As usual, things were slow at first.
Konsum Stockholm opened its first so-called self-service store back in 1941. In the store, which was located at the intersection of Odengatan and Roslagsgatan, you could pick the goods on the shelves yourself and then pay at the cash register.
Throughout the rest of the 1940s, more retailers continued to convert their stores to the new method of shopping, but it was slow. Even at the end of the decade, pictures show signs with the message above the goods: pick yourself, pay at the checkout.
"Now and Then" is a popular way to show how environments have changed. The really good ones are very careful to find the exact angle where the original picture was taken. Sometimes a lot has happened since the then picture was taken and sometimes it is surprisingly the same.
In what is now called Kastanjegården in Hökarängen in southern Stockholm is a former shopping center. In fact, one of the first small shopping centers built in connection with the expansion of the subway. The oblong brick building housed the Tre Kringlor bakery, a tobacconist and a grocery store called Stockholms sälvköp.
A good name by the way, which really explained that you chose and bought the goods yourself in the store and not over the counter like before. The pictures in the slideshow show many interesting details and what the interior looked like in the very period-typical store. The year is 1949.
I decided one day to try to find the house in Hökarängen .
As a Stockholmer who moved away, I lost my bearings in the big city and it took a while before I could find the house. I don't think the environment and the house have changed much on the outside. But the inside now houses a bakery. A popular one, judging by how many people shopped and ate in their café-restaurant.
Vilhelmina Winter Weekend
That's the name of the winter festival that is held every year in Vilhelmina in southern Lapland. Tomorrow, February 8th, it starts and everything is ready. Yes, because every year they build a church out of ice blocks. Ice blocks that are brought from Lake Siksjön in Siksjönäs where I live. Almost every year a couple gets married in the ice church and it's a sight that many people go to see.
It is also a tradition to compete in sitting on an ice pole. A group of volunteers sign up every year to participate and sit on the pole day and night almost without interruption, with the idea being that in the end there will be only one winner left.
However, it almost always only happens when it's really cold and when I see the weather forecast, I wonder if there will be many of the participants who will stay until the end and share the winnings.
The ice pillars and the ice church will melt and disappear towards the end of spring. The pictures show the ice church and pillars with the classic Stenman's pastry shop in the background.
In the magazine Filmjournalen
I stuck to a picture I saw published of the actress and writer Birgit Tengroth. Well, it wasn't that difficult because it was published on the cover of the magazine no. 39 in 1948. You would think it was a color picture. The print leaves a lot to be desired but was probably the best that could be achieved with the printing technology of that time.
But it is a black and white image originally. I found the original negative and it is, like many of Kristoffersson's original images, in good condition. There are many factors that determine how long a negative or a photograph lasts. The most important thing is that the film used did not belong to the category that has now been discovered to have very poor storage properties. It is also extremely important how the development was done. Then there are all the events that could cause damage and wear to the negative.
Many times I am the first to handle the negatives after the photographer has held them himself. It is absolutely the best. The subject is the subject of an entire dissertation but we will take that another time.
Birgit Tengroth, who was called a shooting star at the beginning of her film career, eventually got fed up with acting. She was very educated and had other interests. She eventually became a celebrated journalist and author. I will have reason to return with a longer article about her.
An unmade-up and beautiful picture of her and I am sure she chose to be photographed that way herself . She was described in articles of the time as "Impulsive, vivacious and witty, not at all like an actress". She died in 1983 and was 68 years old.
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