This is a pair of conversations between my cousin, Erik Ronnberg, Jr., and his father, Erik Ronnberg, Sr. Uncle Rune, as we called him, had been a sailor in the Swedish merchant marine. He was aboard their training vessel, the Abraham Rydberg, which became stranded in Gloucester, Massachusetts, by the beginning of World War II. Consequently Rune met my aunt, Karen (my father's sister), married her, and settled in the United States.
He worked in a rigging loft in Gloucester. That's what these two interviews are about. He also became an expert building of model ships and other sailor's crafts. What you see in the photograph above is an example of scrimshaw, carved bone or ivory. In this case it is an image carved into the tooth of a sperm whale. The image was incised using dental tools and then the lines were filled with India ink. The whale, obviously, has to be Moby Dick.
Rune is being interviewed by his son, Erik, who eventually followed him in making museum-class ship models.
Collection of the Cape Ann Museum Library & Archives. Uploaded and shared with permission from Erik Ronnberg, Jr., 8/28/2020.
Image description: Erik A. R. Ronnberg Sr. and Jr. at the dining room table, c. 1950.
Collection of the Cape Ann Museum Library & Archives. Uploaded and shared with permission from Erik Ronnberg, Jr., 8/28/2020.
Image description: Erik A. R. Ronnberg Sr. and Jr. at the dining room table, c. 1950.
Sweet!!
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