Museum's Nordic American Voices oral history project, to interview Edgar Quaale, at the

Transcription

1 Nordic American Voices Nordic Heritage Museum Interview of Edgar Olaf Quaale June 19, 2010 Redmond, Washington Interviewers: Abby Taplin, Gordon Strand Abby: [0:04] 3. Brandon: [0:05] That's fine. I'm going to get started on it. [silence] Gordon: [0:09] Strand: Is it going? Yeah, it's working. So you can start that. Abby Taplin: [0:12] OK. Gordon: [0:14] So I'm just going to introduce things here. You all set? Abby: [0:19] Almost. Yeah. Gordon: [0:22] OK. It is June 19th, 2010, and we are here as part of the Nordic Heritage Museum's Nordic American Voices oral history project, to interview Edgar Quaale, at the Aegis... Edgar Quaale: [0:42] Aegis Home Living. Gordon: [0:42] Living... Home Living in Redmond, Washington. Again, today's date is June 19th, I am Gordon Strand, and I will be assisted in this interview with Abby... Abby: [0:54] Taplin. Gordon: [0:54] Taplin. OK. Ed, if you would just say your full name and when you were born. Page 1 of 33

2 Edgar: [1:03] My name is Edgar Quaale and I was born in the Nordic Snoqualmie Valley. I lived there until I moved here. Well, I moved to Carnation in...now I got me... Gordon: [1:30] That's OK. It will come to you. What year were you born? Edgar: [1:35] I was born January 19th, 1917, and it was in the year 2000 that I moved to Carnation. And I lived there for about 10 years, and then my wife passed away in October, two years ago. And of course then I was having problems with this, so I had my leg amputated. So then I couldn't be home anymore, so I moved up here. And I've been here ever since. Gordon: [2:16] Good. Ed, we'd like you to tell us about your ancestors, your grandfather and your parents, as much as you learned about their immigrant history. Where they came from, why they came here, where they lived in the valley and what they did. As much as you know about it. Edgar: [2:38] Well, they... Gordon: [2:40] And identify them. Give us their name and... Edgar: [2:43] My mother's name was Inga Eberson, and she was about 20 years old, she came up to Seattle to do... She was a seamstress. And that's how she came to come here. Then my dad came over with his folks and they settled in the Snoqualmie valley. Like I said, the barn is still there, that they built in Gordon: [3:20] What were their names? Edgar: [3:23] My dad's name was Olaf Quaale, and his dad was Erasmus Quaale. His mother was a Sigert and there were four in that family. There were two girls. There was Martha and Louise. Olaf Quaale which is my dad, and Fred Quaale, that was his brother. Page 2 of 33

3 Gordon: [3:54] Were they all born in Norway? Did they all come together? Edgar: [3:57] Yes. My dad was 12 years old when he came and his brother, Fred, was six years old. They attended school here. I have a picture of the first school that they went to here in what they call... the area was called Vincent. Vincent, Washington. That was the fellow's name that settled here, in the valley there. His name was Vincent. That's how it became named, in that area, Vincent, anyway. In fact, that was a precinct for election... Gordon: [4:48] Census. Edgar: [4:49] Yes, my dad, he bought a dairy farm. And it was along the river, and, of course, in those days, they wouldn't do any rip-rapping along the river. [5:04] So, he had to move out, because the water had washed away the buildings. That's the way he bought the other place, there, in Vincent and there, he farmed. He was only 42 years old when he passed away. I was 14, and my brother was 15. We had to take over the farm. So, my brother and I did that until It wasn't big enough for two families, so we sold the farm. Then I went into construction and built all sorts [5:20] 49], and made my living that way. Gordon: [5:52] What do you know about how they travelled, or what year they came from Norway? Edgar: [5:59] I can recall, before my dad bought his first car, we had a buggy. And we used to, once in a while; go up to Carnation, in the buggy. Then he bought his first car. I have a picture of it here, if you'd like to see it. Gordon: [6:24] Uh-huh. Page 3 of 33

4 Edgar: [6:26] It was a 1914 Overland. Oh, no, it's not here. Gordon: [6:30] OK. We ll get it. Edgar: [6:35] The three of us kids were in that picture, too. I don't think I'm in that picture. It was my brother and my two sisters, Margaret and Emma, and, of course, William. That was my brother. He was 14 months older than I was. [6:55] But anyway, we took over the farm at an early age, and we managed to finish school and pay off the mortgage. My dad, before he died, he wanted to us to try to hang on to the farm, so we did. Gordon: [7:14] Did you ever know you grandparents? Edgar: [7:19] My grandmother, yes. But I don't remember my grandfather, Raspis, [?] because, he was only about 65, or so, when he passed away. Gordon: [7:30] Did they ever tell you why they left Norway? Edgar: [7:35] Not really, that I can recall. I wished I had asked more questions when they were here. Gordon: [7:43] Yes, we all do. Edgar: [7:47] Maybe, my sister could tell you more about that. She wasn't feeling good, today. She's 97. Gordon: [7:54] Uh-huh. Wow. Tell us about the log house that's now a landmark that your grandfather built. What do you know about that? Page 4 of 33

5 Edgar: [8:04] Well, at first, it was further up on the hill, and they moved it. So, it's right close to the highway now, sitting up on the knoll. And there's the stairs, so the corners on that log house that they used when they built it; they interlock. Gordon: [8:21] Like dovetails? Edgar: [8:23] Yes, sort of, like that, yes. It was, kind of, special; the way that thing was built. Gordon: [8:34] So, that's where your dad, and his sisters and brother lived, initially? Edgar: [8:41] No, because... I can't remember now if my dad... I remembered him living where he had to move when he bought that farm in, ah hell. I was three years old when we moved on the farm, and bought the... [8:57] We still had 40 acres on the river. There was 80 acres out, plus a hill with timber on it, another 40 acres. But he started farming at an early age, you know. There was another old building that he lived in for a while on the...folks where they lived, there. That's where they built the barn. Gordon: [9:33] Uh-huh. Edgar: [9:35] The barn is still there. And you can drive right past and see it. I think that was built kind of like in '95. Gordon: [9:47] That he built the barn? Edgar: [9:48] Yeah. Gordon: [9:52] So, you grew up on that... Page 5 of 33

6 Edgar: [9:56] But my dad... I grew up, I was about, like, three years old when we had moved onto the second farm that he bought. Gordon: [10:02] Oh, the second. OK. Edgar: [10:03] Yeah. I was three years old, then. Gordon: [10:05] Well, tell us about the house and as much as you can about what life was like for you and your brothers and sisters. Edgar: [10:12] Well, you know, when I grew up, it was right in the Depression. It was after my dad had passed away, and everything was done by hand, you know. We had a team of horses, and a wagon, and all the mowing machines that went with it, at that time. [10:40] There wasn't really many tractors around. Everybody had a team of horses, and the haying and everything was all done by hand. But you didn't know anything else, so you did what you had to do. Gordon: [11:00] So, you and your brother pretty much took over... Edgar: [11:02] Oh, yeah. We did. Gordon: [11:04] So, describe your day, then. You were still young. You were, what, 14 when the... Edgar: [11:07] Fourteen, yeah. My older brother was 15, and we managed to... I was in high school, both of us was in high school, and we had to get up pretty early in the morning and milk those cows, all milked by hand. My mother, she used to help milk, too. [11:32] So, we had to milk the cows, and do part of the chores, and catch the school bus at eight o'clock. Then, of course, at four o'clock school was out, and then we'd have to catch the bus and come home and Page 6 of 33

7 finish doing the chores and milk all the cows. We didn't really know what a weekend off was, you know? We always had plenty to do. Gordon: [12:05] So, the milk was sold to a dairy? Edgar: [12:07] We belonged to the Seattle Milk Producers, at that time. It went to the city of Seattle, and then, of course, different dairies bought the milk from them. It was kind of a co-op, then, the Seattle Milk Producers. But the city of Seattle, then, inspected all the farms, you know, and made sure the milk was... I guess they must have pasteurized their own milk every day. So, the dairies did that. And... Gordon: [12:49] What did your sisters do? Edgar: [12:50] Well, my oldest sister, she had started nursing school at Emanuel Hospital in Portland. And heard that my dad passed away while she was still going to school, but she went back down. My other sister, she helped doing all of the cooking and housework, and so forth, because my mother would help do the milking, and so when that... And then she got married, finally, and moved away. [13:30] My mother, on the farm, there, for... I don't remember, now, how long she was there. But, then, she knew a distiller. He was from Norway, but what part, I don't know. He had been married and he had a family, too, but they finally got married, the two of them. That was good for her, because she didn't want to be on the farm anymore. And he was good to her, because she liked to travel around the country, and so did he. So they drove all over... Gordon: [laughs] [14:10] Page 7 of 33

8 Edgar: [14:10]...the United St and visited their Norwegian friends in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Then, they really had some friends, too, down in Escondido, California. They traveled down there. We had a little house on the farm there, that was an extra one. That when my brother got married he kind of fixed that up and lived in there but then he built a new house. And then my, Henry was his name, he was a carpenter. He kind of fixed the old house up and they lived there until my mother passed away in 82. The house is still there anyway. Gordon: [15:04] When you were growing up did your folks belong to any Nordic or Norwegian organization or things, Sons of Norway? No? Edgar: [15:12] No. Sad part of it was though that I think most taught appropriate English. And they came over here to learn and speak English but I wish they had talked more Norwegian so we could have learned something. Gordon: [15:33] That's always true. Edgar: [15:36] But they talked perfect English you know. Gordon: [15:41] Did you have relatives anywhere else in the country, cousins or anything like that... Edgar: [15:46] My mother had a sister in Minnesota and other than that in the immediate family I don't think there were any... Gordon: [16:04] Were they in touch with anybody... Edgar: [16:06] Oh, that's right, I guess there was this uncle and they lived in Snoqualmie and they had a family. I know I remember the names of those kids, they were Jonah and Al. And then Page 8 of 33

9 they had a sister too and they all lived in Snoqualmie. And they're all buried in the Novelty Cemetery. That's where my folks are at. Gordon: [16:39] Is that name Quaale too or? Edgar: [16:42] Yeah, it s Quaale but they spelled it different then,it was Quall the way they spelled it. And then, they were right, the word my dad. I know my dad and I, we went and visited Norway. I don't recall what year it was. But there was a place there: Quaale. And even the sign on the road there's a Kvare and some of them spelled it that way. And that area there, where my dad came from is I think they re known as Quaale. And they had a farm there. Gordon: [17:18] Where was that area approximately? Edgar: [17:23] You got me there. I know that my dad's house, a lot of the city people bought those houses and they moved out closer to civilization there. When my wife and I went back there, there was a traveler whose name was Anders Slovesly and he used to come and visit. And he brought us around and he brought us to the house, my dad s house, that they lived in... Gordon: [18:01] In Norway? Edgar: [18:02]...they had moved down. And the city people used it as a summer home. Gordon: [18:07] Was it close to Olso then? Edgar: [18:09] No, no it a ways from Oslo. It was close to, Majolla, and we'd, I'd have to look at a map of the place. Gordon: [18:21] Yeah, sure. So did you meet relatives on that trip? Page 9 of 33

10 Edgar: [18:26] Ah, yeah. We had my mother's sister in Minnesota, they had, they lived in Minnesota and we visited back there once. One time I know we took a trip back there and that, but they were both passed away. They had two children, one of them was named Egar and the other was named Olga. [19:02] And they were supposed to stay on the farm and continue the farm when their folks were gone but the daughter, she went and climbed out the window and married the hired man. And they took, another sister really, she ended up in the hospital over that. I don't know whether you want to hear that or not. It comes to mind. You can just scratch that out. [laughter] Gordon: [19:40] What sort of traditions did you have that you could maybe identify as Norwegian, like Christmas or foods that you might have eaten? Edgar: [19:50] Well, at Christmas time, I had Lutefisk. Gordon: [19:53] Oh lord. That's pretty hardcore. [laughter] Edgar: [19:59]. Yeah. We always had a nice Christmas dinner with their traditional food, what they had then. Gordon: [20:12] Were there a lot of other Norwegians in the valley that you knew? Edgar: [20:15] Not too many Norwegians. There were some Swedes and there's a lot of Hollanders who moved into the valley because it was dairy country. There were a lot of small dairy farms in the valley, but they're all gone now. It's all big time. But now, of course, all out there, you drive through there it s the Asians come in and they're doing all their truck riding and their flowers and so on. Page 10 of 33

11 Gordon: [20:54] So your grandfather was a dairy farmer too? Edgar: [20:57] Yeah. Gordon: [20:58] Did he know that from Norway, know how, or was it something...? Edgar: [21:04] I guess. I'm sure he must have known something about it because there was all dairy farms there too, you know. Some of them only had six cows and so on, and when we were back there. My mother, they had moved to Minnesota too, but the father, the kids did and they had grain farming down in Minnesota. But he couldn't take care of the farm anymore so they moved back and we visited those people and that was my mother's relatives and my mother, and they had a little farm. They had, I don't know, maybe 14 cows. But Fritz, he didn't... it was one of his boys was running the farm. Gordon: [22:04] How did your mother get to this part of the world to...? Edgar: [22:08] Well, like I said, she was hired as a seamstress to do some sewing in Seattle and make some dresses for some of her relatives, I guess. Yeah, so she moved right to Seattle from Norway. She lived close by Trondheim I think where she was... I know we visited her house that she grew up in when we were back there. Gordon: [22:40] What was her name before she was married? Do you know? Edgar: [22:43] Well, it was Inga Everson. Gordon: [22:47] Everson. Edgar: [22:47] Yeah. Page 11 of 33

12 Gordon: [22:50] So she lived in Seattle somewhere. Edgar: [22:52] Yeah. Of course then, my dad's sisters, they lived in Seattle too. So they got... that's how he met her, I guess, there. Gordon: [23:07] So your dad met her in Seattle... Edgar: [23:08] Yeah, I think so. Gordon: [23:09]...and moved her out to... Edgar: [23:11] Yeah. They got married and moved her out on the farm. [laughter] Gordon: [23:16] Yeah. You have a question? Abby: [23:21] Not at the moment. Gordon: [23:22] OK. So how are things changed since when you were a kid around here? I know there's a lot, that's a big question, but you say there are no small farms anymore. Edgar: [23:39] No. Most of it has moved east, Eastern Washington. The fellow, the Hollander that came up from California and bought our farm, but then he bought another big place towards Monroe. They're milking over 600 cows and... Gordon: [24:02] So he bought your farm and others to consolidate? Edgar: [24:04] Yeah. He bought this other... our farm wasn't big enough for him. He was real energetic. You met Jim. He was a hard worker in [indecipherable 24:21]. He could go to the bank and borrow whatever he wanted. So he knew what he was doing. [24:25] But then he got Page 12 of 33

13 lung cancer and he's passed away. He was 25 years younger than I was. So he's gone but one of the boys has taken over. Gordon: [24:38] You said your dad died very young. Edgar: [24:40] 42. Gordon: [24:41] Yeah. What happened? Edgar: [24:43] Pneumonia. Gordon: [24:44] Oh. Edgar: [24:47] He was up and got better, but then he got a relapse and of course he was home all the most of the time he wasn't in the hospital and of course they didn't have penicillin or anything like that in those days. So he was... I don't know, but I heard my mother say he didn't have a good heart or something. I don't know. But he worked hard all the time. Everything was done by hand and he worked hard. Gordon: [25:17] So when you were a boy, did you always plan on staying on the farm? Edgar: [25:22] Not really. Gordon: [25:23] What did you want to do? Edgar: [25:25] Oh, that's a good question too. I would have liked to gone to college and I would have liked to have been an electrical engineer. I had picked up on the farm... as things changed we had to learn all that. At home I could do cement work and that work was all - we couldn't Page 13 of 33

14 afford to hire anything and you always had to improve. [25:58] But after we sold the farm that's basically what I did, but I had to learn the hard way. Gordon: [26:11] So when your dad died there was just no choice but for you and your brother to take over for him. Edgar: [26:14] Right. If we hadn't, we would have lost the farm and he didn't want that. Gordon: [26:20] No. You had your mother to worry about and your sisters. Edgar: [26:23] Yeah. But, we got along fine together. We both finally got married and I had the old farm house and my brother built on the same property. My wife actually was a city girl. Gordon: [26:47] Where did you meet her? Edgar: [26:48] I met her in a drug store in Kirkland. Gordon: [26:51] In Kirkland? Edgar: [26:52] Yeah. [laughter] Gordon: [26:53] How'd that happen? Edgar: [26:54] Well, I don't know. Well, it was during the war and they were giving some classes in Kirkland on diesel engineering. There was an evening so after I had the chores all done, a truckload of the other neighbors there, the boys, we went to those classes. Of course, afterwards, we stopped in the drugstore. [27:24] There was a confectionery there and we'd have ice cream and, of course, those girls were down there too. So we got acquainted and that's how I Page 14 of 33

15 met her. We were married 67 years until she passed away. We had four children. In fact, the older daughter is here. Well, they're both here. Gordon: [27:51] Yeah. I met Fia. Edgar: [27:52] Yeah. Fia and Chris. Gordon: [27:54] Chris. Edgar: [27:56] And both the boys live in Carnation. The oldest boy, he was a Seattle policeman and retired after 25 years. The other boy, he's a lot like me. He learned how to do a lot of things. He's a licensed plumber and they both live in Carnation. So the whole family is real close by. Gordon: [28:23] That's great. Edgar: [28:24] Yeah. Gordon: [28:25] You're lucky. Edgar: [28:25] Yeah. Gordon: [28:26] My daughter lives in Australia. Edgar: [28:27] Oh gosh. [laughter] Edgar: [28:30] That's a ways off. Gordon: [28:31] Yeah. Abby: [28:32] You almost can't get much further away. Gordon: [28:34] Not much further. Maybe the moon. [laughter] Page 15 of 33

16 Edgar: [28:36] Yeah. Right. Yeah. There you go. Gordon: [28:38] Yeah. Edgar: [28:39] Yeah. Abby: [28:43] How did The Depression affect you guys on the farm? Edgar: [28:49] I didn't hear the first part. Abby: [28:50] How did The Depression affect you guys? Edgar: [28:52] Oh. That was tough. But the farmers, we always had something to eat and we always paid the bills. In those days, when they had a farm, they'd put in an orchard. And, of course, we always had a big vegetable garden. Of course, we had our own meat. So, we always had plenty to eat. [29:28] We had enough income coming in from the cows. We couldn't waste any money, though. I can recall after you d done the cement work for the forms; you'd sit there with the hammer and straighten the nails out. Gordon: [29:51] Because, you had a mortgage, I'm sure, to pay too, on the farm, right? Edgar: [29:53] Oh, yeah. That's part of the reason we stuck it out, is to get that paid off. But then, we no more got that paid off, and then they done away with the milk cans. They condemned the barn. We couldn't milk in there anymore. [30:08] Then, we had to borrow some more money from the Federal Land Bank. We built a new barn. And we had to put in milking parlor and it all went to a refrigerated holding tanks. So, we did that until... I can't remember... it was about 1954 that we put all that in. Page 16 of 33

17 [30:35] Then, in '67, we sold the farm. Then, I started out on my own. We would activate for help. That's how we got started with that. Gordon: [30:52] That's a great thing. Edgar: [30:53] I painted a lot of houses. We did logging, and a little bit of everything. Gordon: [31:01] Have your children been to Norway or has done any...? Edgar: [31:03] Yes, I think Chris has been there four or five times. Gordon: [31:07] Uh-huh. Edgar: [31:08] She's not been over there. We like it, too. It's a beautiful country. Now, my wife and I, we were there for about a month. We had relatives over there to stay at their place a few days. Then he had never been there, and he came over to visit some fellow by the name of, Olaf Hoke. [31:39] He had a jewelry store there in Seattle. And he came to visit him and he got acquainted with my brother and I, and my mother and her husband, Henry. And he came over a couple of times. When we were in Norway, he had a little cabin. And we stayed in his cabin a few days, too. [32:07] Then, he had a car, and he brought us around. He brought us to where my mother was raised, that house, and my dad's place. We didn't get to go inside my mother's house then, but my dad's house, we got to go inside that. Gordon: [32:27] This was where your grandparents were? Edgar: [32:29] Yes. Page 17 of 33

18 Gordon: [32:30] What was the house like they left? Edgar: [32:35] Of course, it had been kept up. It was in good shape. It had a loft upstairs. That's where the bedrooms were. They're not big houses, by no means, but they were... Gordon: [32:51] Now, they're summer houses for the people from the city, you said? Edgar: [32:52] Yes, they moved the houses off the farm, and got them closer to town. And in the summertime it was just like the cabin in the [indecipherable 33:08]. Gordon: [33:07] Was your wife of Scandinavian descent? Edgar: [33:10] No, she is, I think, German-Swiss. Gordon: [33:15] Uh-huh. Edgar: [33:17] Quite a difference, there. [laughter] Gordon: [33:21] When I was a kid, I went to school in Seattle. Edgar: [33:24] Did you? Gordon: [33:24] We made a field trip. I remember going to the Carnation Farm. Edgar: [33:29] Oh, yeah. Gordon: [33:30] When did they come into the valley, and what was the impact on other dairy farmers, or did it have any? Edgar: [33:39] No, it really didn't. It was show cows that they had. They had bulls that they sold for $100, 000. They were mostly in the breeding process, rather, than the milk. Page 18 of 33

19 Gordon: [33:53] Oh, they were breeders? Edgar: [33:54] : But they had, that's where they, you saw that statue out with that. And that was the first cow that had produced 100, 000 pounds of milk in one year. Gordon: [34:10] I remember that. Edgar: [34:11] And there was one fellow by the name of Gore and he took care of that one cow, and he milked it three times a day. And everything all of the feed. He kept track, pretty good track of the cow. Gordon: [34:34] What's happened to that farm now? What is it? Edgar: [34:37] Well, Nestle bought it and they sold it to have you heard of Paul Newman? Gordon: [34:53] Paul Newman, yeah. Edgar: [34:55] And he put this boys camp, camp what do they call it, anyway that was a club for young boys that had you know cancer and stuff. Camp Colonel...anyway, they had camps all over the United States. So they bought a good 1, 000 acres there you know. So they had to put machinery down there to cut all this grass and stuff. Some farmers, they could have sold them: there were more dairy farms there--but there wasn t the demand for it anymore. [35:50] So anyway they sold Carnation. The company bought the property back. Except the camp part of it they kept but yeah, Carnation owns it back again. I don't know, Isabelle could tell you about that because she talks about the movement at the historical thing we have up at the Senior Center. They had to move it out. Page 19 of 33

20 [36:26] I used to be involved in that but I couldn't get to the meetings anymore. And I think she talked him into moving. We didn't have all that much but they're moving it. She got a place to put it now that the Carnation farm has a hold of it. She could tell you more about that. Gordon: [36:44] And what was your school like, where did you go to school when you were like grade school and high school? Edgar: [36:48] Well, the first five grades at Vincent there and the school house is still there. Gordon: [36:55] Where is it? Edgar: [36:56] Right in Snoqualmie Valley there where in the Vincent area, they call it the Vincent School. And it was built in 1905, but it had been added on to. And finally, it was pretty small so then it was the Tokes school, they merged with the Tokes and they finally closed it down and then the neighbor, the girl, they bought it for $1 from the district. And it's been a clubhouse ever since. Sort of a little community. Gordon: [37:42] A community? Edgar: [37:43] Yeah. Gordon: [37:45] What about high school? Where did you go to high school? Edgar: [37:47] I went to high school at Carnation, Twelfth Union high school, I went there. But I moved to Carnation in grade school, in sixth grade. I don't know why but I took fourth and fifth in one year and then got moved to Carnations grade school. Gordon: [38:15] So Twelfth Union High School is what it was called. Is that still there in the same building? Page 20 of 33

21 Edgar: [38:19] No, in fact that's a raw brick two story. And no, they tore all that down and put up a new one. And they added on to and added on to and finally that high school isn't in Carnation anymore. It's in Duvall. Gordon: [38:42] Oh, Duvall. I don't know what they had. Edgar: [38:48] I don't remember what they called it. Evergreen or something. Evergreen. Gordon: [38:54] Tell us what high school was like when you were there and what year did you graduate? Edgar: [38:59] Well, I graduated in 1934, and we had a football [cough]. Let me scrap that off you. Abby: [39:07] Yeah. Edgar: [39:10] We had a football team, and a basketball team. My brother and I played football, but we couldn't play basketball, because they had practice after school, and then we had to get home and go do our farm work. Gordon: [39:25] When did you practice football then? Edgar: [39:28] Well, from three o'clock until 4, that's when the bus started and we came home. That's how we got to practice football. But, basketball had to be at night. Well, we had track and I participated in track. [39:53] I could run pretty fast, so. I was pretty small. You know, when I started freshman year in high school, I only weighed 90 pounds. I had to grow a couple of years before I could really play football. Otherwise they'd throw me around like a football. [laughing] Page 21 of 33

22 [40:14] Yeah. But you know, there were 31 of us in that class and there's only two of us left. My brother passed away about six months ago. Gordon: [40:34] Oh, your brother died six months ago? Edgar: [40:34] Yeah. He didn't quite make 95. My sister, my oldest sister she passed away when she was in her 80s. She got some disease and was sick, but my sister lived till 97. In my next birthday I'm going to be 94. Gordon: [41:00] So do you make the lutefisk in the family now, or does anyone? Edgar: [41:03] No, no, my wife, she's made it a couple of times at Christmas. The smell will run you out of the house. [laughter] But I didn't mind it at all. You know, it's melted butter on it, and we always had that Leche(?) and corn kake(?) and all that stuff. Gordon: [41:25] Does anybody still do that stuff in your family, your daughters? Edgar: [41:28] No, not anymore. Gordon: [41:30] No? Edgar: [41:30] No. It's kind of drifting away, like everything else. We modernized, the grocery stores modernized everything. Gordon: [41:40] Yeah. How much time do we have on it? Abby: [41:48] We ve got 41 minutes. Gordon: [41:49] Total? Abby: [41:50] Total. Page 22 of 33

23 Gordon: [41:50] Well, that's good. Yeah. Want to pause for a minute? Abby: [41:55] Of course. Gordon: [41:56] I need to get a cough drop. Abby: [41:57] Yeah. Do you want some water, Ed? Gordon: [42:00] Do you want some water? Edgar: [42:00] It wouldn't hurt if I had it. Gordon: [42:02] Let's see if we could find a cough drop. Edgar: [42:03] I had a problem with my numb mouth, being pretty dry. Abby: [42:06] You've been talking for a long time. Edgar: [coughing] [42:08] Yeah, I had problem with my throat. I better watch it, so I don't get... Gordon: [42:19] I think this is part of the decoration, but we'll use it. Edgar: [42:21] Yeah, well, I fooled them. I got down in my windpipe and three times I ended up in the hospital with the pneumonia. Abby: [42:33] That's not good. Gordon: [42:34] And how did you lose your leg? Diabetes, or? Edgar: [42:37] No, it was poor circulation down there and about 12 years or so, a tractor [coughing] run over that leg. Gordon: [42:52] A tractor did? Page 23 of 33

24 Edgar: [42:53] Yeah. Not a garden tractor, but a big one. Gordon: [42:56] Yeah. Edgar: [43:05] And then, this one, too. I have to watch this one. It's the only one I got left. There's hardly no circulation down there and I get that edema. Gordon: [43:17] Oh, yeah. Edgar: [43:18] And that would cause a blister and that blister raked and you'd get an open sore. Tough time getting it to heal. Abby: [43:25] Yeah. Gordon: [43:25] Yeah. Edgar: [43:26] Because of poor circulation. And that's how I lost it, or we doctored it for a year. Gordon: [43:36] But otherwise, you seem pretty healthy? Edgar: [43:38] Well, yeah, pretty good. Gordon: [43:40] Yeah. Edgar: [43:48] All my life, it was just hard physical work, all the time. Gordon: [43:51] Yeah. That's true, Yeah. Edgar: [43:53] Outside. I always had plenty of exercise. Well, even in the last 10 years I was in Carnation, I bought this... I had a big back yard. I still put in a big garden. So how it... and I love flowers. I always had lot of flowers around and shrubbery. [44:19] In all three places that I lived. Page 24 of 33

25 On the farm. Then when I moved down a mile down the road. I had six acres and I guess every square foot, I put flowers on that one. Until I really couldn't take care of that anymore. So I moved to Carnation. I thought I was going to take it easy. But it didn't work out that way. Abby: [laughs] [44:43] Edgar: [44:43] There was always something I wanted to do. Gordon: [44:45] Always, yeah. Yeah. Edgar: [44:48] I had a shop, real nice shop. I had a lot of tools. Because when I did anything, I did it all. I had to have all the wood working tools and electrical tools and plumbing tools. So I always had a truck load of tools when I went out. I did a lot of things I wasn't supposed to do without a license, you know. But I did them anyway. Abby: [laughs] [45:21] Gordon: [45:25] We'll have to scratch that one. [laughs] Abby: [laughs] [45:26] We won't tell. Edgar: [45:33] Anyway, it's been... I've always kept busy. Gordon: [45:38] I think that's the name of the game, isn't it really? Edgar: [45:40] Yeah, I don't know the first thing about a computer. Gordon: [laughs] [45:42] Edgar: [45:44] I never had reason to. Page 25 of 33

26 Gordon: [45:46] Yeah. Edgar: [45:46] I'm afraid if I learned how to use one, I'd be sitting in the house punching that keyboard or something. I really didn't have it. I'd rather go outside and do stuff. Gordon: [45:58] Can I go back to your name? You think in Norway it was KV? Or did you find...? Edgar: [46:05] Or yeah. That one reason when they came to this country, there...ellis Island, I guess they came through. To keep them...everybody spelling their name the same. So they spelled it different so they could keep better track of them that way, yeah. Gordon: [46:28] So you think they made a change there at Ellis? Edgar: [46:30] Yeah, I think they did. Because I never saw any...when I was back in Norway, I didn't see them. But we met over there. Anyway, he bought a book over there. There was book out about the Quaales. About a lad in there. My sister, I think - Not my sister. My daughter, I think, has got that book. It tells about when my dad's folks came over and how many children they had and all that. Gordon: [47:07] That was 1903 when they came or not or earlier? Edgar: [47:10] I think in Man: [47:11] 1; In OK. Edgar: [47:12] Yeah. But I would I wish I would have asked a lot more questions when my folks were living. Especially my dad and my mother. They didn't talk about it much. Why, I don't know. Page 26 of 33

27 Gordon: [47:29] Did they speak Norwegian at home? To each other? Edgar: [47:31] No, that's the bad. Once in a while, if there was stuff they didn't want you to hear, then they'd talk. Gordon: [47:38] That's what happened with me. Yeah. Edgar: [47:41] Yeah. I wish they had, because I would love to be able to speak Norwegian instead of just a few words. But I suppose I could have studied it, too, and learned it. But it seems like I never had time. Gordon: [48:03] You didn't have a whole of spare time, did you? Edgar: [48:06] No. [laughs] Abby: [laughs] [48:07] Edgar: [48:12] No, there wasn't. But traveling. My wife liked to travel, you know. But it was such a hassle, being waiting in airports. It just didn't interest me that much. I'd rather be home working. My wife used to call me a workaholic. Because usually on weekends when she would like to go someplace and well I tried to do as much as I could. A lot of it I didn't have to do, but I did it. Gordon: [48:58] But you enjoyed it. Edgar: [48:59] Yeah. I did. That's why I did it. [49:05] But I love to see things grow. When I moved to Carnation, I had almost a 20, 000 square foot yard there in the back of the house. And no one could build next to it because they had that trail in the back and then on the North side there was farm over there. There's a big field there; there's horses in there and cattle and so... Page 27 of 33

28 Gordon: [49:37] So what sort of things did you grow? You said flowers, special kinds or...? Edgar: [49:45] Yeah, there were a lot of flowers, in fact like you see up there. No, I m, oh, I don t live here. Abby: [49:52] If this was your apartment. Edgar: [49:55] Yeah, it's exactly the same as mine. Gordon: [49:58] Is it? Edgar: [49:59] Yeah, and I always liked flowers, and of course our vegetable garden. I had to start working, oh gosh, it must have really had, I remember going out there like before I was eight years old and have to weed and garden. I worked in the garden ever since. I've always had to have a garden. [50:27] In Carnation I would have more than we could use so I'd leave it down at the food bank or down at the, stuff I'd leave down at the food bank and my neighbors there I kept them in fresh corn. I had a lot of corn in the pantry because I just love fresh corn. Gordon: [50:52] Well, maybe kind of as a wrap up, what do you think the legacy is for your parents and your grandparents? What did they give you, and I don't mean things, but I mean values. What did they pass on to you that you think is important? Edgar: [51:10] Hard work for one thing, you know. Being a good neighbor is one thing. Everybody helped each other when they need help. That's what I always did too. Anybody that needed help, why, I would be right there to help when I could. And then, you know, honesty, and always trying to get along with other people, your neighbors and sometimes you bend over backwards to do that, but. Page 28 of 33

29 Gordon: [52:03] You know we have a big exhibit at the museum we call the Dream of America. Edgar: [52:07] Uh-huh. Gordon: [52:08] Do you think your folks and your grandparents; do you think they've realized their dream when they came here? Was this what they expected? Edgar: [52:17] I don't know. I couldn't. When she came over, when she first came over I guess she did know she was going to wind up on a farm and do all that hard work. I've read stories about the wife out there milking cows and then had to go in and have a baby and then go back out and finish milking, you know. I've heard of that. In fact I know a Japanese couple, that happened to his wife. She passed away. [53:00] We must have known something about a lot of this hard work that they did then because I can remember that all the canning we did. We used to can vegetables and can fruit. One thing was too you didn't waste any money. You paid the bills first, and then what you had left to buy the groceries. Always tried to have a little extra in case you needed it. You had to watch your pennies, you know. Gordon: [53:42] What about the war years? Were you impacted at all by the war, World War II? Edgar: [53:48] Well, as a matter of fact, I made more money during the war. See I was, you know, they had the draft. And I got 1A and I was just, of course, my brother was there too on the farm. Anyway, I was all ready to go to have my physical. And then the draft board said I better stay home on the farm. So that's what I did. But then, I was a, what do you call it, airplane spotter, you know? After the Japanese attacked us, I did that. Gordon: [54:28] So farmers were essential, kind of like fishermen were, too. Page 29 of 33

30 Edgar: [54:31] Well, yes, right. Oh yes, right. Gordon: [54:32] Because they provided the food. Edgar: [54:34] That's right. And that's why they thought we were better off down home on the farm. But then we had, everything was rationed. But then we had subsidy then. The government paid you a subsidy, which we never had before. It was to try and increase production. You know, and so then you got paid a little subsidy. Gordon: [55:02] This was during the war? Edgar: [55:03] Yes. Rationed, butter was rationed and sugar was rationed and a lot of things was rationed. And we always had enough gas to run our equipment. You couldn't get... I forget just how long we had to wait before we could get a tractor, we had horses, you know. I can remember when we finally got the tractor it came in iron wheels, because of no rubber. Gordon: [55:42] Oh yes. Edgar: [55:43] Yes. Gordon: [55:44] So you were using horses until World War II? Edgar: [55:46] Yes. Gordon: [55:47] Really? Edgar: [55:47] Yes. Gordon: [coughs] [55:49] Excuse me, I'm sorry. Page 30 of 33

31 Edgar: [55:54] Yes. And then everybody... the Ford tractor came out. Ford built this tractor, there was a lot of them around. And the Ferguson tractor. Oh, there were a lot of different makes of tractors. Gordon: [56:11] So there are not many dairy farms left in the... Edgar: [56:13] No, no. Very few. In fact, I only know of two and that was the Hollander, who bought our place, and then Monroe, that was a big place about 400 acres or so. And then DeYoung, another Hollander, a few miles down the road. But I don't know of any other ones. Gordon: [56:45] So a total change of life. Edgar: [56:46] Oh, I guess so. All went big time, you know, eastern Washington. Now they have 3, 000 cows on some of those farms. Gordon: [56:56] Versus how many would you have had on your farm? Edgar: [56:59] Well, we had about, the most we ever had was 70. Gordon: [57:02] Seventy. Edgar: [57:06] And now the trucks go to Eastern Washington to pick up the milk and bring it to the Dairy Gold plant in Issaquah. Gordon: [57:17] So everything is a factory now? Edgar: [57:18] Yes. Gordon: [57:19] Yes. Page 31 of 33

32 Edgar: [57:20] Seems like it, yes. Same thing with beef cattle, you know. Oh, there are some farmers, they'll have a few, but not very many. Gordon: [57:32] Well, we appreciate it. This has been a real pleasure to talk to you. It really is. We get more out of these than, I think, probably the people there. Because we get a slice of life that, you know? Edgar: [57:43] Yes. I don't think. Gordon: [57:46] Hey, you did great. Abby: [57:48] Yes. Gordon: [57:48] You really did. Edgar: [57:49] I do a lot of stammering you know. Gordon: [57:51] No you don't. Abby: [57:52] No, you're great. Gordon: [57:55] I really appreciate it. Edgar: [57:56] Thank you. Gordon: [57:58] It's very important that we keep this. And eventually when we get, we'll make a DVD for you and you can keep for your kids, of this interview. Edgar: [58:05] That would be nice. Gordon: [58:06] Yes. Page 32 of 33

33 Edgar: [58:07] Yes. Gordon: [58:10] I don't know if you can... but this is a gift to you from the museum. It's some information about the museum. And there's some passes in here. If you can't use them, you can give them to your daughters or whatever. Edgar: [58:20] Thank you. Well, thank you. Abby: [58:24] You want me to hit pause here? Gordon: [58:26] Yes, there's a... Transcription by CastingWords Page 33 of 33