Eleonora and Ethel Olson

Between 1905 and 1925 Eleonora and Ethel Olson were well-known figures in Scandinavian communities throughout the United States. They toured extensively in the Midwest, and their recordings on major record labels gained them a nationwide following.

Norwegian-American entertainers[edit | edit source]

Eleonora Olson 1917

Ethel Olson 1917

The Olson Sisters were versatile performers, adept at both singing and comedy. They usually worked with a piano accompanist and presented a program of vocal works, piano solos, and comic monologues. Eleonora, a contralto, was the primary vocalist, and Ethel, a soprano, joined her for duets. Their musical repertoire ranged from recital pieces and folk songs to parlor songs and gospel hymns.

Ironically, the sisters' fame rested less on their serious musical ability than on their original Norwegian dialect stories. "Isn't it funny vit people here in America", says the woman in Mabel’s Wedding, "dey don't talk Norvegian and dey don't talk English."

Eleonora and Ethel, whose parents were from Norway, portrayed the immigrant's difficulty in adapting to American life. Their story At The Movies touches on homesickness for the Old Country while The Baseball Game recounts a Norwegian woman's misadventures with the national pastime. The humor in the stories rings true because the Olson Sisters knew their subject firsthand — whether it be a meeting of the ladies' aid, a piano lesson, or a scene witnessed on a train. In The Old Sogning Woman Eleonora used the dialect of her mother's birthplace. Ethel, a native of the Logan Square neighborhood in Chicago, set her monologue The New Bookcase in a store on Milwaukee Avenue, one of the area's busiest commercial streets, while mentioning the locally published Skandinaven.

Eleonora Olson (1870-1946) was considerably older than her sister and had been performing for several years before starting her own company in 1909. The Eleonora Olson Concert Trio consisted of Eleonora, Ethel and their piano accompanist Alice R. Walden.

Although she had been a child prodigy, Eleonora did not become a full-time professional singer until in her thirties. She attended Chicago Musical College for two years, but a lack of funds prevented her from continuing her musical training. A 1902 article in the St. Paul newspaper Nordvesten says this about Eleonora: "That she can sing what she sings, in the manner which she does, with only those opportunities she has had, is the best proof of her more than usual gifts . . . Until now she has unfortunately had to give up the thought of devoting herself completely to her art . . . She herself says that she has had to struggle for everything she has become."

In 1905 Eleonora joined the Skovgaard Concert Company, and for the next twenty years she actively pursued a musical career. She was frequently a guest soloist with choirs, glee clubs, and choruses and sang both sacred and secular music.

Ethel (1885-1943) also showed early promise and started her career as a reader (actress) at the age of five. She was an accomplished pianist and won a number of musical scholarships. As an adult, however, her greatest acclaim was as a comedian.

Recording artists[edit | edit source]

"Saved By Grace" by Fanny Crosby

For nearly two decades the Olson Sisters entertained Chautauqua and Lyceum audiences with a combination of music and comedy. Although their material included Norwegian songs and stories, their programs were typically aimed at mainstream audiences. Ethel might, for instance, sing Home, Sweet Home or recite An Old Sweetheart Of Mine by James Whitcomb Riley.

In 1920 Ethel Olson recorded two monologues for Edison Records that were paired with stories by the famed humorist Cal Stewart. The Chautauqua At Punkin Center by Stewart was backed by Ethel's Laughing Girl Has Her Picture Took. Uncle Josh And The Sailor by Stewart was backed by Ethel's The Larson Kids Go Bathing.

Eleonora Olson recorded Norwegian versions of three popular hymns for Victor: Bliv Hos Mig, Mester (Abide With Me), Jeg Trænger Dig Hver Stund (I Need Thee Every Hour) and Engang Min Livstraad Briste Skal (Saved By Grace).

Later years[edit | edit source]

Eleonora and Ethel Olson were originally from Chicago, but by the 1920s they and their mother were living in Minneapolis. They stopped touring in 1923 when Ethel married Dr. Reuben M. Pederson.

In 1925 the Olson Sisters published a collection of their Norwegian dialect stories called Yust for Fun. A second edition was printed in 1929. The book had two illustrations that appear to be the work of their friend Herbjørn Gausta. Yust for Fun was republished in 1979 with a new introduction, photographs and biographical information.

Papers including news clippings and published items, programs, recording agreements and photographs of Eleonora and Ethel Olson are available for research at The Minnesota Historical Society. The MHS Library has the 1925, 1929 and 1979 editions of Yust for Fun as well as nine 78 rpm discs recorded by the Olson Sisters. A review of the 1979 edition of Yust for Fun appeared in the Spring 1980 issue of Minnesota History magazine.

The Snoose Boulevard Festival[edit | edit source]

The Snoose Boulevard Festival was held in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis from 1972 through 1977. In the late 19th century Cedar Avenue became known as "Snoose Boulevard", a nickname often given to the main street in Scandinavian communities. The term derived from the residents’ fondness for snus (snuff), an inexpensive form of tobacco. The event, which celebrated the area’s Scandinavian past, featured the music, food, and arts of the immigrants who had once lived there. It also highlighted the careers of Olle i Skratthult (Hjalmar Peterson), Slim Jim and the Vagabond Kid (Ernest and Clarence Iverson) and the Olson Sisters (Eleonora and Ethel Olson).

The headline performer was the Swedish-born singer Anne-Charlotte Harvey. In conjunction with the festival she recorded three albums of folk tunes, emigrant ballads, hymns, waltzes and comic songs. The annual celebration and the recordings were sponsored by the non-profit Olle i Skratthult Project, whose director was the renowned ethnomusicologist Maury Bernstein. Although Harvey didn't record anything from the Olson Sisters' repertoire, she did perform Mabel’s Wedding in concert.