04 Apr Hotell Siljansborg Luggage Label
A year or so ago, Joakim, a gentleman from Sweden, sent me a 1943 luggage label from the Hotell Siljansborg! Out of the blue! He had read about my connection with the now-demolished hotel in Rättvik, the town nearly 200 miles north of Stockholm.
My parents spent their honeymoon there in January of 1945. I am sure that the minute she saw it, my mother would have placed a luggage label just like this on her suitcase! They had just been married in an old church in Stockholm, Gustav Adolfs kyrka. The newlyweds took the train to Rättvik the next morning. My Dad’s Liberty Lady B-17 crew had been interned in that resort town shortly after their forced landing in Sweden on March 6 the year before, the day of the Eighth Air Force’s first large-scale daylight bombing raid of Berlin.
Joakim explained that the red horse on the label is a Dalahäst (Dala horse,) a symbol of Dalarna, the area of Sweden where Rättvik is located. I love that on the horse are skis, a tennis racket and pieces of luggage. Back in the day, the Hotell Siljansborg, situated right on Lake Siljan, was a recreational destination for wealthy tourists, movie stars, even royalty!
Since I was born nine months minus two days later, I like to say that the Hotell Siljansborg is where my life began.
Herman and Hedvig Allen in Rättvik, January 1945. photo sent to me by Jan-Olof Nilsson
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