The culture of Ole & Lena

There’s Ole:

“Ole got a job in the fertilizer factory. The boss tried to determine the extent of Ole’s abilities. ‘Tell me, do you know anything about nitrates?’ Answered Ole… ‘All I know is dey are cheaper dan da day rates.”

And then there’s Lena:

“Ven ve ver datin’, Ole and I almost froze to death at da drive-in movie. Ve ver vatchin’ Closed for da Season.”

Together, they are one of the most notorious Scandinavian couples, and a rich source of laughter and stories for generations of people. Their antics have been immortalized in numerous books, they’ve been the subject of joke contests and now they’ve even been given their own brand of hardy rose bushes. Not bad for a fictional duo.

This weekend, at its auxiliary plant sale, the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum will offer the public its first chance to purchase the new Ole, Lena and Sven rose bushes developed by the University of Minnesota.

Arboretum Director of Operations Peter Moe said he didn’t take kindly to the names at first.

“Then I thought, well why not? We’re Minnesotans,” he explained.

The trio of new plants have a hardy root system and are very disease resistant, he said. They also will feature blooms throughout the summer.

According to Moe, Ole is a pale pink rose and Lena is a frilly pink and white flower, while Sven features fragrant mauve-to-violet-colored blooms.

Whether the public will embrace the new roses remains to be seen, but it is a clear indication that the culture of Ole and Lena (and Sven, too) lives on in the state.

On Friday, the Nordic Heritage Club will also pay homage to Ole and Lena with a joke contest at their monthly meeting in Victoria. Prizes will be awarded to the jokes that elicit the most laughs.

But what makes a classic Ole and Lena joke?

“They all kind of pick on poor Ole and Lena,” said Nordic Heritage Club member Ron Holtmeier, “But it’s all in good humor.”

Immigrant traditions

It’s not clear where or when exactly Ole and Lena jokes got their start. Nordic Heritage Club Founder Carolyn Spargo could only speculate on the origins, saying they most likely began after the vaudeville era of the 1920s and 1930s.

In Minneapolis’s Cedar Riverside neighborhood, a Swedish man named Olle I Skratthult took the vaudeville stage to perform his show in his native dialect.

“In those days they would do a lot of Swinglish- speaking (a mix of) Swedish (and) English- in their vaudeville shows,” said Spargo. “And then, later on, Ole and Lena would be making fun of the accents, and that was probably when the immigrant children no longer could speak Swedish.”

Language mistakes are a frequent source of Ole and Lena joke material. Turning the misunderstandings and mistakes into jokes perpetuated the Swedish-American traditions.

Elise Peters, executive director of the Swedish Council in Minneapolis, said that one would not find Ole and Lena jokes in Sweden or Norway, and likened it more to an immigrant tradition.

It’s a tradition that lives on, however, spawning books like Red Stangland’s series of “Ole & Lena Jokes” and inspiring comedic routines like that of Ann Berg and Bruce Danielson.

Berg and Danielson are both teachers in the Cambridge-Isanti School District, who originally took on the roles of Ole and Lena for a faculty variety show dedicated to raising money for educational scholarships. In 19 years, they earned $150,000 with their act, wrote two joke books and became an in-demand duo at Scandinavian festivals around the country.

“Both Ann and I have Scandinavian blood in us and we love the sense of humor and willingness to laugh at oneself that accompanies being Swedish or Norwegian,” said Danielson in an e-mail. “Scandinavians are wonderful people, have a terrific heritage, and a great sense of humor.”One of their favorite jokes is the one that kicks off their act:

“Lena is 100 percent Norwegian and I am 100 percent Norwegian and five out of six of our children are Norwegian. It was a sad day when the doctor told us that last child would not be Norwegian. He said ‘Ole .. Lena … this child must be born Cesarian.’ But I think that’s still Scandinavian, so that’s OK.”

-Mollee Francisco, staff writer

Arboretum Auxiliary Plant Sale

What: Featuring the new hardy Sven, Ole and Lena rose bushes

When: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Saturday, May 10; 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Sunday, May 11

Where: Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, 3675 Arboretum Way

Cost: $7 adults, free for members and visitors under 15

More info: (952) 443-1400 or www.arboretum.umn.edu [1]

Nordic Heritage Club

What: Celebrating the Norwegian Constitution and featuring an Ole and Lena joke contest