A tiny, folded newspaper is normally glued inside the Lundby
newspaper rack (Item 6855 in the 1977 Lundby catalog). I was curious but had
never actually tried to read the Lundby paper until I came across a loose one without
the rack.
It appears to be a miniature copy of Svenska Dagbladet (meaning “Swedish daily paper”). This is a real Swedish newspaper that has been published since 1884 and is
distributed throughout Sweden. Svenska Dagbladet is
online,
and some of its recent content is available in English.
I can’t make out the date of the mini Lundby paper, but the
headlines provide some clues. Read on for a translation of some of these
headlines (thanks to Google Translate). Swedish speakers, please feel free to
correct me!
Here are the (legible!) front page headlines:
Wilson sends tanks to Ulster after
massacre
(Wilson sänder pansar till Ulster efter
massaker). This is likely referring to UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who held
office from 1964 to 1970 and from 1974 to 1976, during the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Winter after 5 years (Vinter efter 5 år)
Brawl at Kumla Two isolated (Bråk på Kumla Två isolerade). Kumla is
one of Sweden’s biggest prisons.
Dog days for Helmer Bryd (Hunddags för Helmer Bryd). Helmer Bryd was the alter ego of Gunnar Svensson, who was a
leading Swedish jazz musician and singer. Helmer Bryd hailed from Mosebacke Monarki, a fictional state in the
middle of Stockholm created for a satire series on Swedish radio.
The
inside left page is part of the sports section, and headlines may be referring
to the Olympic Games:
Counter-attacks not enough to bring down
Sweden world marksmen (Kontringar
fållde Sverige Vårldsskytt råcker inte)
Match hero dissatisfied: “I pushed too
much”(Matchhjälten missnöjd “Jag sköt för mycket”)
ALONE AGAINST ITALY (ENSAM MOT ITALIEN)
Series leaders in trouble (Serieledarna illa ute)
The
inside right page has political and health stories (the real newspaper undoubtedly
contained a whole center section, but more pages would have made the mini
version too thick for the wooden rack):
CIA channeling money to Italian parties (CIA slussade pengar till italienska partier)
“Competition for funding threatening
researcher security” (“Konkurrensen om anslag hotar forskarnas
trygghet”)
Socialists’ refusal led to new crisis (Socialisternas vägran ledde till ny kris)
Doctors want to abolish medical
certificate “so we’ll have time for healthcare” (Läkare vill slopa sjukintyg “Då får vi tid
för sjukvård”)
New emergency conferences: Murder
leaders hunted
(Nya kriskonferenser Mordledare jagas)
Environmental alerts on asthma attacks
due to tire retreading
(Miljölarm om astmaanfall rid regummering
av däck)
Seatbelts reduce serious injuries (Bilbälte minskar svåra skadorna).
Perhaps this is what prompted designers of the Lundby family car to include
seatbelts (in the front, anyway)!
The
back page features what appear to be local news stories:
Woman behind our new ski sensation
hoping for Olympic start (Kvinnan
bakom vår nya skidsensation hoppas på OS-start)
“Police have demonstrated their
incompetence” (“Polisen har demonstrerat sin oförmåga”)
Minister who became a Baptist not
dismissed
(Komministern som blev baptist avskedas
inte)
The mini Lundby newspaper is a great little piece of history—a window into life at the time.
