Scandinavian American. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1945-1958, 1952-05-07
SCANDINAVIAN
AMERICANA
BY
sc A NDY
S c A N D Y


ana we can't help but notice him
=. He grins his hOwdy-dO, he
stops to tell joke, he comments
on the weather, and believe us, he
ought to know. Elmer felt like re-
firing ince, he told us so, and we
felt q little sad then We'd
miss not having a mailman liven
up things with a special peculiar
brand of Swedish that adds to the
scandinavian Americana in our Of
flee.
Elmer is going on sixty, and has
covered a lot of mailbeats in Sc
attic, clear down to the Skid
Road. Those feet of his have been
pounding the pavements come rain
or shine and if he's ever felt the
aching pains of humanity it was
only in his feet. For upstairs he's
as easy going as a pair of Slip
pers. Even when the going is
rough. Like the other day when
we met him on the street; strug-
Cling against a powerful gust of
wind, he observed in Swedish,
1.-THE devil is loose" (if you know
how that sounds in Swedish!) But
as ever, the weather didn't seem
SO bad, the way his eyes twinkled
like sunlight.
U. S.-born Elmer Nyberg isn't
a specialist on this curious hokus-
pokus that some people here and
there have chewed up and spew-
ed out into an odd mixture of
Swedish, or Norwegian, or Amer
lean rolled into one. He speaks
his Swedish with a delightful AM
erican accent. 1t sounds good. We
understand every word of it. We
revel in it. We start talking
scandinavian to him ever so often
and he's. never one to miss a cue.
In fact, Elmer Is full Of ideas.
Practical Joker
For instance, the other day, at
the postoffice, he took a look at
the poster board with all those
pictured wanted criminals. Before
anyone could call a cop he had
pasted a picture of a fellow car
rier into the spot where some big
rough mug from Chicago was post
ed. 1t fitted nicely. So what hap
pened? Well, every mailman in
town was lining up in front of the
picture and having a whale of
discussion whether or not that
was their pal Zacconi (we'n pick
the name at random).
Sure enough, Elmer was taking
it all in, and having whale of
good time, just for fun.
by the way" he said, don't
write me up in the paper, don't
do it! The crime investigating
committee here in Seattle might
want to get hold of me-" What
are you gonna do with a guy like
that?
Kids Will Have Fun
Elmer was born in Minnesota
and there he virtually learned
Swedish before English. His par
ents were from Dalecarlia, Swed-
en-, so that added more flavor to
his speech.
Now here, If You can get it, is
version of his Swedish, and so help
us, this is the way it sounded:
"Morschan vett du willie jak
skolle ga svensk skolla pa sam
marn Minneapolis. bet war i
Skogsbergs skolla, han som war
harr | Seattle Mission Covenant
Church. Men jak will lekka som
andra pojks, men nej hej, sa NOR
schan, for du skar ga svensk
skolla ocksa. Oh, jak tickt inte
Diet war bra a vi just spranga om-
kring a hattie rolitt sa gubben
Skogsberg blew rikt forbannad.
Men .morschan war stubborn, see,
a da brukt jak lisa hon a en-
gangk k0rrte hon mi urr huse
NETT broomkwarst. Hahahaha! bet
var rollit,"
On the Beat For S5 Years
About 1900 when Minnesotans
began hearing about this Scandin-
avian wonderland in the N. W., FL
mer's folks and brothers and sis
tiers showed off to Seaside, Oregon,
and came to Seattle in 1906. For
IS years Elmer has been pounding
the beats for Uncle Sam. All kinds