Charles G. Widdén

Swedish-American entertainer

Charles G. Widdén

Charles G. Widdén was a Swedish immigrant performer in the first quarter of the 20th Century. As a young child Widdén came with his family to Worcester, Massachusetts. He is said to have been from the Swedish province of Närke. During the 1910s he became a very successful bondkomiker (rustic comic).^[1]

Bondkomik (rustic humor) was a popular form of entertainment in Sweden in the early 1900s. It also had a large following among Swedish-Americans. The rustic comic, often clad as a country bumpkin, assumed an alias to go along with his outlandish appearance. Widdén, for instance, sometimes went by the name of “Olle ve Kvarna” (Olle at the Mill). Hjalmar Peterson was another Swedish-born bondkomiker, who was active at the same time and had a similar repertoire. Peterson was better known by his stage name of Olle i Skratthult (Olle from Laughtersville).

Eventually Widdén moved to Brooklyn's large Swedish-Norwegian colony and became quite well known within the IOGT (International Order of Good Templars). He toured primarily on the East Coast. Proximity to record companies in New York turned him into one of Swedish-America's leading recording artists. There is only one photograph of the man, and little is known about his personal life.^[1]

Popular recording artist

Statue of Svenning and Hellström in Strömstad

Emil Norlander

Between 1913 and 1924 Charles G. Widdén recorded over 100 tracks for the Columbia, Edison and Victor labels. His output was steady. His new releases came out every single year in this period. Widdén’s repertoire consisted of songs, poems, stories and monologues. Other than a few monologues in English he did everything in his native Swedish.^[2]

The poetry included several works by the Swedish author Gustaf Fröding, whose lyrics and stories — popular on both sides of the Atlantic — were a staple of rustic humor. Widdén recorded two of Fröding’s poems about the supernatural: Bergslagstroll (Mountain Trolls) and Skögsrån (The Wood Sprite). J. L. Runeberg's poems of patriotic Finns were also represented: Soldatgossen (The Soldier Boy) and Sven Duva (a hero of the 1808-1809 war against Russia). These verses were part of Runeberg’s epic work "The Tales of Ensign Stål".

About one third of Widdén’s output was spoken word material, and much of his popularity rested on his original comic monologues. Today he is mainly remembered for the yodel-like laugh with which he punctuated these homespun tales. When speaking Swedish he sometimes assumed the comic persona of “Olle ve Kvarna” (Olle at the Mill). In English he became "Peterson". His 1917 story “Peterson At The Turkish Bath” was one of the first Scandinavian dialect recordings.^[2]

Charles G. Widdén had a wide-ranging musical repertoire. He recorded over sixty songs — drawing on everything from folk music and vaudeville to musical revues and dance tunes. Most notably Widdén recorded Kostervalsen (The Waltz on Koster Isle) and fifteen other numbers by Göran Svenning and David Hellström. He also covered songs by Lars Bondeson, Axel Engdahl, Adolf Englund, Gustaf Fröding, Skånska Lasse, Emil Norlander, Theodor Pinet and Ernst Rolf.^[2]

Widdén’s comic songs often dealt with marital problems. Swedish songs such as Jäntblig (Girls’ Glances) and Stackars Olson (Poor Old Olson) were joined by American songs in translation: “Lucky Jim” as Lycklige Jim and “Don’t Take Me Home” as Mister Johnsons Klagan (Mister Johnson's Lament). Regardless of the source, they were cautionary tales of henpecked husbands. Våran Bal (Our Ball) was a Swedish version of the Irving Berlin hit “Everybody’s Doin’ It Now”. Although not inherently racist, the Berlin composition was considered a Coon song because of the affected manner in which it was sung by White artists.^[2]

In 1924 Charles G. Widdén made his final recording. He left behind an enormous catalog of music and humor but little else. Over eighty years later his records are still sold in vintage music stores and on the Internet. And in this way the man and his legacy live on.

Renewed interest in Charles G. Widdén

Samuelson's Confectionery 1890

In the 1970s Charles G. Widdén was rediscovered in his native country and in the United States. The Swedish Emigrant Institute of Växsjö, Sweden gave prominent mention to Olle i Skratthult (Hjalmar Peterson) and Charles G. Widdén in a 1973 exhibit on entertainment in Swedish America. A small disc was produced for the occasion with excerpts from their songs and stories.^[1]

The Snoose Boulevard Festival was held in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis from 1972 through 1977. In the late 19th century Cedar Avenue became known as “Snoose Boulevard”, a nickname often given to the main street in Scandinavian communities. The term derived from the residents’ fondness for snus (snuff), an inexpensive form of tobacco. The event, which celebrated the area’s Scandinavian past, featured the music, food, and arts of the immigrants who had once lived there. The headline performer was the Swedish-born singer Anne-Charlotte Harvey. In conjunction with the festival she recorded three albums of folk tunes, emigrant ballads, hymns, waltzes and comic songs. The non-profit Olle i Skratthult Project sponsored the annual celebration and the recordings.^[3] Harvey’s albums, produced by the renowned ethnomusicologist Maury Bernstein, included six songs from Widdén’s discography.^[2]

The Swedish singers Gustav Fonandern and Lydia Hedberg toured the United States and made recordings for Columbia and Victor Records during the 1920s. Three of their songs — ones that Widdén had also recorded — were released by the Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research on the 1981 LP "From Sweden To America".^[4] The album was issued as a CD in 1996 and in 2011 became available at iTunes and Amazon mp3. Recorded in Sweden and the United States between 1917 and 1980, the collection had numbers by Olle i Skratthult, Olga Lindgren, Ragnar Hasselgren and Anne-Charlotte Harvey as well.

“Mountain Trolls” (1914 recording)

Gustaf Fröding 1896

Illustration for the poem "Sven Duva"

"Well, you may believe me or may not believe me;

But 'twas this way it was, and the devil may have me

If 'twasn't a troll-pack that caught me one night.

We had charge of a furnace in Westerly Moor,

And the night was nigh finished, the clock stood at four,

When the racket began and Pär jumped up in fright.

It crashed round the peaks and it roared in the valley

Like a bellowing ox in the mountains," said Olle.

"They tramped and they stamped from all points of the compass,

And 'twas funny, but God! it was trolls made the rumpus.

There were some big as churches, and slowly they filed

Through the trees, which resounded with thunder and thud;

There was twisting and groaning all over the wood,

For the firs were to them but as grass to a child.

And Pär he crouched under the root of a tree

And I by a big pile of charcoal," said he.

"Like the clashing of iron the noise of them rang,

For they'd arms like steam-hammers, had some of the gang;

And some they had fists like a great iron casting;

Some had mouths like a mine-shaft, and added to that,

Some had thatch like the roof of a shed for a hat;

And some sent out fire like a furnace a-blasting;

Some had snouts like an iron steam crane in their head,

— And golly! it was a bit scary," he said.

"They sat round the furnace and roasted huge steaks

Of pig-iron, and made themselves broth out of spikes,

And ate ploughs as if chewing on chicken or lamb;

Then all round the furnace the trolls began dancing

Till they looked just like houses and churches a-prancing,

And it sounded like thunder, the rumble and slam.

I've traveled a bit and seen many a spree,

But I never saw dance up to that one," said he.

"And as I lay there like a bundle of clouts,

Came a troll up with one of the ugliest snouts

And felt me and turned my poor body around.

'Look sharp here, look out if you don't smell a rat!

Here's a bit of old meat,' said the troll; but with that

Of a sudden the sun had come up with a bound.

'The sun's here,' says I, 'and the east is all red.'

They sneezed and all took to their heels then," he said.

"It roared in the mountains and rang in the valley,

But at last 'mid far summits, it died away slowly,

Till it sank to a hum in the woods to the north.

Still it looked like a fight to see chimneys a-shaking,

When ore-house and coal-house and smithy were quaking,

For as if turning cartwheels, they swayed back and forth.

— Yes, trolls fear the sun just as I should fear truly

To lie or to draw the long bow," finished Olle.

Gustaf Fröding New Poems 1894

English translation by Charles Wharton Stork 1916 ^[5]

"Peterson’s Brother-In-Law” excerpt (1917 recording)

My brother-in-law Peterson is the funniest fellow you ever saw in all your life. One night last week he went out to dinner with a friend of his by the name of Carlson, and both of them ordered steak. So the waitress served the two steaks on one big platter, and my brother-in-law Peterson was kind of hungry, I guess. Because he made a grab for one of the pieces of steak, and it happened to be the biggest steak that he got a hold of. So Carlson he didn’t like that very much, so he said to Peterson, “Say, Peterson, you is not very polite in your table manners. Now if I had taken one of those pieces of steak first I would have taken one of the smaller pieces instead of the bigger.” “Well”, said Peterson, “you got the small piece of steak. What are you kicking about?!” (laughs)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Svensk-amerikanska bondkomiker Olle i Skratthult och Charlie “fun” Widdén by Ulf Beijbom, (The Swedish Emigrant Institute of Växsjö, Sweden, 1973).
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Ethnic Music on Records: A Discography of Ethnic Recordings Produced in the United States, 1893-1942 by Richard K. Spottswood, (University of Illinois Press, 1990) LCCN 89-020526. Volume 5, pp. 2728 - 2733.
3. ^ Seward Profile April 2005.
4. ^ From Sweden To America (Stockholm: Caprice Records, 1981).
5. ^ Gustaf Fröding: Selected Poems by Charles Wharton Stork, (The Macmillan Company, 1916).

External links

1903 advertisement for Edison Records

Everybody's Doin' It Now 1911

Articles

• Gustav Fonandern at Swedish folk parks.
• Lydia Hedberg at Swedish folk parks.
• Calle Lindström at Swedish folk parks.
• Theodor Pinet at Swedish ragtime.

Swedish music and film

• Charles G. Widdén.
• Axel Engdahl.
• Adolf Englund.
• Gustav Fonandern.
• Calle Lindström.
• Theodor Pinet.

Snoose Boulevard articles

• The Snoose Boulevard Festival.
• Maury Bernstein.
• Anne-Charlotte Harvey.

Snoose Boulevard photos at the Minnesota Historical Society

• The Snoose Boulevard Festival.
• Maury Bernstein.
• Anne-Charlotte Harvey.

The Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings

• Charles G. Widdén as vocalist.
• Charles G. Widdén as speaker.

Recordings at the Internet Archive

• Charles G. Widdén songs. Audio files and more. 46 tracks by Widdén and 53 by other artists. UPDATED 11/12.
• Charles G. Widdén spoken word. Audio files and more. 23 tracks by Widdén and 20 by other artists. UPDATED 11/14.
• Snoose Boulevard artists.

Streaming audio at the National Jukebox

• Charles G. Widdén songs.
• Charles G. Widdén stories.
• Swedish songs.

PDF files at the Internet Archive

• Widdén poets and songwriters.
• Charles G. Widdén songbook.
• Svenning and Hellström songbook.
• Emil Norlander songbook.

Sheet music

• "Don't Take Me Home" at Indiana University.
• "Everybody's Doin' It Now" at Johns Hopkins University.
• "Lucky Jim" at Johns Hopkins University.

Swedish lyrics

• Beväringsvals
• Den gula paviljongen
• Fiskarvals från Bohuslän
• Jazzgossen
• Kostervalsen
• Nikolina
• Pansarbåtsvisan
• Spiskroksvalsen
• Vi gå över daggstänkta berg

Swedish lyrics and prose: Fröding

• Bergslagstroll
• Dumt fôlk
• Farväll
• Gå på dompen
• I bönhuset
• Jäntanes frierfal
• Jäntblig
• Skogsrån
• Stôlliheta i vala
• Svampinjoner
• Tre trallande jäntor
• Ä du mä på dä?

Swedish lyrics: Runeberg

• Sven Duva
• Soldatgossen

English lyrics

• Gustaf Fröding at the Internet Archive.

Bergslagstroll - Mountain Trolls

I Bönhuset - The Prayer-Meeting

Jäntblig - Maidens' Glances

Skogsrån - The Wood Sprite

Tre Trallande Jäntor - Three Carolling Girls

• J. L. Runeberg at the Internet Archive.

Sven Duva p. 56

Soldatgossen - The Soldier Boy p.78