Marion Shearer interview with Anton Harju and Hilja Harju

The John Burrison Georgia Folklore Archive recordings contains unedited versions of all interviews. Some material may contain descriptions of violence, offensive language, or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. There are instances of racist language and description, particularly in regards to African Americans. These items are presented as part of the historical record. This project is a repository for the stories, accounts, and memories of those who chose to share their experiences for educational purposes. The viewpoints expressed in this project do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the Atlanta History Center or any of its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The Atlanta History Center makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interviews and expressly disclaims any liability therefore. If you believe you are the copyright holder of any of the content published in this collection and do not want it publicly available, please contact the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center at 404-814-4040 or reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. In this recording, Marion Shearer interviews Hilja and Anton Harju. Before the interview begins, Shearer discusses her plans to visit Finntown in Jesup, Georgia, where there had once been a community of Finnish immigrants that had subsequently been reduced because a lumber company had bought out most of the families. The Harjus had moved to Jesup in 1926 from Massachusetts and discuss living in Finn Town, including its history and customs. They discuss farming practices, particularly dairy and sweet potatoes; traditional dances; family life; and popular entertainment. In addition, they also use derogatory language to discuss Romanies who traded with the community. Additional topics include the construction of their house; the origin and use of saunas; and celebrations such as name days. In several places Anton Harju plays Finnish music on the accordion. *For a more detailed description, please request the transcript. Hilja (1899-1980) was born in Long Cove, Maine, and later lived in Northbridge, Massachusetts. In 1916 she married Anton Harju (1891-1982), who was born in Kankaanpaa, Finland. They moved to Finntown outside of Jesup, Georgia, in 1926 and had three children. Marion Shearer: Good morning. We should be recording now on a faster speed than we were. Can't be sure though. It is almost nine o'clock. In a few minutes, we're going to check out of the motel and go over to the gas station, or the police station, or wherever we can find somebody that's been around here and ask them what's happened to Finn Town. Last night we were told that it was no longer here, that there were only a couple of the original families still around these parts because they were bought out by a lumber company. So we will go there and try to find out what we can, why they left and how long they've been gone. And if we do find some of the original people, we'll try to ask them about their lifestyles when they were here and what they did, where they're from and things like this. Then if we don't have any luck with Finn Town, we'll probably go back up to Sur and see [sp?] and try to find some informants up there. I noticed on the way down several shacks on the south side of town, if you want to call it town, where Negro families lived. They looked like they had been there a long time, and we'll try to go there and ask them about recollections of all the timely life. After we leave Sur Sea [sp?]. We will go to Baxley this afternoon, try to locate the Negro man that works at the mill there, I think. I'm not sure we'll find out, but he's an old man and he's supposed to make chairs in the old timey manner. I came through Baxley coming down. I noticed that the old area of group of houses that were Negro houses right there on the side of the road had been torn down and I didn't see a trace of 'em. I guess it's some sort of tremendous urban renewal project, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens. And yes, I hope we can find something. Here's on the tape. No artificial organization with questions and answers about the material and comments by the informant, like title of piece if song or tune, where, when and from whom informant learned material, what he likes or doesn't like about piece, what certain unfamiliar or obscure words or passages mean and so forth. The transcript should be followed by photographs and any other information, material pertinent to that informant's dialogue, questions and answers, group discussions, should be presented in play script format indicating speaker, gesture, actions, et cetera. [the speaker then transitions to another language, possibly French] You have to talk into this mic, what does it mean? But I thought I'd just run it for a minute and... Hilja Harju: Then you ask me what you want to know, then I can tell you. Marion Shearer: Yeah. Does it seem natural to you there? This is sort of like a practice to see if it's loud enough because see, my teacher will save these tapes. And he is real young, and he's just gotten his master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and he's working on a doctorate degree in folklore. And he's only about 25 years old, and he's really interested in folklore here in Georgia, and he heads a group, it's called the[00:05:00] Georgia Folklore Archives. And they say, see, I'm one of the students, and the students go out for term projects and collect local Georgia [...] . So I just wanted, right now, I guess this is just kind of a practice to see if it's loud enough. Hilja Harju: Enough. I think the beginning should be how they first [...] little way down, how they started here, and we grew those vegetables and all them things. And then we had the dairy, we had a box dairy here, and we had lots of chickens, about 10,000 laying hens, 25, and everybody went to the theater. Women 15, 20, ladies go into the fields every morning, and the men did the hard work. They worked with the tractors and mules. We had about eight mules and all that. Yeah. Marion Shearer: Let's see. It's 39. Well I, let's see. And now how is it that you say your full name? Your full name? Hilja Harju: Just my last name? Marion Shearer: Well, your whole name, and if you were talking to somebody that was Finnish. Hilja Harju: My name is Harju, Hilja. Marion Shearer: You weren't born in Finland? Hilja Harju: No, I was born in Maine, Long Cove Maine. Marion Shearer: And you lived in Massachusetts? Hilja Harju: Yes, we married in Maine and we lived in Massachusetts 10 years before we came here. Marion Shearer: When did you come here? Hilja Harju: In 1926, June 1926. Marion Shearer: Was it called Finn Town then? When did Finn Town actually begin? Hilja Harju: In 21. Marion Shearer: In 21. Who was it that came here? Hilja Harju: Well, I really don't know. There was Mr. Rosloff, Mr. Force, [sp?] he's still living, he lives in Baltimore. And William Hillman [sp?], and I think he came, I'm not sure. Most of them are there. Marion Shearer: And we were told that the houses were green. In Finn Town. Hilja Harju: No, I don't think there's but one, two green houses here when they've been just painted lately. One's a new house and one's been that siding. Marion Shearer: Yeah. Did you ever have a railroad depot in Finn town? Hilja Harju: Yes, we did. We used to have the bogies to stop there. There was a car that went between Jessup and [...] Marion Shearer: Did you ever have a church that everyone went to? You always would go to the church and [...] Hilja Harju: Yes, some people would want to go there. Good. When you came here, what type of work did you do? Well, when we came here six years, five years afterwards, they had 40 milking cows. And not so many hens, but they had some, most of the work that we did and the women especially was in sweet potatoes. And it was a very good year for sweet potatoes. And that was mostly women, 26 and 27. Marion Shearer: And seems like the year 1921, when they first came. It sounds like maybe the war had something to do with it. Hilja Harju: Well, I guess because see, it was getting to be bad times. We couldn't get work and things. People were great for agriculture, and they thought that was a good thing. Marion Shearer: Yeah. So you came down here. Hilja Harju: Course, we didn't come right away. I wasn't the first ones. We bought our share from the lady that didn't think she'd come here, she had bought a share too. Marion Shearer: You say you bought a share. Was there a person or a company that was selling shares? Hilja Harju: Well, there was different ones that was getting the money together to buy the land to stop cultivating. Marion Shearer: Well, do you know the name of the company that sold, that got together, the shares to sell here? Hilja Harju: There was no company. It was individuals. Yeah, they were appointed. They had a meeting somewhere and they appointed the company. Was that one I told you about?[00:10:00] They bought it from [...] Southeast. Marion Shearer: What's Southeast Land Co.? Mr. Landon, who was Mr. Landon? Hilja Harju: Oh, he's just one of the, he has nothing to do with it. You just mark him off. I just told you that, that's the only one that isn't finished that is living in this community now that belonged to the Wayne Producer Association. He has nothing to do with this. That's the only one that in this community that isn't finished. Marion Shearer: Well, do the people get together as a group for parties or do you have celebrations? Hilja Harju: Yes, we have. Somebody in ours had their wedding anniversary year, two years ago, and we had ours almost three years ago, 50th anniversary. And somebody has a birthday, Mr. Ha [sp?] had a birthday just recently. He was 75, and he's one of the ones that have been here a long time. And we have one bachelor here, he used to be the manager for years. Many years. Marion Shearer: Manager? Yeah. What did he manage, the work? Hilja Harju: He managed the company, the company association. We had a store then that, but then when everything was sold, everything was sold. But our community here is 50 acres. Marion Shearer: Where did you go? Where did you have your parties and everybody? Hilja Harju: We had to fall over there. It used to be a boarding house, and it was built so that we could have our parties there. When you have parties, it's a big place where you can dance and everything. Marion Shearer: Do you do dances from Finland? The old dancing? Hilja Harju: Well, I don't know. We just do the old-fashioned dances, like waltz and shorties. Marion Shearer: Shorties? What are shorties? Hilja Harju: It's a Finnish Dance mostly. Marion Shearer: Yeah. How do you do it? Is it like a square dance or couples? Hilja Harju: Couples, and then two or three other dances that were there. Marion Shearer: What are they called? Hilja Harju: Well, there's [name additional dances, hard to hear], and you get older, you can't remember things. Marion Shearer: But what you can is nice. Do you have people that play instruments? Did you have music? Hilja Harju: Music? Yes. My husband plays the accordion. Marion Shearer: He does? Great. Does he still play for the dances? Hilja Harju: He's the only one [...], so he can have a few dances. Marion Shearer: Oh, that must be great. Everybody dancing around. Hilja Harju: We used to. And when we were young, when we were all young, I was 26 when I came here. When we were all young, we used to have dance every Saturday night. Marion Shearer: Right at the same hall? Hilja Harju: Yeah. Well, not at first, but then we built them and the other one was just an old place where we started. Marion Shearer: That's great. And do you have how many kids, children? Hilja Harju: Well, I have three. And in the olden days they used to be, they grow children all with light hair, except my daughter had black hair. My mother was black hair, so she took out. Marion Shearer: So when they get older, the hair starts to get darker? Oh yes. Yeah. My hair used to be a lot lighter than it's, but it's getting brown, and then it'll be black, and someday it'll be gray. I guess. You've got pretty hair. Hilja Harju: I have red hair. Marion Shearer: And red hair. Hilja Harju: Oh, and the curliest you could ever see. Marion Shearer: Great. And you've got blue eyes? Hilja Harju: I forgotten whats going in there. Marion Shearer: Don't worry about it. And you've got blue eyes. Eyes hazel. Hazel eyes. Oh yeah. And red hair. And you've got a real smooth complexion. Hilja Harju: I used breakfast. Marion Shearer: Let's see. Do you have foods that you still fix that are Finnish, that you have some recipes that you may have gotten from your mother? Hilja Harju: No, not particularly. The only thing that I usually see, I used to, I worked out before I was married and I learn to cook American way,[00:15:00] but it's the only thing I really say is the coffee. Marion Shearer: Coffee, Finnish coffee. Hilja Harju: And everybody that I have given some over here, around here to the American people over there, just love. I'm sorry I didn't have any. Marion Shearer: It's a shame, but I'm sure that it's better than, I mean, it's Finnish coffee red anyway [?]. Hilja Harju: Well, it's the ingredients. Marion Shearer: Is there some secret ingredients? Hilja Harju: No. Marion Shearer: Well, just how do you make it? Is there any special thing? Hilja Harju: Well, I'll give you the recipe. Marion Shearer: Are there any new families coming into Finn Town? Hilja Harju: Yes, there's been quite a few come in recent years. There's very few of the old people I knew. Some have died away and some have moved away. Marion Shearer: So most of the people here now have been here for a good while? Hilja Harju: No, no. There's very few that have been here a good while. We were here, but then in between we lived somewhere else, and we come back. Marion Shearer: And the older people are retired now? Hilja Harju: Yes, they're all on social security and living here until we're gone. It's nice and quiet. Nobody bothers anybody. Marion Shearer: Do you watch television? Hilja Harju: Oh yes. Every house has a television. Marion Shearer: What are some of your favorite shows? What do you like to watch? Hilja Harju: Well, I like in the morning part, I look at, sometimes I look at the concentration [sp?] sometimes. And then I look at the Hollywood panels, and then in the afternoon of course the soap operas too. Marion Shearer: Those are great. Hilja Harju: "The Secret Storm," and "The Light of My Eyes," "The World Turns." Marion Shearer: Do you watch the news at night? Hilja Harju: Oh yes. My husband always watches news. Today in Atlanta. Marion Shearer: In Atlanta we get two different network news. We get Huntley Brinkley [referring to The HuntleyBrinkley Report] and we get Walter Cronkite. Hilja Harju: Well, he looks at both of them, but he stays with Walter. Marion Shearer: That's great. Well, could you say a few words and finish something? Just anything you would like to say? Hilja Harju: Well, tell me what to say and then I can say. Marion Shearer: Do you have a poem or do have, or is there a song? Hilja Harju: I couldn't think of anything. I can't sing. Marion Shearer: Wow. How would you say good morning? Hilja Harju: To that woman? Marion Shearer: Yeah, well say if I were going, how would you say Finn Town in Finnish? Hilja Harju: [speaks in Finnish] Marion Shearer: Is that the way you refer to it? Hilja Harju: [speaks in Finnish] Marion Shearer: Yeah, Hilja Harju: [speaks in Finnish] Marion Shearer: Well, if you were going to tell somebody how they'd get to Jessup, say from here, just how would you, if it were a Finn, if it were a Finnish person, how would you explain it to him in Finnish? Hilja Harju: Oh, that'd be too complicated. I'm not very good at that. My husband is. [...] It's going around for nothing. Marion Shearer: How many grandchildren do you have? You have three children. Hilja Harju: I have seven grandchildren and one great granddaughter. My son lives in Texas and he has four. And two of his children are in college, and his daughter is going to be a nurse. And oldest, my oldest granddaughter lives in [?], she teaches [...] youngest and they had two kids. Their son's in Thailand[00:20:00] and they have a daughter left. Marion Shearer: Do they come to see you here very often? Hilja Harju: Yes, our son came to see us at New Years. He was with us four days, nights. Daughter comes every so often, up and nearly once a year. Marion Shearer: That's great. Do you go into town very much to shop in Jessup? Hilja Harju: We go every week. Once a week. If we have something extra to go [...] Marion Shearer: You go during the week. I'm sort of surprised that not too many people are home right now. Thought there'd be a few more people home. I saw a man that lives on the other side of the highway, get in the car with about, oh four or five sons, young boys. I guess they were going to Jessup. Hilja Harju: Boys must manning [sp] on the other side. Marion Shearer: And that building gets across the highway, down near the railroad tracks. That used to be a school or a store? Hilja Harju: No, that's Gordon [?] Marion Shearer: There's a frame that is sort of down on the ground, but some building was burned out. Hilja Harju: Well, that's the one that used to be our store before. [accordion music, followed by unidentified speakers talking about what music to play, then additional music.] [00:25:00] Marion Shearer: And you're actually, you were born in Finland? Anton Harju: Yes Ma'am. Yeah. And what town in Finland were you born in? Kankaanpae. Marion Shearer: Yeah. Is this near the ocean? Anton Harju: No, that's about 60 kilometers from [speaks Finnish]. Marion Shearer: Yeah. Is this facing the Atlantic Ocean or is it down toward the south part? Anton Harju: No, the Atlantic, the Kankaanpae and [speaks in Finnish] joined together and then they joined the North Sea. And then the Copenhagen, Denmark is the North Sea starts from Denmark. And that's between England and Copenhagen and Norway and Atlantic Ocean. Well, the Atlantic Ocean touches Norway, but it doesn't touch the Finland. The Kankaanpae and [speaks in Finnish] touches Finland, and northern part of the Finland. There's that, what do they call that? I dunno what they call that. Marion Shearer: You say that when you came here, you had chickens and dairy, you had dairy farms and sweet potatoes. Well, when you were in Finland, did you have cows and chickens? What did you...? Anton Harju: No, we did have dairy cows, but oh, they had some chicken, but not many. Not many chickens. Hilja Harju: But they had chicken. They had chicken. I mean dairy, other big farmers. That's what she wants to... Marion Shearer: Well, did you live on a farm? Did you farm land? Anton Harju: I lived on. Marion Shearer: You say you didn't have too many cows and chickens. What would you do to work your farm? What things did you raise? Anton Harju: Working on the farm. Marion Shearer: Yeah. Did you raise vegetables and fruits and things? Anton Harju: Well, I raised everything there. They had to have live on. Marion Shearer: Yeah. Anton Harju: Rye, oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips and all that stuff. Marion Shearer: When you came here, did you try to grow any oats and barley? Did you start out with barley and oats here? Anton Harju: Well, I... Hilja Harju: Not when he came to this country. Anton Harju: No. Hilja Harju: He went to Main and he worked lime [sp?] there. And he went to Massachusetts to work in machine shop. And we came here. We married 10 years. Marion Shearer: And land was 80 cents an acre here. Boy, those days are gone. You don't find that anymore. Anton Harju: No, you can't buy land now for that. It was cheap at that time. Marion Shearer: How much of this land around here is yours now? Anton Harju: We first had those 3600 acres, but then couldn't pay that price, $18 an acre. So I have to let some of that land go, and then only kept 800 acres, and had to pay for that 800 acres then, and pay that $18. And that's what we had until we sold the land. Now the [...] Marion Shearer: Well it's two weeks later now, and we're back down in Finn Town. Actually we're in Jessup right now. It's almost 8:30 in the morning. We're getting ready to go out to the [sp?] again and talk with them for a few minutes and make some sketches of the town. And take a few more [00:30:00]photographs. It looks like a real good day. I think Green must've been right. They said it was going to rain, but it hasn't so far. It's getting cloudy, but it looks like maybe this time it'll roll out. So I won't get soaked. But we'll go on out there and about 30 minutes and see what we can find. Can I ask you a couple of questions about your accordion before you start playing it for me? Did you bring it from Finland when you came over? Did you have it already when you were in Finland? Anton Harju: [...] I didn't bring an accordion here. I did have an accordion in Finland. Marion Shearer: But you got this one here in the United States? Anton Harju: Yeah. Marion Shearer: And it's a Hohner, isn't it, from Germany? Anton Harju: Germany. They make accordions and most of them are made in Italy, but they make them in Germany too. This one is made in Germany. Germany. Marion Shearer: Well, you want to play some songs for us? Kerensky or whatever you play. Anton Harju: You want that Kerensky? Marion Shearer: Would you play that one? [accordion music] I can just see him dancing around right now. Oh, and it's about, what is it? How does the story go about him? He's going to put some Finns and bread or what? [three speakers discuss music, it's difficult to make out conversation] Anton Harju: Finland got in independent after that. It's been independent country ever since. Hilja Harju: Is that going from happening? Marion Shearer: No, it's just there. You can just sort of forget about it because I'll play it back for you. [accordion music] When you were over in Finland [00:35:00], were there ever any tinkers or gypsies that would come around your place? Anton Harju: That was from Gypsy? Yeah. Marion Shearer: Did you call 'em gypsies? Anton Harju: We called 'em mustalainen. Marion Shearer: How long would they stay when they came? Anton Harju: They never, they always roaming, roaming, roaming, going, going round and round. And doing some trading, trading horses, and trading anything. And they never worked anyway. Marion Shearer: They never worked. And they traded horses. Did they stay, about how long did they stay? A week, two weeks, or a few days? Anton Harju: They didn't stay long in one place. Hilja Harju: One I guess. Marion Shearer: Were they thought of as pretty bad people? Not good. Anton Harju: They look more like, I don't know, like South European people. They were dark skin, and they had their own language. But they all spoke Finnish too. Marion Shearer: They spoke Finnish and their own language? Anton Harju: When they were talking together, they were talking using their own language? Marion Shearer: Did they sing a whole lot together or joke around? Were they [...] Anton Harju: Sometimes one load? Usually I had one load in back and load sometimes had two back and loads, two cameras. Marion Shearer: Just two or one or two? Hilja Harju: Did they see, she says, excuse me, [...] Marion Shearer: Did they sing? Anton Harju: I guess so. I didn't hear them sing, but I guess they did. Marion Shearer: Yeah. So they actually were in pretty small groups, just one or two wagon loads of people at a time? Hilja Harju: Yeah. Well they didn't want 'em around. Marion Shearer: Yeah. Hilja Harju: We don't want Gypsies to just come in and park in no wild places. Anton Harju: Have you ever seen Gypsy? Marion Shearer: No, I haven't. Hilja Harju: Haven't never seen it? Anton Harju: We have seen a lot of gypsies around here, and they look just exactly like the gypsy used to look in Europe. Marion Shearer: Do they have wagons? Do they travel in wagons now? Hilja Harju: Now they don't. Anton Harju: They travel with the automobiles now. Marion Shearer: How can you spot 'em? I mean, is it the way they look? Their dress? Hilja Harju: Very powerful. When we had a family station in Jessup, they stopped there, and my husband told 'em you can't park here. Anton Harju: They had the house trailer behind. Hilja Harju: They were going parked right near our family station. You trying park here. And then finally, is this in the city limits? And my husband says yes. Marion Shearer: So they don't do, they Hilja Harju: Went off right. Marion Shearer: Away. They don't do any work? They just travel around? Well, how do they live? Anton Harju: I don't know. Hilja Harju: They say they steal. I don't know. Marion Shearer: Yeah. Well one time when my parents, not my parents, my mother was going to Florida, her uncle, she was just a baby almost. And her uncle was about oh, 20. And a group of gypsies stopped their party on the rug, and this one was going to tell his fortune. And she got him out of the car and was doing her hands all around. And just making all over him and just trying to flatter him and tell his fortune. And at the same time, she was slipping her hand in his pocket to get out his wallet. And he knew what she was doing. And at the same time that she was slipping her hand in his pocket, he was slipping his hand in his pocket and getting out a gun. And so he pulled a gun on her and said, let me have my wallet back and don't you move an inch and all this. And so he fixed her, and she said, oh no, no. And she was just all excited and flustered, and she said, oh, I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't steal or anything. So he got his wallet back right quick. Anton Harju: Yeah, that's what they do. They're telling fortune and doing that kind of stuff too. Marion Shearer: On the way down here, I saw... Hilja Harju: When he was on the farm, you remember when the gypsy stopped there, over Wilkin's place. And my Esther was a pretty blonde hair little girl and kept her in the house. Old stories say that they steal children [...] have 'em see my blonde haired girl. Marion Shearer: No heavens. Yeah. Well, after you moved from there to this house, did you people build this house yourselves? Hilja Harju: My husband remodeled it. Marion Shearer: You remodeled it. It was already here? Hilja Harju: [00:40:00]The whole house. It was one that was built here when the first settlers came in. Anton Harju: This house was built 1940, 1942? No, no, 22. 22. 1922 when we moved, yeah. Hilja Harju: This room, and that room, and that room is the old room [...] front porch [...]. And we have a bathroom over here and porch inside. Marion Shearer: I noticed driving down the street here that all the houses are raised up from the ground about like so, and especially that one across the way is way up in the air... Hilja Harju: That's got a basement. That house used to be our first house here. Marion Shearer: Oh, did it? Great. Well, is there any reason why they're all up above the ground? Were they up above the ground in Finland? Anton Harju: I guess they were afraid of snakes. Marion Shearer: Snakes? Hilja Harju: Well you see all of these old houses, they built up that way? Marion Shearer: Yeah. Even in Jessup? Hilja Harju: Yeah, even Jessup. Marion Shearer: Do you have snakes around here? Hilja Harju: Well, not many anymore. Marion Shearer: Well, when this house was built, did everybody in Finn Town help build it? Everybody comes together and pitch in? Hilja Harju: Yeah. That's the way they build them. Marion Shearer: What was it made out of originally? What? Pine? Hilja Harju: Pinewood. Anton Harju: Cypress siding. Marion Shearer: Cypress siding and pinewood. Were there any logs? Anton Harju: No logs. Marion Shearer: No logs. How about the roof? Was it a shingle roof, tin? Anton Harju: This house had the shingle roof just started? Marion Shearer: Yeah. Was it wooden cypress shingles. Anton Harju: Asphalt shingles. Marion Shearer: Asphalt shingles. And they put electricity in here about 1940 or 1942? Hilja Harju: 42 or 3. Marion Shearer: Oh, could you tell me about your sauna bath? I'm sorry, I didn't get here yesterday in time to go with you. Hilja Harju: You can go and see that before you leave. Marion Shearer: Where is it in the house? It's personal. Do you build them, or do you buy them? Where did you get it? Anton Harju: You can buy them. Even Sears, Roebuck and Co. was selling them. They had it in their catalogs. Marion Shearer: But you made your own? Hilja Harju: It was the real old-fashioned kind. Anton Harju: Built in Finland and you could find them from Sears, Roebuck. Marion Shearer: But you built yours here? [...] Hilja Harju: He really built it like a Finnish sauna. Marion Shearer: Just you two use it, or whoever happens to be here? Hilja Harju: Yeah, the company. The lady over here comes in and has, after we've been through, we tell her what time to come, and she comes. Marion Shearer: Well, I've heard of them, but I've never seen one or used one or anything. Could you tell me how is it used? What does it do? What is it used for? Hilja Harju: Go in, see it. Marion Shearer: Well, anytime you're ready. Great. [accordion music] Anton Harju: How about another waltz? Marion Shearer: Another waltz? Sure. [00:45:00] [accordion music] Let me ask you this, do you still have dances? Not every week, but you still have dances sometimes? Hilja Harju: Sometimes. One Christmas Eve we had Mr. Halen's [sp?] birthday. That's the last ones we've had. Marion Shearer: Well, are there any other times when everybody in the community will get together, do you celebrate any of the old timey festivals from Finland? Hilja Harju: Yeah, we have. What is it that, St. John's Day. Anton Harju: 24th of June. Marion Shearer: What do you do? Do you do this every year? Hilja Harju: Yeah, we just celebrate. Anton Harju: We usually have, but I don't remember. Hilja Harju: And we have Mother's Day and then we celebrate Mayday. Anton Harju: Christmas. Hilja Harju: New Years. And people are getting old, they don't come only once in a while. Marion Shearer: Well, what is the date of St. John's Day? Hilja Harju: Well, that's just St. Johns Day. Marion Shearer: Is it 24th? Anton Harju: June 24th. 24th of June. Marion Shearer: What do you do? Do you go around to all the houses, or do you all meet together? Hilja Harju: No, we all met at the boarding house. Marion Shearer: At night for a dance? Hilja Harju: No, it's usually, usually if the 24th doesn't come on a Sunday where we celebrate it on another day, on Sunday, on Sunday afternoon. Marion Shearer: Well, how about Mayday? Do you all get together on Mayday? or is there any special thing that you do? Anton Harju: No, not so much. Hilja Harju: Not so much on Mayday, but once in a while. Sometimes when the Mayday comes, so near Mother's Day, we celebrate the two together. Marion Shearer: Well, how do you celebrate? Hilja Harju: I don't know. We usually just drink coffee and talk and ... Anton Harju: Have some of that coffee, bread, and coffee and [...] Marion Shearer: Spend an extra hour in the sauna. Hilja Harju: No, we always go to board house. Marion Shearer: Yeah. Okay. When you planted your sweet potatoes years ago, when was the best time to plant your sweet potatoes? Anton Harju: When is it the best time to plant the sweet potatoes? Marion Shearer: Yeah. What was the best time to plant 'em? Anton Harju: About the middle of April. Marion Shearer: Did you always plan on about the middle of April? No matter what? Anton Harju: Then the frost is over then. And they make the best crop. Take long time to grow the sweet potatoes. Hilja Harju: But sweet potatoes don't grow in Finland. Marion Shearer: They don't? No. Hilja Harju: The summer is not long enough. [unclear dialogue] Marion Shearer: Oh, Mr., how did you learn how to play the accordion? Anton Harju: I guess it was my college. I guess. Marion Shearer: You learned yourself to play? All right. And this is The Runners Blocks [sp?]? [00:50:00] Hilja Harju: Yeah. [accordion music] Marion Shearer: Great. Mrs. Harju... Hilja Harju: I don't know too much. Marion Shearer: I wanted to ask you about how the sauna got its name. Has it always meant sauna, as a bath in a house? Anton Harju: I don't know. That must be a Finnish word, sauna. And I believe it's known all over the world now. They even claimed that sauna was originated in Finland and that's why they... Hilja Harju: Yeah, I saw that on the Hollywood Panel. Anton Harju: That's why they call it sauna in every country where they have now. Now our grandson is in Vietnam War, and he is in Thailand. Thailand. And he said that they even have a sauna over there, and he's the best customer. He goes there once a week, sometimes twice a week. Marion Shearer: In Thailand. Thailand? Anton Harju: Yeah. Hilja Harju: But he said it wasn't as good as grandpa's. Marion Shearer: Yeah. Well, did you tell me a few minutes ago something about a sauna actually being a house a long time ago? Hilja Harju: Well, they say they claim that when Finnish people went to build their own home on a plot of land, they built the sauna first. I read this somewhere, and they lived in it. And then came Saturday night they wanted it and had their sauna in the same house. Anton Harju: Then they built the house later. Hilja Harju: Later. Marion Shearer: It's a long time ago. Yeah. Hilja Harju: First they built the sauna because where could they wash if they didn't have the sauna? Marion Shearer: Yeah. I mean after all... Do you have any beliefs, any funny beliefs that you will see something in the moon or the sun or something strange will happen? Hilja Harju: No, I don't, but I don't know. Marion Shearer: Like a superstition or something like that. Hilja Harju: We're not superstitious. Marion Shearer: Not at all? Can you remember some of the old stories from Finland that you may have told your children when you put 'em to bed? Bedtime stories. Stories about kings or a princess? A pretty young princess or wonder tales, fairytales? Hilja Harju: No. I'll tell you the truth, we never told our children bedtime stories. Never have. Marion Shearer: Did your parents tell stories to you? No. You never heard stories? Hilja Harju: I don't think any of the Finnish people tell bedtime stories. Mostly the younger generation. Marion Shearer: Yeah. Didn't people in the community, in Finland, from your home farm, didn't you all ever come together one night in the week, and sit around, and tell all stories, and sing songs, and rehash the old days? Anton Harju: They have to wait. Hilja Harju: I have heard 'em say that they had name day. They go and sing to the person social [sp?]. Somebody had a name like mine, Hilja, and they go over her place and sing under her window. And then she say, come tomorrow night. And then she'd give them some tweaks to it. Marion Shearer: Oh, so you go... Hilja Harju: But it wasn't a birthday. It was a name day. Marion Shearer: A name day. Anton Harju: They celebrate the[00:55:00] name day more than a birthday over in Finland. Marion Shearer: Well, actually, what is a name day? Hilja Harju: Well, Anton Harju: I'll show you. You can put that off and I'll show you. Hilja Harju: You can put that on now. Anton Harju: I told you the Finnish album [...] Hilja Harju: You can see my name. My name is October 8. Marion Shearer: Wanted to ask you if you've ever heard of an old book by a man named, I'm not sure how you would pronounce it, but it's spelled L O N N R O T, Lonnrot. And it's called "The Kalevala". Have you ever heard of the Cavalla? It's an old. Anton Harju: We might find him in his name in here. I don't know. Hilja Harju: I can't always sing it. Marion Shearer: What's the name of this now? Hilja Harju: It's that "Wandering Boy." Marion Shearer: "Wandering Boy." Hilja Harju: Yes. I may not be able to sing it. Sometimes I can sing it when I post these. I can't sing no more. [sings in Finnish] A full transcript exists for this recording. Please contact an archivist for access. Professor John Burrison founded the Atlanta Folklore Archive Project in 1967 at Georgia State University. He trained undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in his folklore curriculum to conduct oral history interviews. Students interviewed men, women, and children of various demographics in Georgia and across the southeast on crafts, storytelling, music, religion, rural life, and traditions. As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information, which places us inaposition to choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, andbias isreflected in our descriptions, whichmay not convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materialsaccurately.Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment.We often re-use language used by the former owners and creators, which provides context but also includes bias and prejudices of the time it was created.Additionally,our work to use reparative languagewhereLibrary of Congress subject termsareinaccurate and obsolete isongoing. Kenan Research Center welcomes feedback and questions regarding our archival descriptions. If you encounter harmful, offensive, or insensitive terminology or description please let us know by emailingreference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Your comments are essential to our work to create inclusive and thoughtful description.