fredag 10 april 2009

easter hags

.
Arriving at my parents house earlier this evening - we are here to celebrate easter - I found some old photos I just have to show You. This is a very common easter tradition among scandinavian children: dressing as witches (easter hags) and then strolling from one household to the other in the neighbourhood, whishing everybody a happy easter and - of course! - hoping for some candy to put in the coffeepot. I remember one year in particular when some of the older guys, who were perhaps considered a little too old for this somewhat childish tradition, dressed themselves up anyway and later in the evening threw firecrackers into the gardens or staircases of all the neighbours who had made a remark about their lack of maturity or refused to give them candy.

I was ALWAYS a NICE witch myself, though.
As a child, that is. ;-)

The first photo is one of me and my friends visiting my grandma's sister in law (I'm the third witch from the left) and the second photo is me (one year earlier, I think) in a very pretty skirt made from a quilted bedcover...

10 kommentarer:

M sa...

Oh yeah! This was serious business back in the day. We'd begin drawing 'Påsk brev' many weeks ahead, to give to the homes we visited on Easter Saturday. There was even a specific way of folding the Easter Letters before we tucked them into the old coffee pots. I think it was kind of an unwritten rule to avoid copying Disney characters or stenciling pictures. All in the name of 'purity of the easter letter tradition.' Oh, and we also competed in how many easter letters we'd drawn. Still a bit unclear why we called them letters since we drew them...
Fun memories! Did you have a Blåkulla?

Hon som lägger puzzlet sa...

Härliga bilder! Ja, min första runda jag minns, skedde i Umeå. Och jag var kanske 4 år. Fick 100 spänn och godis för en vår. Sista gången jag klädde ut mig till påskhäxa, var en påsklördag, då mina barn var halvvuxna. Det knackade på dörren av många små easter hags.. och jag minns med glädje deras miner, när jag lade pengar i deras kaffepannor:-) .. Nu för tiden behöver jag inte klä ut mig längre:-).. Hag a'round the clock! Tack för bilderna! Precis sådär var det.

Tomas Blyerts sa...

I myself never dressed up as a witch, i was to proud for that. It felt too silly for me, eaven at an early age. From the moment I was old enough to understand what they tried to do whit me, I refused.

Then of course, I suffered the consequenses of my pride, which was not getting any candy. My pride had me watching my sisters and my cousins, who were happy to make fools out of themselves, eating their candy earned through lak of pride :)

Lady of the Lake sa...

M

"Serious business"! That's the way to describe it! :-D
I still remember my aching feet and legs from walking miles and miles in rubberboots that always were either too big or too small...
... but it was fun, yes it was!

Blåkulla existed mostly in my own mind I think, but we did have a small piece of forrest we'd use to call trollskogen where magical beings and events were to be expected at any time.

Guni

Häxa är man på heltid, men påskhäxa är man på påsk. ;-)

Jo, jag tycker själv mycket om just de här bilderna, f f a den där vi sitter uppradade i soffan.
Samliga medpåskfröknar har nämligen besuttit ytterst centrala roller och funktioner under min barndom (jo, det finns FLER - ingen nämnd och ingen glömd!) och utan dessa hade nog många påsklördagar framstått som betydligt torftigare.

GLAD PÅSK PÅ ER! - om ni råkar läsa det här och känner igen er!

Tomas

I wish I could feel sorry for You because of all the fun You missed out on, but You only have yourself and that pride of Yours to blame! :-)

If it's of any consolation to You my brother never dressed himself out as an easter hag either and he was definately on Your side when I showed him this blogpost with comments after the family dinner yeaterday. There. Some sympathy. For the witch that never excisted. Happy easter. Eat a lot of eggs, 'cause there will be no candy. ;-)

Tomas Blyerts sa...

Anni, I have no regrets. You can't get everything in life, you have to choose. In this case for me: shame or candy.

And it's in the human nature to choose allmost everything else but shame, even not getting any (candy that is :)

nordstar sa...

söta påsk "kärringar"..
råkade se dig hos "freidenkerin"..

hälsning Elke (nordstar)

Lady of the Lake sa...

Tack! Fast jag tror inte att vi vore riktigt lika söta i samma utstyrsel idag, trettio år senare... ;-)

Trevligt att du tittade in, Nordstar - hoppas du haft en skön påsk!

Lady of the Lake sa...

Tomas, Tomas... "too much and too little spoils it all" as we say...

I didn't get much either, this easter.

Candy, that is. ;-)

Anonym sa...

WONDERFUL pictures! thanx for showing this memories - I didn't knew the tradition before...

Lady of the Lake sa...

Thank You! I really like these photos too, Matha! One day I think I will do as Guni (Puzzle): welcome the little easterhags with candy, being dressed up as a witch myself aswell. 25 little hags (most of them male!) visited my parents house this easter! :-)

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