Swedish Inventions

One of the delights of living in Cincinnati is the Scandinavian Society. This group is over 50 years old, although we only discovered it about five years ago, shortly before we moved completely from Spain to this city. Our first event was its annual Lucia Fest, but we really became involved when we were invited to join the Scribblers, a writing group that meets once a month. I also joined the Readers, which also meet once a month. These two groups, in which we write personal stories and share them by reading with our compatriots, and read and discuss books by Scandinavian authors, have not only brought me into contact with people of Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, and Icelandic heritage, but have also enabled me to get to know and become good friends with some of them.

Somewhat less intimate than the monthly specialty meetings are the full-society bimonthly gathering for dinner, each one supporting a theme: one of the featured Nordic countries. Last night we were honoring and enjoying the heritage of Sweden. Swedish meatballs, and more importantly, baked salmon, were added to the usual delicious buffer fare at the Manor House restaurant. The program part of the evening featured a short history of ten Swedish inventions. The items enumerated crossed several fields but most had something to do with technology; they included some digital medical techniques, the three-cornered automobile seat belt, and the crescent wrench. Personally I did not even know what a crescent wrench was, though when I saw a picture I recognized it as one my father had many years ago.


Not mentioned specifically in conjunction with the Swedish inventions, but surely one of the great ones, is the name Ikea, which has been developing products and an innovative marketing concept for nearly 70 years, and that now is known worldwide. We, for example, have furnished homes from Ikea stores in four countries and stayed in airbnb vacation  places furnished "in Ikea" in at least two more. Ikea was a sponsor of the Swedish dinner last night and contributed a large gift basket with wares from its Ikea Foods department to a raffle for the benefit of the Society.

And Johannes won the raffle! It could not have come to a more deserving and appreciative recipient. We happen to live only 10-12 minutes from the Ikea in West Chester, and whenever I have a luncheon meeting, Johannes goes to Ikea to eat salmon. Both of us stop by every two or three weeks to stock up on their excellent rye bread mix and herring for our Saturday-night smørrebrød, or just to take a lengthy stroll through the furniture and furnishings display areas to see what's new. The gift basket had no herring or bread mix in it, but was filled with cookies, chocolates, tea, coffee, jams, and knackebrød, as well as a mug and cutting board and a couple bags--Ikea's sturdy bags always come in handy for gathering smaller bags and moving items. We keep several in our cars.

Now we look forward to exploring even more Ikea goodies in the weeks to come. I think it's time for tea and cookies.