Homeward bound
BACKGROUND
The project
Emigration
Memories
IN AMERICA
The
emigrants
Their
destination
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Daily
life
Returning home
IN NORWAY
House
and home
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phrases
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The difficult choice
Many young people from Vest-Agder emigrated to America, and there they often met their future partner – usually from their hometown or from the neighborhood. They settled down with a family and the years passed. But many of them tell us that after some years they were faced with a difficult choice. When their children started to grow up they had to make a decision: should they let their children start school in America, or should they return to Norway? They knew that if the children got too attached to the American community it would be even more difficult to go back home. Many decided to return. After years or decades they packed crates and containers with their memories and their possessions, new and old, and headed for home.
Little girl in a baby carriage, Brooklyn in the 1960s.
School class in the 1960s with some Norwegian American students.
Roy Pedersen sitting in a typical stroller, 1957.
Toys
Girls and boys who left America brought tings home - especially toys.
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