The
partial interview transcription highlights important aspects
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011 PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Peter Lauritz Fet was born at Hellen
at his mother's house on March 10, 1900. Peter grew up at Hellen
and moved thereafter to Fet. Not many houses were available
in Fet at that time. The families living in Fet have been living
there for centuries.
039 FAMILY: Father's name was Peter Severin. Mother, Karoline
Hellen, worked as a midwife and was killed in a bus accident
in the area in 1951. His sister, Signe is 20 years younger than
Peter.
060 CHILDHOOD: Six families in the area. Every family owned
a farm and each family had several kids, which meant that he
had several friends growing up. Remembers quarrels with friends,
but they usually became friends quickly again. Peter enjoyed
growing up at Fet.
076 SCHOOL: Peter lived one kilometer from the school. The class
had one teacher, Johan Brunstad. Had this teacher almost all
the years and he was a very good teacher. Went to school with
kids from three other farms in the area: Fet, Dravlaus and Velle.
Peter describes this as the best time of his life. Went to school
until confirmation, Peter was then 15 years old.
EXPERIENCE IN TWO DIFFERENT SCHOOL SYSTEMS: The old system was
school every day for two weeks and then two weeks off. The new
system was school every second day throughout the whole year.
Peter remembered a strike when the school wanted to change between
these two systems. A new teacher, Lars Johannes, retired, was
there during the strike for a couple of months. This incident
happened when Peter was 10 years old.
126 WORK IN NORWAY: Helped his father on the farm when he was
not attending school. Started working after confirmation, 15
years old. Worked the first year as a fisherman on a herring
boat. Did not get any fish this year. Fishing was seasonal work
and happened during the winter. Fishing took place along the
shore and there could be 15-20 people working on one boat. The
next year he worked in a boathouse, where the boats delivered
the herring. There the herring was salted, put in barrels, and
sold, mostly to Englishmen. When he was 18 years old, he got
a job as an apprentice in a lumber mill. Worked for Johan Ørsta
at the Ekornes Company. Worked together with 7 other people.
When he was 20 years old, he worked on the roads in the area.
Difficult to get a job now, not jobs for everybody. Low wages:
50-60 øre/hour. Many thought about leaving home to get jobs
and America was the best alternative.
195 EMIGRATION: The first people from Sykkylven, mostly youths,
emigrated to America, starting at the turn of the century. Many
in the community got the so-called "America-fever" and several
left for America between 1900-1930. Some left even if they owned
farms and had family. Some had been there before and already
knew the language. People from Sykkylven mostly settled on the
West coast. People that had emigrated earlier helped the new
emigrants to settle in.
247 PETER'S JOURNEY: Peter emigrated to America in 1923, together
with 20 other youths from Sykkylven. Almost 100 persons from
Sykkylven emigrated to America in 1923. Not everyone ended up
in Hoquiam, some went to Tacoma and some even went to Seattle.
Many of them had been there before. Peter did not know a single
English word, so sign language helped him in the beginning.
Learned the language quickly and he also received help from
people already living in the area. Peter arrived in Hoquiam
in February 1923. He lived together with a man, Bernh Brunstad,
and his family that had been in the area since around 1900.
276 WORK/LIFE IN AMERICA: Peter had done some construction work
before and therefore got the job as a house builder together
with Brunstad In Aberdeen. They continued to work together for
six years. When he worked he got room and board for free. A
man named Rikstad from Bergen, Norway helped him get his first
job. Peter enjoyed working in the city, but also visited his
friends that worked in the forest sometimes. The people working
in the forest worked there for several months at a time, without
ever visiting the city. Peter, together with Brunstad, helped
people when they came to the city and many lived in Brunstad's
house. Brunstad had a big house with many bedrooms in the attic.
He did not charge rent for at this occasions. People stored
their best clothes at Brunstad's and it was Peter's task to
get the clothes repaired and cleaned in between visits. Brunstad
was married and had several kids. His wife made food for everyone
and the whole family was very generous. Peter usually ate at
Brunstad's and he therefore ate mostly Norwegian food. Peter
traveled together with Brunstad by car in the weekends and he
met many people since Brunstad had many friends. Many immigrants
bought a car after a while, but Peter never owned a car in America.
Peter started as an apprentice and had to join a union. The
job paid a good salary after a while. Peter and Brunstad helped
build a house for Arnar and Alec Poulsen. This house was donated
to the city and are used as a forestry museum today.
383 NORWEGIAN SOCIETIES: Peter was a member of Sons of Norway,
"Gangerolv" No. 14. Activities in this society: Youth work,
Norwegian work, programs and meetings. Sons of Norway also arranged
a party on July 4 and at Christmas time, when all of the people
working in the forest came to the city. They did not have their
own hall, they rented a hall from the Swedish called "Eastside
Hall" for their meetings. Peter was treasurer for Sons of Norway
the last two years he was in America. His main task was then
to collect the membership fees from the members. The membership
fee was around $20, which was paid twice a year. Some Norwegian
women emigrated to America, but only a few came from Sykkylven.
He still has contact with friends in America. Met many new friends,
and it was easy to get in touch with other immigrants. Many
have moved or died, only one friend, Pete Olsen, is still living
in the area.
455 TICKET TO AMERICA: Relatives living in Sykkylven borrowed
for Peter NOK 1,200 for the ticket, which was the price of the
ticket. Money he saved while working in Norway also helped him
on the journey to America. It took Peter one year to save enough
money to pay back the price of the ticket. He saved some money,
but it was difficult to save money while living in the city.
He never bought property in America.
474 WORK AT A WHALE STATION: While working for Rikstad in Aberdeen
he got a job at a whale station in Vestbo outside Aberdeen.
He repaired some large containers, in which they cooked whale
fat. He worked there in the summer and because of the heat the
smell was very bad in the area. Peter describes this as the
worst job he ever had.
491 ENGLISH LANGUAGE: Peter took some English courses, tried
to read articles in the newspaper, and listened to people talk
to each other. He also got much help from the people that had
lived in the area for several years.
502 WORK IN THE FOREST: The forest in the area around Hoquiam
was mostly virgin forest, which made the work difficult. Several
accidents happened in the forest. Mostly manual labor in the
beginning, which made the job dangerous. People at the hospital
almost all the time. Most common injury was broken bones and
legs. Peter and a friend, Peter Hole, used to visited people
in the hospital and got many friends during these visits. The
work in the hospital got more mechanical after a while, which
limited the danger for the workers.
525 FAMILY REACTIONS: Parents could not say much, it was his
decision. He told his parents that he would stay there for some
years and then return. This was the plan for most of the people
going to America. Peter was the only son, but going to America
was the only possibility to earn money. He was definitely returning
to Fet to take over the family farm, however, many of his friends
never returned to Norway. Was never in doubt, because he could
claim the family farm because it was a freehold farm. The main
factor for many for returning to Norway were the rights to freehold
farms.
552 DIFFERENCES AMERICA/NORWAY: Peter was in America for 6 1/2
years. He encountered several differences when he returned but
enjoyed returning to Norway. He started building houses when
he returned to Norway, built a hay barn the first year. Built
a new house on the family farm afterwards. His son is running
the farm now. Many tasks and he was busy all the time after
returning.
579 NORWEGIAN NEWSPAPER: He did not subscribe to any Norwegian
newspapers while staying in America. He read "The Western Viking"
while living in America. This newspaper, together with letters
from home, enabled him to be updated on events back home.
586 CONTACT WITH AMERICA AFTER RETURN: Kept in touch with friends
via letters after returning to Norway. Many have died now, but
Pete Olsen and Marie Blindheim is still alive. Marie is a friend
still living in America. She has many kids. Her husband died
while floating timber. Peter also visited America in 1962 together
with his wife Åsta, when the World Fair was in Seattle.
604 U.S. CITIZENSHIP: Peter was a U.S. citizen. He got the "first"
papers, and could also have gotten the "second", but he never
got around to take them.
608 IDEAS BROUGHT HOME: He brought some construction ideas home,
especially regarding kitchen furnishings. He built the kitchen
furnishing in the house in Norway himself, and the new idea
was to make room for the feet below the kitchen counter, which
was not normal in Norway at that time. He also got the idea
of cupboards. The normal feature in Norway at that time was
just ordinary shelves with maybe a curtain in front.
648 FOOD:Used mostly the same food in America as in Norway,
except that there were more fruit in America at that time.
656 MARRIAGE: Married in 1934, on June 2. Married with: Åsta
Brudevold. Two kids: One boy and one girl. Boy: Kjell Petter.
Full-time job as an architect, but he is also running the farm.
Girl: Olaug, married to Odd Gjersrud, from Oslo. Running an
auto repair shop in Straumgjerde. Odd was also in America for
16 years.
676 COMPARISON NORWAY/AMERICA: Difficult to compare. Life in
Norway has been good the last years as well, but he feels that
people were more satisfied before. The biggest change came with
the introduction of TV and radio, people talked more to each
other before they arrived.
SIDE II
035 PICKPOCKETS: Many pickpockets were in the area when Peter
was in America. They could exploit a newcomer, especially on
a crowded bus. Several friends lost their money for example
on the way to Seattle.
070 ROALD AMUNDSEN: Roald Amundsen visited Seattle after his
journey over the North Pole and Peter was in Seattle when that
happened. The airship passed Grace Harbor and anchored up by
Tacoma. Peter drove past, there were some celebrations in that
area, and also some celebrations in "Norway Hall" in Seattle.
This was a big happening for the Norwegian immigrants in this
area.
113 CHURCH: Went to the Methodist Church in Aberdeen. The church
did not have a Norwegian priest while Peter was there. The priest
was Danish, and he was called Christensen.
130 POPULATION IN HOQUIAM: Mostly Scandinavian people and they
were mostly Swedish and Swedish-speaking Finns. Peter also worked
together with them. Worked together with a Finn on the previously
mentioned whale station. It was this Finn that helped him to
get this job. His name was Österberg and he was a very good
carpenter. House construction was a bit different in America,
but was quite easy to learn.
175 UNION/WORK: There was one union in every city. The union
was only for people working with construction, not for people
working in the forest. Peter did not encounter any strikes.
Had to leave work the same day if work was not completed in
a satisfactory manner. Very high work tempo in the beginning,
no time to chat with the other workers. Almost ran in-between
assignments. This improved later when Peter started to know
people. The workday was 8 hours and overtime was possible if
needed. Worked the whole year, only had a couple of days off
around July 4 and Christmas.
208: TRAVELS: Visited an uncle in San Francisco once, which
also was in the construction business. Did not travel much besides
that.
229 RETURN TO NORWAY: Most of the people owning farms and that
had family in Norway returned. Peter returned because of the
farm and because he had promised his parents to do so. People
living in America got home-sick and the home-sickness increased
as the years passed. Some returned after they retired in America,
but it was hard for them to come back after several years, because
they felt like strangers in their home town.
INTERVIEW WITH ÅSTA FET, PETER'S WIFE
287 FAMILY: Åsta had three brothers, Johan, Harald, and Erling.
All of them emigrated to America, Johan and Harald in 1925 and
Erling in 1927. Erling was only 17 years old when he emigrated
to America and he ended up working on his aunt's big farm in
Minnesota. The aunts name was Louise Revstad. This work was
too hard for Erling and he moved to the west coast after some
years. He married Borghild Leikanger and is still living in
America. He worked some years for a dairy, and ran his own barber
shop until retirement. Johan liked fishing best and he also
stayed in America his whole life. Harald took over the farm
in Norway and ran that until he died in 1975.
332 TRIP IN 1962: The best memory Åsta has. She finally got
to see the area from which she had heard many stories and she
met many of her husband's friends.
342 SYKKYLVEN: Industry arrived in Sykkylven after Erling left,
which improved living conditions in Sykkylven a lot. The emigration
to America almost stopped after the industry arrived. Some women
left for America and almost all of them never returned to Norway,
because they married in America. There were mostly women left
in Sykkylven for some years when emigration was on its highest.
356 JOBS FOR WOMEN: Many women worked for the fishing industry
in Alaska, on can factories. Several of the women that left
for America also did housework for rich families. The immigrants
were well-known for doing good work, so it was easy for the
women to get a job.
365 ÅSTA IN NORWAY: Åsta also wanted to go to America, but she
had to help her parents on the farm, since she was the only
child left. They managed to run the farm together, but also
got help from younger boys that they payed to help them.
374 ÅSTA'S TRIP TO AMERICA: As previously mentioned, Peter and
Åsta visited America in 1962. America was much bigger and better
than she thought before she got there, it is impossible to imagine
how it is. She remember a trip to Eastern Washington and Grand
Coulee Dam. They also visited Roosevelt, WA where they saw a
statue of President Roosevelt. She also remembers the big mountains
with the dark-red rock. They also visited relatives in Yakima
and were able to see the apple gardens in Yakima. They also
saw the Leiv Eriksson monument and a big Norwegian ship that
passed by that statue. They went to a concert on the world fair,
with a Norwegian choir from Utah. They also sang Norwegian songs,
including "Vår Gud han er så fast en borg." She started to pick
up some English words at the end of the trip, but she wished
she had learned English before she went.
434 WORLD WAR II AND YEARS AFTER: After the war was over they
received many packages from America, not just from relatives
but also through the Marshall treaty. Her brother also knew
people in Sweden so they also received help from them. Åsta
remembers receiving letters from Sweden during the war. They
had been opened by the Germans, and had several censor stamps
on them. It was a sad time during the war years, and she is
glad that those years are over.
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