I recently learned about an interesting tradition in Scandinavia at a museum which we visited. In the old days when a man asked for his love's hand in marriage, he offered a dowry which is a normal tradition in most countries.
I Kairo må en mand tilbyder en kamel.....I Mexico må en mand tilbyder et æsel.... I Peru må en mand tilbyder en lama......og i India må han tilbyder flotte fjer af en påfugl. Alle ting som arbejder for dig eller er smuk at kigge på.
In Cairo a man might offer a camel....In Mexico he might offer a burro....In Peru it might be a llama....and in India, perhaps the beautiful feathers of the peacock. Each of these are things that either work for you or are beautiful to look at.
Men i Skandinavias gammeldags, tilbød mænd en "linned presse" som en medgift. Ja de er flotte..men hvilket brud ønsker for et "strygebræt" som en bryllupsgave? Jeg ejede ikke en strygebræt da jeg flyttede til Danmark.... hvis jeg har vidst denne tradition da jeg blev gift med min skandinaviske mand, ville jeg øvet måske "stryger" en smule mere!
But in Scandinavia's old days, men offered a "linen press" as a dowry. Sure...they are beautiful....but what bride wishes for an "ironing board" as a wedding gift? I did not own one when I moved to Denmark.... if I had know about this tradition when I married my Scandinavian husband, I might have practiced ironing a little more!
9 comments:
When I slept at my in Laws Copenhagen for the first time, I was shocked! The sheets were ironed. I could not believe she took the time to press the sheets. She told me she has a mangle sheet press downstairs in the basment of her building and she presses them while they are wet to dry them and they end up very crisp indeed.
I NEVER iron, unless we're going to a wedding or something...BAH HUMBUG!!!
My experience in DK is that people don't iron.
I may have that wrong though, maybe they just put their ironing board away when they have guests.
My ironing board is always in the middle of the 'stue' (the main living room) and pride of place.
Visitors have to pick their way around it, LOL.
I don't iron. Ever!
I iron every day, even my tshirts. I have one of those giant ironing boards that Target says is "European". Tell me about the ironing boards, George.
*lol*
I try not to iron. In fact, one of the first thing I look at when buying clothes is whether it needs to be ironed or not.
My late godmother ironed everything, including jeans and socks and most people in my family have ironing days. I'm just the black sheep.
Oh I loved ironed sheets! Growing up we had a thing called a mangle (I think that is what it was called) and I LOVED that thing. I'd "mangle" (iron) everything I could get my hands on lol!
I always thought the woman/her parents had to present the dowry to the groom. ?
Maybe that's just in the US.
Growing up in the '50's in Michigan, my mother had a mangle iron and all of our sheets were ironed (yes, I learned how to use the dang thing). It was simply what was expected...ironed sheets.
Now ... I can't imagine doing it. But that was before the days of both permanent press and panty hose. Can you imagine either?
I am SO old! And glad to be here.
How in the world are you dealing with both first trimester nausea AND jetlag, girl? My hat is off to you.
My german friend in California still irons the bed sheets and all the kids T-shirts. No one here does.
Post a Comment