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Takk til alle som har delt sin Amerikahistorie

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Takk til alle som har delt sin Amerikahistorie

From Heiman

May 17, 1956, Brooklyn, N.Y. Sisters Oddfrid and Judith Nøkland in front of the family’s Buick. (Photo: Helge Pedersen/private collection)

AMERICAN FEVER

There’s a bit of a buzz in all the meeting rooms, hallways, and offices at Kilden days. We share stories about America around the water cooler, discuss 1950s hairstyles across the table in the cafeteria, and hum along to Bjøro hits in unison in front of our computer screens. Have we simply been struck by America fever? Yes, it seems that way. And it’s not going away.

Stories of emigration from Agder in the 1950s and 1960s keep pouring in; “everyone” has a close or distant relative who set out on the long journey to Junaiten.

There is clearly an inexhaustible archive of wonderful, touching, and exciting stories about the adventures of Southerners in America.

And if there are so many wonderful stories just in the staff corridors at Kilden, we figured there must be a wealth of great stories throughout Agder. And we’d love to hear those stories!

We therefore created the Facebook group From Agder to America – Photos and Stories, so we could create a meeting place for anyone who wanted to share their American story. The group has now grown to over 500 members who regularly share touching, interesting, and personal memories from their time in Junaiten.

PHOTOS FROM THE GROUP

  • SCROLL TO THE RIGHT

    Banner from the Facebook group “From Agder to America.” A collage of various photos of Norwegians in Brooklyn in the 1950s and 1960s.

  • Miss Norway – Miss Solberg

    Photo by Astrid Solberg/private

  • Travelers from the U.S. are returning home

  • People “U-Haul” when they move in the U.S.

  • The Narvestad Family in Prospect Park

Photo: “Miss Norway” Astrid Solberg/private, “Returnees from America/The U-Haulers” Patrick Joseph Svendsen/private, “The Narvestad Family in Prospect Park” Torhild Egeland/private.

HOME

And our little side project has grown into a source of joy in the office between work on the production Heimanifrå, in which Kilden the story of Inger from Lista. The dream of adventure, financial independence, and greater opportunities leads Inger on a journey aboard the Stavangerfjord from Silokaia to Junaiten.

And just as Inger experiences nylon stockings, Coca-Cola, and razors for the first time, we have, through the group experienced May 17th celebrations in Brooklyn, “Miss Norway” pageants (with a trip home to Norway as the prize), Norwegian couples who found each other at the Seamen’s Church in Manhattan, the fantastic America Room of Troy Flottorp, and Nostalgilåven in Eiken, which is a diner, rockabilly venue, and American car show all in one.

Thank you to everyone who has shared their wonderful stories about America with us so far.

We hope that even more people will join us on our little journey through history—America fever is sure to last a while longer!