
This is the second album by Anne-Charlotte Harvey to appear in conjunction with the Snoose Boulevard Festival, an annual event in the Cedar-Riverside area of Minneapolis. This festival is a weekend-long re-creation of the days when the community was a Scandinavian immigrant settlement and its main street, Cedar Avenue, a center for professional Scandinavian-language entertainment. The festival invites many musicians who are keeping alive the rich musical heritage of the immigrants, and features performances by Anne-Charlotte Harvey and her Troupe. The Snoose Boulevard Festival was born in 1972. The 1973 festival was carried on 102 National Public Radio stations throughout the U.S., and was broadcast on Swedish radio and television. The festival’s name, “Snoose Boulevard,” was once the humorous, affectionate nickname for the main street in several Scandinavian-American urban neighborhoods. “Snoose Boulevard" was Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis, Payne Avenue in St. Paul, and Chicago Avenue in Chicago. And there were others, as well. “Snus” (Anglicized "snoose'') is the Scandinavian word for snuff, the form of tobacco favored by many Scandinavian immigrants. Anne-Charlotte's first album, "MEMORIES OF SNOOSE BOULEVARD" (OLLE SP-223), offered a selection of songs popular along Cedar Avenue between the 1880's and early 1950's. The present record adds to the picture or the Scandinavian emigration by including songs from the emigrant heritage which are less well-known in America. The selections are of varied origin: some were brought over from the Old Country, others were composed in America. From the religious to the comic, from ballads to dance tunes, the variety on this album is considerable. WHO WAS OLLE i SKRATTHULT? A research project, an annual festival, an exhibit at the Emigrant Institute in Sweden (1973-74), a Swedish television documentary--these are some of the recent tributes to Olle i Skratthult (roughly translated, "Olle from Laughtersville"). Olle, whose real name was Hjalmar Peterson, was America's leading exponent of bondkomik, a uniquely Swedish variety of rustic comedy. Born in Munkfors, Värmland, Feb. 7, 1886, he emigrated to America in 1906 and soon established himself as an entertainer. From about 1917 to 1933 Olle traveled the length and breadth of the U.S. with his Swedish-language "vaudeville" company of up to thirty singers, musicians, actors and dancers. "Swedish-American vaudeville was not like its English-language counterpart. It was colorful, nostalgic and wholesome fun for all ages. It consisted of Swedish folk plays with olios, folk dancing, singing, recitations--and public old-time dancing at the end of the program. Many of the most popular Scandinavian songs in America were introduced by the Olle i Skratthult Company: “Nikolina,” ‘Barndomshemmet,” “Hälsa Dem Därhemma” (all on Anne-Charlotte’s first album). Olle's gentle comedy and captivating stage appearance are still fondly remembered by thousands of Scandinavian-Americans. He died in Minneapolis in 1960. Identifier: SC 05.1.5.020