Erik Bandgren
Erik came to the USA from Sweden. His parents had lived in America and Erik was born shortly after his parents returned to Sweden.
The following is a photo of Carl Johnson and Erik. Carl was a lifelong friend. Their
friendship is best explained in an article written by Carl's second
wife Becky. Read the story below
COMING TO AMERICA
(as recalled by Carl Johnson)
(written down by his wife Becky)
For
many years Erik Bandgren and I dreamed of going to America where we
would work for about five years and save out money so that we could
return to Sweden, buy a farm, marry, and raise a family. We knew
that the cost of the transportation by boat and train to Gary, Indiana,
was about 797 crowns and that we had to have the equivalent of $25 in
American money on our person in order to enter the country.(as recalled by Carl Johnson)
(written down by his wife Becky)
By the spring of 1929, we had saved the necessary 1,000 crowns, so we contacted the Swedish-American Lines to obtain the necessary papers to be completed for our passage to America. Our papers were finally processed and we were notified to go to the American Consulate in Gothenburg to obtain our passports. This we did in August, and once the passports were obtained, we made our reservations. We knew about three weeks in advance when we would be leaving.
When the time came to leave Jarbo, I traveled a shortcut to the main road where Erik and his father and sister Helen picked me up in their horse and buggy. They took us to Skällsäter where we caught the train to Gothenburg. We sailed on the Gripsholm for New Youk City on September 21. The trip to America took nine days--days filled with shuffleboard, other deck games, drinking beer, and dancing in the evenings. One day--as we went through a severe storm--we were locked below and not allowed on deck. The boat was turned against the wind and we traveled only 25 miles in 24 hours. I remember that we could see Iceland as we passed and that as we neared Newfoundland, we saw whales and whaling boats.
We landed in New Youk City on Monday morning, September 30, 1929, where we were met by a representative of the Swedish-American Lines who tagged us with our names and our destination and took us to the railroad station to catch the train for Gary. While at the station our guide and interpreter took us to a restaurant before we boarded the train. It was a meal of bacon and eggs. We left New York City that same day.
On the train we met two brothers from Rockford, Illinois, who offered to help us. They asked if we wanted to go to the dining car with them and we did. We let them order for us and it wasn't until we were back in our seats that we learned that we had eaten frog legs--I have never liked them since. The train stopped at Niagara Falls and we had an opportunity to get off to see the Falls. We saw them, but it was raining so hard that we were unable to walk very far.
The train arrived in Gary on October 1, at about 7:30 p.m. We were met by my brother Andy, Erik's brother Bernard, Carl Martinson, Andy Carlson, John Carlson, Thurston Carlson, and Edwin Hanson. All had come to America from Dalsland.
We had a few days to get ourselves settled and on October 7, we applied for work in the steelmills and went to work there on October 8. We both worked in the mills until 1972, a total of 43 years.
We were prevented from returning to Sweden, as we had originally intended, by the depression of the '30's. We became American citizens, married, and raised families. We have lived in nearby areas for these past 50 years and our friendship, which really started on our first day of school when we were seat-mates, has continued to this day.
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