In 1939, my father was a sophomore at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. How could one of 7 children from a small town in the days of the Great Depression afford to attend college with its outrageous tuition of $160 per semester? Well, the answer is - he worked. [Editor note: A number of years later, his son, while attending Augsburg, worked at Continental Baking Co. in downtown Mpls making Twinkies. It was not, however, sufficient to cover the then $1600 costs]
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| Brodahl ads in Svenska American 1930's |
Each day, he headed to Brodahl's at 621 Cedar Avenue, Minneapolis, just a few blocks from Augsburg and washed dishes morning & evening for a meal - no wages. Brodahl's mainly catered to the large Scandinavian population of the Cedar-Riverside area. Lutefisk was served daily "with the option of drawn butter or cream gravy".
The local grocery stocked pickled herring by the barrel.
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| "Liquor Patrol Limits" |
The Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, before the U of M expanded to the West Bank, was the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in Minneapolis, although the generally poor residents aspired to better digs. The notorious "Bohemian Flats" sat just below these neighborhoods along the Mississippi. (see my Immigrant Stock post). Upward mobility for the Scandinavians meant moving south of Lake St. near Ingebretson's Meat Market at 16th & Lake St - now meat market and Scandinavian shop. (Ingebretson's was and remains a thriving business. In the 30's it mainly served 1st & 2nd generation Scandinavians.) Nordeast was also a step up from Cedar-Riverside.
One of the family value issues with living in the Cedar-Riverside area was the unique to Minneapolis concept of "liquor patrol limits"which included a large portion of the 6th ward. Taverns were restricted to these "patrol limits" areas of the city. Roughly 100 of the 300 or so Minneapolis drinking holes were along Washington Ave; 7 Corners & Cedar Ave. south to Franklin Ave. The 7 Corners area became known as "Snusgaden" or Snoose Boulevard. Walking past a bar you were apt to hear the melody of "Nikolina" or "Johan pa Snippen". The "patrol limits" laws were repealed in 1959.
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| Swan Turnblad Mansion - aka Swedish Institute MN Historical Society |
The Svenska Americanska Posten was the most popular newspaper in the area. As evidence of its success, its publisher, Swan Turnblad, built the mansion on Park Ave that now is home to the American Swedish Institute.
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| 629 Cedar grocer (Brodahl's was 621 Cedar) - MN Historical Society |
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| 7 Corners in the 1930's - MN Historical Society |
At night, Dad headed to the Albinson Funeral Chapel on Chicago Ave. as "night man" - watchman and on call to pick up the occasional after-hours corpse. Paul Albinson and my grandfather Ole had been classmates at the University of Minnesota Mortuary School in 1918 so Dad had an "in". On quiet nights, there might have been a chance to hit the books - or even sleep. Albinson's is now part of the Washburn-McCreavy dynasty.
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| Ole on the right, Paul standing (I think) |
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| Albin Chapel in re-purposed church |
Not all hardship. Apparently he could at minimum afford cigars.
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| Glenn @ Augsburg ~1942 |
Copyright © 2016 Dave Hoplin
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