Tage's letters
and photographs
 Tage
Ferdinand Ragnvald Flyborg.
Born on November 10th 1901 in the city parish of Karlskrona.
He arrived, 17 years old, on the S/S Stockholm to New York and Ellis
Island for the first time on August 26th 1919. He was at the time
employed on the ship as “trimmer” (according to Ellis
Island records). He is there stated to be appr 178 centimetres tall
and weigh about 64 kilos. He had signed on in Gothenburg on August
6th,1919. Already in November of the same year, he arrived in New
York again on the same ship (once again as trimmer). Further arrivals
to Ellis Island have been recorded; March 15th 1921 (as stoker on
S/S Drottningholm); October 17th 1923 (as greaser on S/S Stockholm)
and the last of the records I have managed to find on Ellis Island
was an arrival on November 23rd 1923 when he arrived on S/S Stockholm,
employed as greaser. He was at this time 22 years of age and weighed
appr 70 kilos.
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Tage
and Victoria.
This photo is likely to have been taken in 1928 or 1929. |
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"...Victoria
and me in the countryside..." |
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"...New
York City, April 1928..." |
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"...The
bright smile of my fiancée. I took this very bad photo.
New York City, April 1928..." |
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"...Victoria
in the park, 1928..." |
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From
left: Victoria’s mother,
unknown woman and Victoria (1928) |
Victoria,
Astrid and Tage. Undated photo, but it could have been taken
in 1930; since their daughter was born in the end of October
1929.
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 "...4131-47
st. Long Island City. New York N.Y., USA (undated)...
Dear Father.
A few hasty lines. I hope your health remains solid, and that
you are indeed regaining new strength, so that if we return
home at least one of our parents will still be alive. So take
good care of yourself until then.
Father send me some BL-läns newspapers (=local news) –
though only the Saturday issue, because I know an interesting
feature comes with it, which interests me. Sometimes we receive
these here from our friends from the Karlskrona area. They receive
them from their friends in the countryside, but very rarely.
Oh by the way, find out how much a subscription to my address
would cost me, per year and per six months, sent weekly; each
batch consisting of Mon-Tue-Wed-Thur-Fri-Sat. If possible, give
significant details, which I am greatful for. I enclose $10
for you Father.
NB – I only want information on the subscription. So don’t
go paying anything now; the money is a pure gift for you! But
until further notice, please send me a few issues.
The most cordial greetings from your son Tage..." |
"...4131-47 st. Sunnyside
Long Island City, New York N.Y. --- Nov-28-1938 ---
Dear
Father
On your 70th birthday (Dec 10th 1938) I see a great privilege
to join in with the no doubt many sons and daughters wishing
you well for the future on this occasion. Congratulations on
this day and thank you for the days gone.
I am allegedly not a great singer, but on this occasion, unless
the listeners come too close, I will sing – briefly –
May he live for a hundred years (=Sw version of ”Happy
Birthday to you”) and may you at full health and strength
enjoy your otium cum laude (he may have meant ”otium cum
dignitate” which means rest with dignity or well deserved
rest) – in your cottage, by your own heath which is more
vaulauble than gold. And it could be fitting to point out that
even the king himself throughout his lifetime only has one ”crown”
(=krona, Swedish currency).
So the least I can do is make sure my father has one crown for
every year that has passed, and this way you shall receive 75
crowns, each equally valuable, if not more – via post
transfer, of course.
So once more, congratulations from my wife, daughter and myself.
Most cordially. Tage..."
 Photo
of some of the Flyborg siblings. From left Astrid
Carlson (based in Chicago), Alice Olsson
(based in Gothenburg) and Tage Flyborg.
Astrid writes on the back of the photo to her younger brother
(born 1907):
"...Dear Brother Walter! Nov 2nd 1964. It is 53 years
ago today that we arrived in Chicago for the first time, but
still I think very fondly of Sweden. I hope you are well,
as the rest of us are here. Please send me a Christmas card
at least. So long. Sis Astrid…”
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Their
daughter Astrid was born in New York on October
24th 1929. 
