Manner and Customs of Kantlax
By Vald. Nyblom in “Den Österbottniska Byn”. Translated by June Pelo. These are some remembrances from the late 1800’s about life in Kantlax, a little coastal village in…
Learn about culture, traditions, and history.
Swede Finn Junction
Life-cycle rites: Birth & Churching
Excerpts from “Finnish Folk Culture” by Ilmar TalveTranslated by June Pelo Birth From time immemorial, the Baltic-Finnic people have divided the period of gestation (40 weeks)…
Eleven Days That Disappeared
By Folke A. Netteblad, Hufvudstadsbladet, 9 March 2003. Translated by June Pelo. Think about going to bed on 17 February and not waking up before 1…
Axel Andersson Pelo – 1875 -1903
By June Pelo. Axel Pelo was my father’s uncle who emigrated from Finland to Ashland, WI and married there in 1900 to Brita Johanna Jakobsdotter Nyberg-Lågland,…
Pelo – Tannery & Farm in the Swedish District
From Österbottningen, 17 Oct 1959. Sent by Birger Lindqvist of Gamlakarleby.Translated by June Pelo. Thirty-four-year old Fritiof Gustafsson of Pelo in Nedervetil drove at full speed into the…
Eighth Symphony
By Adrian Niemi. Written in his 10th grade writing class, ca 1965.June Pelo On March 24, 1924, an audience in Stockholm was unknowingly hearing the first of…
World War II Gift Parcels to Finland
By Martin Wallenius, Superintendent at the General Direction of Posts and Telegraphs foreign section, Helsinki.Translated by June Pelo During the war immigrant families from Finland worried…
Memories of the Winter War
By Art Jura, Norden, 17 April 2008. Translated by June Pelo. Helvi Waisanen Silverman and Paula Waisanen Szabo related their experiences in Kuhmo, Finland during the 1939-40…
Before Modern Conveniences
Based on the book “Before Modern Conveniences”, by Helmi Kortes-Erkkila. It is about a Finnish farm family 1917-1927.Submitted by June Pelo. The author grew up on…
Finland-Swedes in America
By Anders Myhrman, 1972. Excerpted from “Finlandsvenskar i Amerika” (The Finland-Swedes in America)Translation by June Pelo. The number of emigrants from Finland to America during the…
The Sauna
This is the second and more detailed version of ‘The Sauna’ article by June Pelo. She sites her source as the internet. Anthropologists know little about…
Digging for Family Roots
By June Pelo, using excerpts from the L.A. Times. For generations, elders told stories around the campfire, and later, around the dining room table. Then in…
