, there were, different nationalities. Polish..everybody lived up there.

MM: Did you see any rivalries between the Swedes and any other particular groups?

OR: They used to come down to the park. But it was over in no time.

MM: Was it mostly the Irish or the polish?

OR: Oh, it was the majority of either one. Polish or Lithuanians, or Irish. Everyone lived up on Segal street.

MM: And sometimes they would come into the village and cause…

OR: I mean, you know, sectional rivalries.

MM: But was it serious or mostly play?

OR: Mostly fighting. Oh yeah. They didn't want anything from the Swedes. The village was quite a place. You start at the school, and the drug store …then you go down a little more and the market, [unintelligible portion] market, now that was, Anderson grocery store, then there was Anderson drug store and they had ah, the post office in there too. Down a little further there was a jeweler, go beyond that there was a small market, go down a larger market, the Swedish cooperative store, all in one…in the village we had one china man, one Chinese man. He had a laundry. My father get me to run down there with his shirts, he wanted starched, and they had Manchetts, they had stiff cuffs with buttons, and on Saturdays when he wasn't working, to a small cemetery. Tatmans Cemetery, the closest he could get to worshipping his ancestors. And ah, the park got used [unintelligible portion] 2,000 people.

MM: Did you stay mostly in the village or did you go downtown a lot?

OR: I did go downtown and the fare was a nickel.

MM: On the street car?

OR: Yeah. The summer street car, they dropped down to [unintelligible portion] and they had a curtain they could pull down in case of rain.

MM: Did you notice any difference in the people or in the community in general from before you left from to when you came home?

OR: No, no it was about the same. Lately though, every house has become an enclave and ah. Mostly there is an enclave.

MM: But when you came home from the war it was the same from when you left?

OR: It was the same, yeah. The same.

MM: How do you think that it was for your wife and children?

OR: It was rugged. The government took care of them. But it must have been awful rugged. I worry about that too.

MM: When you came home did you go back to your job at Norton Company?

OR: Yes.

MM: They took you right back?

OR: Oh sure.

MM: Did you notice, ahm. Did you go to church in the village?

OR: Oh yes. The Lutheran church down there. They moved it down further. It had a big bell. And ah, it moved up to Millbury street. Now you have a little dinky bell in the tower.

MM: Did you notice if more people went to church after the bombing of peal harbor or?

OR: Oh, during the war, there as a lot of people at each service. Especially the night service. I don't go out any more. I vegetate.

MM: Did your local parish do anything to support the war that you know of?

OR: No, it was not political during the war. especially…they ah, they…that's all. I don't know what they did for my wife. But one time, the rationing. A woman goes to see the pastor. I cant get any meat. You come with me. He took her to the back room, and says, you'll get your meat here. She got it there until the war was over.

MM: The church helped people?

OR: The church was very good. A fireman, pastor_____. They had fireworks there. Roman candles there, sky rockets, kids could buy them. Fourth of July…….a big explosion. You had gun powder…the 4th of July was much different, it was better then.

MM: Were there any other kids of celebrations?

OR: There were parades and things. People used to come out for them. And ah, a lot of parades.

MM: Did you belong to the salvation army?

OR: No, I belonged to the Knights of Lutheran Church

MM: Did they do anything specifically to help the war?

OR: No, no, no, they were in charge of people, not war. no. the way it should be. There shouldn't be any war.

MM: Do you remember if you were in support of Roosevelt?

OR: I thought Mr. Roosevelt was a fine man . he did a lot. For social security. Harry Truman, fine people. Poor guy was crippled up with polio, still he did his job.

MM: I'm sorry, go ahead.

OR: No.

MM: Now Sweden was neutral during the war.

OR: Yes it was

MM: Did you have a difficult time? Did you think of yourself as an American Swede?

OR: It didn't bother me at all. I had nothing to do with it. I was over here [unintelligible portion] but we can't. What's wrong with us? I think Mr. Bush wants to be a wartime president. I don't know.

MM: Did you think of yourself as a Villager first?

OR: No, I always thought of myself as American. I ah, I used to read Swedish books and all that. My father had a bunch of them. I still can read Swedish.

MM: Were you home when the war ended?

OR: It ended shortly after I got home.

MM: How did you find out it had ended?

OR: The newspapers, radio.

MM: Did you celebrate?

OR: No, no, I left that for young guys. The American legion down there did. I stayed close to home. I was glad to be there. Life wasn't easy when we first came over here. But people were very good. Like I say, everything is an enclave now. It used to be different. 20 years ago, I used to know everybody on the street. Now people are dead.

MM: Did you lose many friends in the war?

OR: I lost some, yes. I did yeah. A lot of guys, didn't come home.

MM: Were you angry at the Germans or the Japanese, or?

OR: I owed the country something. I wasn't angry at anybody.

MM: When you cam home did you have to deal with rationing at all?

OR: Yeah, we did. Yeah, for a little while.

MM: How did you deal with that?

OR: The best way we could. There was not specialty for veterans. I was not a citizen. I had what they called derivative citizenship. My father became a citizen, so that was the easy way to become a citizen. There was a lot of good things about Capetown. It was beautifu [unintelligible portion] out over the sidewalk, so it didn't matter if it rained.

MM: Do you think that the Village was hurt economically during the war?

OR: I don't think so, because they had the Wire Mill

MM: Did a lot of women go to work do you know, at the mill?

OR: They did the office jobs. There was a lot of heavy work down the wire mill. Bookkeeping and things..

MM: Did your wife go to work during the war?

OR: No, she stayed at home. A 100 dollars a month, wasn't much.

MM: Did you tell your children why you were leaving?

OR: No, they were too little. Didn't understand.

MM: Do you notice a difference between the way you remember the war and the way the war is shown today on TV and in the news?

OR: I don't got no relationship to it. Everyone is a hero on TV. No relation…They shot some duke over there…I don't know how we got into that one either.

MM: World War I?

OR: I was only 10 yes old when it ended. What does a 10 year old boy care?

MM: Do you remember a difference between the way you felt about WWI and WWII?

OR: I knew they were a bad thing, WWII, that was a shame. Bad time. I wish Hitler had minded his own business.

MM: Is there anything else that I haven't asked you about life in the village? What you remember?

OR: Oh yeah, there used to be,…, a store, where they should try goods.

MM: Try goods? What's that?

OR: …by Worcester market you could get…someone would deliver at 9. mainly there were a lot of grocery stores in the village. You didn't have to go far. Swedish delicacy. Yeah, chocolate.

MM: Thank you very much.

OR: If there is there anything else I can help you with.

[Shut off tape, turn back on]

Bev Bylund (BB): I can remember going downtown with Mom, to Worcester market. And they would sell, it looked like lard. It was white. You could buy a certain amount, and there was a little packet of yellow coloring. And so that you wouldn't think that you were eating lard, you would mix the yellow and it would look like margarine.

MM: You were 3 at the time?

BB: I think maybe kindergarten time. I have visions of that distinctly.

MM: Do you remember them telling you anything in school about the war?

BB: No, I don't think I was in school at that point. I don't remember anything about it. Although from pictures I can remember meeting my dad at the train station. And although I don't remember being there, you looked sad, we looked sad. Because we knew that he was going back.

MM: Did you know where he was going, or just that he was going away?

BB: I don't remember, except from the pictures, I remember vague things. The other thing too, my dad was the first generation, I was the second, my children were the third. We all attended Quinsig School.

MM: Do you remember anything about rationing, remember it being really difficult?

BB: I can remember my mom worrying about, you know, how much of this. We used to use things scarcely so that it would stretch. But that was a big word to me. I really didn't know what it mean. But I remember rationing. Meat too, meat they rationed too, right Dad?

OR: Oh yeah, meat was very much rationed.

MM: Did you and your sister and mom stay mostly in the village?

BB: Oh yeah, we didn't have a car. We lived on the third floor. And I don't think, I don't remember going downtown. Of course, money was an issue too.

MM: Do you remember things getting a lot easier after the war?

BB: I don't, I was too young I think. It seemed rough for a while though.

OR: Hundreds of kids in the village. But the time I was there, everybody spoke Swedish.

BB: I think the village was a very tight-knit group. In fact, when I was a teenager, one of the women married somebody from the village and they had a couple of kids. And the husband got killed in an accident. And everybody bonded together, thy had a raffle, a bake sale and all the money went to the family. Everyone knew each other. It was just, overwhelming. Everyone knew each other and if somebody was in trouble, there was one fellow in the village that was a little slower and he, somebody outside the village would come and make fun of him and everyone in the village would stick up for him, they went to bat for him. Everything has changed.

MM: Do you remember any village rivalries at all?

BB: It was a pretty peaceful place. In my recollection the church was a big part of the activity.

OR: It was so important

BB: We never went anywhere. There were things for the kids, there were Swedish festivals, and a lot of Swedish things. You know, we were participants, and that was what we did for social activities.