I recently posted translation of article wrote by journalist Irena Piotrowska in 1957 about life in Sweden. You liked it, so I decided to translate another article by this author.
The first one was here: https://www.reddit.com/r/sweden/comments/1t0rihu/i_found_articles_from_local_polish_regional/
"Our correspondent travels through Sweden (2)"
Stockholm by day presents a different face to that of the night. The city takes on a more mundane, grey hue. In older districts, such as Klara, the buildings are crammed together; they are all dark and mostly four-storey high. There are no decorations or balconies. The austere, unimaginative architecture suggests that its creators were hard-hearted people, even puritans. The streets are narrow, barely wide enough for two cars to pass.
Contacts with Europe have softened the Scandinavians’ tastes somewhat. Free-spirited, charming France, and Germany with its excessive ornamentation, have imposed a touch of their style upon them. Newer districts have widened their pavements and given the facades of the houses a more cheerful, pleasing appearance. Parks, green spaces and flower gardens have sprung up.
A city on the rocks
The modern suburbs have stretched the city’s horizon. They have spread far out onto the islands and islets, and deep into the mainland. They have expanded the cluster of grey tenement blocks, blurring the cityscape into a vast patch with a colourful outline. They have given it what Stockholm is now famous for all over the world - magnificent motorways and bridges, four-level carriageways at junctions, underground electric trains running through granite tunnels.
For one must know that the entire city is built upon rocks. Travelling by tram, one can observe, on almost every street, huge granite slabs, filling the gaps where houses have not yet had time to grow. Trees and flowers grow on these very rock fragments. Tunnels are bored directly through them. This means there is no need for supports, cementing the ceilings, etc.
It is early in the morning. The day’s work has only just begun. Offices are open from 8 am, shops from 9 am. From the top of the huge bridge, almost a tower, at the junction of Regeringatan and Kungsgatan, we gaze at the city panorama. The streets are already filled with streams of pedestrians, and cars glide by noisily.
We leave the heights of the bridge to attend to more down-to-earth matters. The grey monotony of the houses is broken by colourful advertisements and shop windows. A few dozen kronor in my purse allows me to harbour the illusion that some of these "wonders" displayed behind the glass might actually be within my reach. But where to go?
HOORAY FOR CLOTHES!
Jasio and Ali want to look at cameras and radios, whilst the two girls naturally have a penchant for "clothes". So we head to the PUB department store, where you can find both of these things. The multi-storey building houses everything from high heels to the latest car brands. In front of the stalls, in neat plastic baskets, there are jumpers, shoes, toys, cosmetics, bananas... Everyone has access to them; you can pick them up and have a look.
Should I buy this rust-coloured blazer? - Małgorzata is in a quandary. The jumper is nice, yet it seems a bit too big.
We shake our heads helplessly. Perhaps there is another size? The shop assistant comes to our rescue, and soon a whole range of blazers appears on the counter. The lady handing them to us looks more like a shopper than a sales assistant. An elegant dress, pumps, earrings, impeccably manicured hands, no work smock, and that smile.
Everyday politeness
This is by no means an isolated incident;^(1) this is how customer service looks in all shops. A sales assistant selling socks at a street stall wouldn’t have the slightest trouble with his attire if he were asked at that very moment to attend a minister’s reception. He would simply wash his hands, adjust his tie, smooth his hair and... he’d be ready.
I wanted to buy some shoes. Leather ones, comfortable with a low heel. The day before, I’d spotted a pair in one of the shops on Drottninggatan. As it turned out, however, buying a pair of shoes is a complicated business. The shop assistant, whom I asked for my dream shoes, brought me a whole lot of others similar in style to those, and in all sorts of colours to choose from.
What was I to do? I liked almost all of them. I spent half an hour trying them on. During that time, the tireless Swedish sales assistant kept slipping different shoes onto my feet. She brought over mirrors so I could get a better look at my foot in the slipper. She would run up the ladders in her stiletto heels to fetch even more boxes.
Peace of mind
- What’s that lying there? - Ali can’t believe his eyes. On the pavement, leaning slightly against the wall, lies a woman’s handbag. People walk past, no one even glances at it. A man has just kicked it with his foot. He picked it up. He dusted it off and placed it a little higher up on the window sill.
Scenes like this and similar ones are seen very often. The Swedes, though very meticulous, even pedantic, still lose a lot of things. On the streets, in squares, on trams, briefcases, scarves and toys lie scattered about. No one touches them. In the places where they were left, they wait for their owners.
One of our friends left her handbag on the metro. There was quite a lot of shouting and complaining about this. After all, the handbag contained a passport, documents and money. Our Swedish supervisor, Mr Gunnar Andersson, didn’t understand at first what we were on about. "Why are you shouting so much?" (Compared to Poles, Swedes are a quiet lot and speak in the same tone about everything). We explained that we were worried about the handbag. What’s more, we had no idea how to get it back.
Mr Andersson promised he would sort it out. And indeed, the next day the lost item was found. Apparently, it isn’t even a long process. All items left in the train go to a central storage facility, from where they can be easily collected.
Only cameras and cars attract "greater interest". These are goods that are very expensive compared to other items. Perhaps that is why the Swedes are willing to compromise their integrity when it comes to acquiring them quickly. Ambassador Koszucki recounted how, one fine Sunday, he lost his camera. He left it along with his other belongings in a small wood near the town. When he returned after a few minutes, the camera was gone, although the other items remained where he had left them.
Hot Cars
Car theft has a long history in Sweden. It is treated as a game, a form of gambling. It is mostly carried out by young boys. The stolen car is used for driving until it runs out of petrol. It is then abandoned, and another, “borrowed” car takes its place. Most of these cars are unfit for use afterwards. Swedes drive at breakneck speed; accidents and car fires are frequent.
Owning one’s own car is nowadays a desire one might call nationwide. At present, "only" one in five families in Sweden has a car. It is not uncommon for mum, dad and son to each own their own car.
Car prices are quite high compared to earnings. The average monthly wage is 1,000 kronor. This is what shop assistants and skilled workers earn. People with higher education - engineers, doctors - earn between 1,500 and 2,000 kronor. These figures are somewhat reduced once taxes have been deducted. These otherwise ungrateful levies have the advantage of levelling out the disparities in living standards between different strata of society. The higher the salary, the higher the tax. There is even the fact that large companies pay 80 per cent of their income in tax.
- One might say that it is not worth earning a lot. Apparently, however, it is worth it, since there are still companies with enormous turnover. Besides, a higher salary entitles one to various privileges. However, the standard of living is generally average. If we were to apply it to our own categories, we would have to say that things are more than just fine there.^(2)
I mentioned the price of cars. It ranges from 5,000 to 15,000 kroner, or perhaps a little more. Spending around 200 kroner on rent and 300 kroner a month on food, you have the rest left over for buying clothes and other things. From this amount, however, you can set aside a tidy sum. After a while, with the money saved, you can buy a scooter or a car, or go to Capri in the summer.
Irena Piotrowska
^(1) Polish people are not beating allegations with this article, when it comes to smiling as "unnatural expression".
^(2) Very interesting use of data! I don't know how real are the numbers mentioned for Sweden, but average Pole in 1957 wouldn't dream of a car. In 1957, in Poland there was around 40-50k cars and 180k trucks. Polish motorization effort happened mostly in 70s and 80s. Mentioning that 1/5th of Swedish families have cars would be mindblowing for the average reader who would be Kashubian villager. Similarly as mentioning summer trip to Italy. You can see this contrast in other news. Just in this issue number you could read that it took 3 years for Kielno Village Council to secure bus connection with Gdańsk (one trip to the city at 6am and one back 4pm).
I have two articles about Sweden left from the same newspaper. One is shorter, another one longer, so I'll probably cover them both in one post later in the week!
