Brahenkatu 14-16, Kreivinaika Activity Center, middle window on the Brahenkatu street side
Elf Briskie is not yet in a hurry. There are still a few days left until Christmas. Of course, the Christmas rush is already peeking around the corner. He sneaks around Pekkatori square and slips into the courtyard of Kreivinaika.
Elf Briskie is in no hurry to get anywhere. There are still a few days left until Christmas. Of course, the Christmas rush is already peeking around the corner. He quietly sneaks around Pekkatori Square. His thoughts wander to the sailing ship era, when he was a young elf and came to Raahe to work with elf Slightbrisk.
"Those were wonderful times," he sighs wistfully, even though he admits to himself that the years have faded his memories. He still feels sad that his work partner has been replaced by an electronic notebook.
For tonight, Elf Briskie's patrol area is marked as the vicinity of Pekkatori square.
This is where the history of the sailing ship era was lived. Sailing ships were designed. Parliament was held. The city's shipowners lived in these houses. Briskie sneaks into the courtyard of the Kreivinaika senior center and leans against a large larch tree.
"The house on this plot became the home of commercial counsellor Lovisa Eleonora Franzen (née Frosterus), a widow, and her daughters Betty and Nanny in December 1852," Tomera recalls. After becoming a widow, Lovisa wanted to step away from business and move out of the Lang merchant's house.
Briskie knows that this old tree is all that remains of the magnificent summer garden designed by Nanny Lagerborg (1845–1866), which was one of the finest in Raahe. Nanny designed the garden in honor of her wedding in June 1865.
The yard was planted with birch, rowan, bird cherry, ash, spruce, and silver fir trees. On the Ämmänkatu street side, the yard was bordered by rose bushes. Lilacs, spruces, and rose bushes were planted on the other side of the plot. In the middle of the central aisle stood a lush larch tree brought from the garden of the Salahmi ironworks, the crowning glory of the garden. At the back of the plot, there was a vegetable garden where, in addition to useful plants, many varieties of berry bushes grew.
"It's very barren compared to before," says Briskie. But times have changed, and the house was destroyed in a fire and a new one was built in its place.
Over the past summer, Briskie has been reading up on the history of Raahe: Samuli Paulaharju's Wanha Raahe -book, a work about the bourgeoisie of Ostrobothnia from 1750 to 1850 (Eija Turunen), Eero Sovelius-Sovio's family books, and the Jotailan Jutut newsletter (no. 24).
People and their stories have always fascinated Elf Briskie. So he recalls the dramatic stages of Nanny's life. After their wedding in Raahe, Nanny and Alexander went on their honeymoon to Cannes, where their daughter Ebba Louise Nanny was born in March 1866. Mother Nanny died of childbed fever. Alexander later married Amalia Tigerhjelm. As an adult, young Nanny became a prolific writer.
After her husband's death, Lovisa Franzen (1805–1898), a commercial counsellor, lived in Raahe for another 46 years and spent her summers in the mid-1870s at the Salahmi ironworks.
"There has also been drama in Betty's life," Briskie recalls from the eventful life story she has read. The families of shipowners in coastal towns not only did business together but also intermarried. This can be seen in the fact that Betty (1838–1898) was married to Viktor, the son of the Donner trading house in Kokkola, in 1860. When Betty was widowed in 1868, she moved back to Raahe to live with her mother.
The electronic notebook beeps and interrupts Briskie's moment of reminiscence. Taavetti the library elf's digital buddy Tuisku has updated the tip: "Aki Pulkkanen's new cookbook Rappeluuria is a great gift for seniors. Its recipes take you on a journey of flavors to Christmases past."
Elf Briskie has seen and heard all kinds of things on his patrol rounds. He recalls that a bourgeois housewife used to cook porridge for the whole week on Saturdays. On soup day, the porridge was eaten fresh. On Sundays, the porridge was fried in plenty of butter.
On Monday, it was time for cold porridge and warm milk. On Tuesday, the menu included fried porridge. Then milk was heated, and porridge was fried again. On Friday, milk was added to the porridge and gruel was enjoyed.
"Well, it did save trees and time," Briskie admits, but at the same time thinks that luckily nowadays you can buy porridge cooked by Saarioinen's mothers from the supermarket, which you can eat cold or pop in the microwave to heat up.
The electronic notebook beeps again. Young elf trainee Touho has posted an update: "Sorry! I popped into Kruununmakasiini museum and got a little carried away! I enjoyed a nice steam in the virtual beach sauna and found 37 hidden buttons."
"Those young people, those young people," elf Briskie grumbles. He has peeked through the windows of the service apartments and notes in his electronic notebook that all seniors deserve Aki's new Rappeluuria cookbook.
The text contains information about books that Tomera the elf read last summer: Samuli Paulaharju, pp. 100 and 102, Jotailan jutut v. 2019, pp. 7, Pohjanmaan porvarit (The Bourgeoisie of Ostrobothnia) p. 143 and https://www.geni.com/people/Betty-Donner/6000000172654742440.
The day activity group decorated the window of the Kreivinaika activity center.
More information
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