Seattle
Karsten's story from his years in the USA
Ole I. Skregelid from Kvinesdal Junior High School
interviewed Karsten Reiersen about his stay in America:
Karsten Reiersen was born and brought up in Lyngdal. Neither of his parents
were Norwegian Americans, but he had many uncles, aunts and cousins there.
One of his uncles was the manager of a company in
Lima, Ohio,
that built corn silos.
Karsten
worked there for some time but also had other jobs – for example at a
sawmill.
When Karsten first went to America in 1948 he lived in
Seattle, Washington, where he
worked during the day and went to classes at the city
university in the evening. He lived in
the Ballard district where most of the inhabitants were
Scandinavian. Seattle was America’s
largest fishing town, but also boasted a substantial
sawmill industry.
Every time he returned to Norway, Karsten took a car
back with him. When he arrived in
Norway he sold it for around NOK 26,000 – a large
amount of money in the 1950s. Karsten
had enough money to build a house after his very first
car sale. In all, he sold five cars.
When Karsten went back home for the first time in 1950,
he got to know the girl who was
to be his wife, Torbjørg. Before he returned to Norway
for good, Karsten took her with him
to America. At that time Karsten was running a store
with a friend from Eiken and was living
in
White Plains.
By 1954 Karsten and Torbjørg had two daughters. They did not want the
girls to go to school in America so they moved back to
Norway for good.
When they
came
home Karsten got a job in a bank in Kvinesdal and they
built a house that was completed
in 1962.
Karsten brought many things home with him from America,
including flooring, a
transformer, drafts for a fireplace in the living room,
a car, sanding equipment for floors,
and a kitchen table. The table is made of metal and
wood, and today it looks just as good
in the kitchen as it did almost 45 years ago.
Karsten and three cousins in Detroit.
On a visit to America.