By Ole Granholm, Österbottningen 31 July 1965.
English translation by June Pelo.
Oil king John D. Rockefeller employed over 20 servants in his home in the country and among those were three who did the laundry, ironing, etc. One of these three was Sandra Sunde from Högnabba in Terjärv. She said it was grand to work for the oil king. In the house in the city there were still more servants and in a “little” summer home in Seal Harbor, Maine there were 100 rooms.
Sandra told about life and work in this “capitalistic society.” The summer place had the Atlantic on one side and a freshwater bay on the other and was surrounded by large woods so there were no close neighbors.
There was no fault with presidential candidate Rockefeller, except that he did not become president. John D., Senior, had six children. They were splendid people, no black sheep in the family according to Sandra.
The American visit lasted for 40 years. She told of her adventures during the second world war when she worked in the war industry. But that was not so easy. People were afraid, afraid of the dark, afraid of spies and saboteurs. The distance to go to work was so far that she took employment in the electrical machine industry, with 5,000 workers. She worked there for 16 years.
Now the emigrant country is Sweden. She said in her youth it was common to travel to America and people grew up quickly. Petas-Selina told 10-year-old Sandra to travel to America when she worked there. Sandra said she had no one who gave her money and her mother, naturally, wanted her to say home under her wing. Then she remembered her mother’s brother Manderback-Wick in America. She wrote and he sent a ticket. He had bought it with the condition that if the ticket was not used, he would get his money back. She decided that one could not allow such a large amount of money to go to waste, and her mother who was of the thrifty sort, agreed.
So, 19-year-old Sandra Sunde traveled over the Atlantic with other young people, emigrants who traveled to seek good fortune, but who traveled as innocent creatures. The young people could not travel alone. They were escorted and watched over until someone took over on the other side.
After 40 years of work, she is home for good. During those years she also visited the Old Country several times. She said there is nothing to draw her to America even though -she lived a large part of her life there. She sees the thickly foliaged birch trees in the yard at Sunde. The view of the water from her window is beautiful and she will live with memories of her working years in America.
Sandra is a good narrator who describes things and events in a vivid and seasoned manner. She receives an employment and government pension from America. The Finnish old age pension would not go far, she said.