Photograph, Merchant Seaman, Norway

Title

Description

ca. 1940s-1970s. ex-Jøte Wiklund of Sigerfjord, Norway . I do not know what 8410 on the reverse of the photograph may indicate; it may be an old post code.

In the summer of 1996 I moved into a mostly-furnished apartment at 95 Governor Street in Providence, Rhode Island. This is a photograph found in a dresser drawer.

The apartment was on the ground floor of a grand, old house. Altogether, the apartment comprised of three conjoined rooms, each with a built-in wardrobe; it looked to have at once been a parlor and an entry-way to a rear staircase - the later had a wall blocking off a portion; I used some exposed steps as a bookcase. The plasterwork on the ceiling at one time must have been impressive, but a drop-ceiling both hid it and protected me from falling chunks.

The house, as the owner told me, was once at the bottom of the hill and was brought to its current location at the intersection of Governor and Power decades ago. Ancient jacks still held up portions where the frame sagged. At one point, the house was a seaman’s boarding house - which explained how my apartment was divided. All the furniture in the apartment was leftover from that time - except a bed.

This well-worn photograph is undoubtedly that of a merchant seaman - if he was a resident of my old apartment or a friend of an old resident, I may never know. It is my memento of that old house.

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Citation

“Photograph, Merchant Seaman, Norway,” dittybag, accessed November 2, 2024, http://dittybag.ianewatts.org/collection/items/show/188.

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