In the summer of 2024, a major project was launched at Hertonäs Manor. The project was to go through and digitize Svenska Odlingens Vänner i Helsinge r.f. (SOV)'s receipts from the association's founding year (1906), onwards. The project was started by the summer intern Casper Widd of Hertonäs Manor. The task was done so that the receipts would be read, transcribed if they were handwritten, and finally digitized on the Desky website.
In today's digitized world, it is an important part of archiving work to get information about documents, objects and images inserted on digital archiving programs. Digitizing archive material makes archival material accessible to a larger audience, and it means that you do not have to deal with original material as often, thus minimizing the risk of damaging original documents, and objects.
During the work, a number of interesting documents emerged, which in themselves convey a certain insight into the activities of the association Svenska Odlingens Vänner i Helsinge r.f. (SOV) in the 1910s.
The following documents are some of the interesting receipts that have emerged while working with the archive material.
(Caption: Image of the document Geb1, Verifikat, 1906 – 1927, Verifikat EINO, 1910: The front of the document (Image: Casper Widd, 13.8.2024))
(Caption: Image of the document Geb1, Verifikat, 1906 – 1927, Verifikat EINO, 1910: The back of the document (Image: Casper Widd, 13.8.2024))
This receipt is a document that concerns both the Svenska Odlingens Vänner i Helsinge r.f. (SOV), and the Swedish People's Party of Finland. The document is a two-part list of members. On the first page of the document there is a list of Swedish People's Party of Finland members from Hertonäs. The list of members shows the name of the member, their place of residence and membership fee, and whether they have paid their membership fee to the Swedish People's Party of Finland. On the other side, there is a similar list detailing paid membership fees from SOV's members. That list also shows the name and the amount of the membership fee paid, but not the place of residence.
What can be noted from this document is that it appears that the Svenska Odlingens Vänner i Helsinge r.f. (SOV) and the Swedish People's Party of Finland have had some kind of cooperation, in that they held their meetings at the same time. In fact, the Swedish People's Party of Finland and the Svenska Odlingens Vänner i Helsinge r.f. (SOV) had a lot in common at the beginning of the 20th century. Both the Svenska Odlingens Vänner i Helsinge r.f. (SOV) and the Swedish People's Party of Finland's local branch in Helsinge were founded in the same year, i.e. 1906. Also, many of the members at this time had membership in both organizations. During the beginning of the 20th century, both organizations cooperated a lot with each other, among other things, both organizations had their annual meeting at the same time in the same meeting room in 1910, which may possibly be the background to this document. However, this is uncertain since the only information about the year of the document is that someone wrote "1910" in the upper, right corner of the back of the document, which may have been inscribed at a later date.
(Caption: Image of the document Geb1, Receipt, 1906 – 1927, Receipt 4, 1914 (Image: Casper Widd, 13.8.2024))
This receipt is a document that explains that architecture student Hilding Ekelund has participated in Gabriel Nikander's work with measuring and drawing buildings in Helsinge parish. Hilding Ekelund has worked with Nikander for six days, and worked himself with drawing and measuring for two days. For this work, Ekelund has received 90 Finnish marks in payment, signed for on 29 September 1914 in Helsinki.
This document probably concerns Gabriel Nikander's collection of the architecture in Helsinge parish. A work that Nikander carried out during the 1910s, which was later collected in Nikander's book "Byar och Gårdar i Helsinge från 1750 till 1865". The Svenska Odlingens Vänner i Helsinge r.f. (SOV) worked hard to preserve the old cultural heritage, by supporting research projects such as Nikander's " Byar och Gårdar i Helsinge från 1750 till 1865". Other work carried out by SOV in the 1900s, 1910s, and 1920s included archival research projects, collecting place names and plans to start a museum.
(Caption: Image of the document Geb1, Receipt, 1906 – 1927, Receipt 1, 1912 (Image: Casper Widd, 13.8.2024))
This receipt is a bill for the purchase of various food and materials from Malms Konsumtionsförening. The bill is for the purchase of everything from fruit, to lemonade and nails. It appears in a later account (Geb1: Verifikat 1906 – 1927, Verifikat 5, 1912) that these purchases are for the folk festival held by Svenska Odlingens Vänner i Helsinge r.f. (SOV) on 16 June 1912. The purchases were made on June 15, 1912, and June 24, 1912.
From this document you can see, for example, which fruit could be bought in 1912, among other things the association has bought bananas, oranges and apples. You can also see what other products the association bought for the folk festival held in 1912. There are several receipts from 1912 that concern the same festival. Information that you get from the other receipts that concern the folk festival is, among other things, that they must have had activities such as ring throwing and a singing choir, as well as an exhibition of older handicrafts.
Literature:
Sigbritt Backman 2013, Tidsresa med Svenska Odlingens Vänner i Helsinge
Pages: 21-27, 32.
Svenska Odlingens Vänner i Helsinge r.f. (SOV), Geb1: Receipts, 1906 – 1927, from the archives of Hertonäs Manor.
Casper Widd's local history internship at Hertonäs Manor Museum has been funded by the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland.