Vintage Floral Cards

More pretty, vintage cards from the collection of Maren Nielsen Andersen. Spring and flowers.



According to Google Translate "hjaertelig lykønskning" means "Cordial Greeting" in Danish.

"Nature's Jewel.
Art thou a child of mortal birth Whose happy home is on our earth? Or, art though, what thy form would seem, The phantom of a blessed dream?"

More Vintage Christmas Cards

I posted several Danish vintage Christmas cards a few weeks ago.  Here are some more beauties - some with English greetings as well.

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

"Christmas Eve"

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

Vintage Christmas Cards

From the extensive collection of my Grandmother-in-Law Maren's keepsakes, I have dozens of vintage Christmas cards from the 1920s and 1930s.  They are beautiful!  Some have messages written in Danish on the back.  If you can read Danish and can help me translate some of the messages, I would be very appreciative!  I scanned a few of the card backs and they are in my album found here.
Below are just a few Danish Christmas cards.
Glædelig jul!!!

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

according to Google Translate: "Now it's Christmas, oh, thank goodness! I am so glad, therefore, that God his son gave to the world; today he came to earth"

From Vintage Danish Cards

From Vintage Danish Cards

*Updated - more here
and even more here.

Ingeman at Camp Cody

War is scary.  So still with no vintage Halloween photos, I'm posting about Ingeman at Camp Cody.  A (gas)mask seems suitable for my Halloween week photos.

From Camp Cody - Ingeman

I don't know who Ingeman is but he sent photos and postcards to my Grandfather-in-law (the one married to Maren who kept up lots of photo albums and several scrapbook treasures).  I can't find any details about his last name.  He wrote both in Danish and in English.  One photo has Maren's handwriting and tells us he's at the Paulsens.  I don't know who the Paulsens are, either but I've seen other photos marked Paulsen and Polsen and if I recall correctly in one of the other thick albums I saw mention that they lived in Burlington, Skagit County, WA.  Maren and Hans moved around Skagit and lived in Sedro Woolley, Burlington and Mt. Vernon.

For the better part of this year, I had this photo as my blog banner at the top:

From Camp Cody - Ingeman

I couldn't identify it where it was but Maren had pasted it in an album that I've had for over a decade that ranges from about 1910-1927.  After looking through a couple of new-to-me-trunks late this summer, I found postcards from World War 1 time frame from someone named Ingeman and sent from Camp Cody.  Summer ended and I headed back-to-work and didn't have much time to spend looking in to Camp Cody since quick searches and me being easily sidetracked when I surf didn't turn up much for me.  Last weekend I remembered I still wanted to confirm this and I found http://campcodydeming.orbs.com/ - I wrote the webmaster, Michael Kromeke and he confirmed the photo location for me and sent me a plethora of interesting links.  So the mystery of the location of "Base Hosp" has been solved but I'd still like to know more about Ingeman - did he get sent overseas during The Great War and how he was important to Hans and Maren Andersen?

More Camp Cody and Ingeman photos here:

Maren Nielsen Andersen & the Rev. Dr. Mark Allison Matthews

I met Maren (née Nielsen) Andersen in the early 1980's - she was born March 20, 1889 in Varde, Næsbjerg, Denmark so she was in her early 90s at the time. She was my fiancée's maternal grandmother. Maren was very sweet to me - I figured at her age she had met countless people and that it must be difficult to keep track of details of newcomers. I was delighted that she joked with me that I belonged in the family since my name begins with J so I fit in with several current family members Judy, Jolene, Jane, Jean.




Maren Dorthea Nielsen arrived in the United States October 30, 1907 (age 18). On her issued inspection card she wrote, " there never was a doktor to see me when i was so sick and laid in the bunk all the way to New York. How could a Dr. sign for everything as it shows he did on other side. I weighed 90 lbs landing on the dock." Shortly after arriving in the states, she got a job working as a domestic for the Rev. Dr. Mark A. Matthews in Seattle.

From Maren Nielsen Andersen's album

"Miss Gwladys Matthews" This is one of the Matthews' children. Maren wrote, "I have combed her hair many times and dressed both her and Mark Allison when he was a Baby."

Maren appears to have had a lot of respect for Rev. Dr. Matthews. She clipped and saved many newspaper articles about him.

Dr. Matthews was quite active in early 20th century Seattle politics and religion as a Presbyterian minister. According to History Link he "pastored Seattle’s First Presbyterian Church for 38 years, from 1902 to 1940. He built his congregation into the denomination’s largest, with nearly 10,000 members at its height" "He spearheaded social projects and helped create new institutions such as Seattle Day Nursery, which evolved into Childhaven, one of the state’s most successful institutions to treat child abuse. He helped lead the effort to establish Harborview Hospital." The article goes on to describe his controversial efforts as well.








The Reverend and his wife gave a lovely carving set to Maren upon her marriage to Hans Andersen in 1910. 

When I married her grandson in 1983 Maren thought we should have this beautiful gift and I will treasure it always.

From Maren Nielsen Andersen's album

She died in 1985 at age 96, a few years after I met her.  Of course I wish I had asked for more stories and found out more about her.