More han Ola og han Per
"Anyone with an interest in Norwegian-American ethnicity or, for that matter, in the technological revolution that was so radically transforming all rural life during the 1920s and 1930s will find this a thoroughly rewarding volume. So attractive is the format that this collection would also make a splendid gift to pass on to a friend who might appreciate a delightful out-of-the-ordinary book."—Annals of Iowa
"This is a second substantial sampling from a popular comic strip of the 1918-35 period, a Norwegian-American alternative to Mutt and Jeff…The pithy introductions are published in both Norwegian and English…Meticulous editing and translation make it possible for the modern reader, of English or Norwegian, to relish the pidgin of Ola and Per (e.g., a car won't go if we 'ronne short gaa gasoline'). This handsome publication suits its modest objectives."—American Studies International
Han Ola og han Per—a Norwegian American comic strip in the slapstick tradition of Mutt and Jeff—was published in the Norwegian-language Decorah Posten from 1918 to 1935. As they acted out their readers' hopes and trials, Ola and Per quickly assumed the status of folk heroes among the Norwegian American farmers who settled in the Midwest. Endowed with distinct personalities and plagued with problems common to most immigrant farmers, Ola, Per, and their families helped create a sense of identity for these new people in a new land.
The 329 cartoon strips included here provide a complete inventory of midwestern farm life in the early twentieth century. Ola and Per cope with prairie fires, floods, farm machinery that doesn't work, and fantastic inventions (that sometimes backfire), including an iron cow that turns water into milk.
In 1984, 223 of Rosendahl's strips appeared in the first edition of Han Ola og han Per. The present volume includes most of his remaining strips and represents his more mature work. New introductions by professors Haugen and Buckley include a full account of Rosendahl's life and discuss the importance of the strips both as humor and social history. This valuable, entertaining document of rural life will be treasured by readers of Norwegian ancestry and by cartoon fans everywhere.