Figure 1.--The photograph is not dated, but we would guess was taken in the early-1920s. The clothing, especially the collar-buttoning jackets, short pants and beige long stockings suggest the 1920s. Besides the grandfather, we see six children, four boys and two girls. The younger boy and girl look like twins, but the girl sems to be older based on the snapshot with mother. The children look to be about 5-15 years old. The girls both wear light summer dresses and the trees in the background suggest early spring. The old boys wear lapel suits with ties. the younger boys wear short pants, collar buttoning suits with Norfolk styling. Notice the floppy bows. Put your cursor to see the mother, Helen, with two of the the younger children a few years earlier.

Bjerke is not a family name we recognize, but has found it is a Norwegian name. The Bjerke's and Norwegians in general settled in the upper Northwest, especially Minnesota. Here we see the family all dressed up, perhaps in a country outing after church. They may have lived in outer suburbs or in a small town near Minneapolis. We have no details about the family except for the name of the grandfather--Ole Bjerke. It comes from a famnily album originating in Allamakee County, Iowa, primarily Lansing, and most likely owned by Emma Nelson. Nearly all people are of Norwegian origin. Families include N. A. (Nels) Nelson and family of Lansing, Emma Nelson, Walter T. Nelson, Nora Nelson, Klara Nelson, Wilbert Nelson, and Uncle Mike Nelson, the last being from Canton, South Dakota. We note the Elert Bjerke of Minnesota and Helen and Wilma Bjerke of Minnesota. There is no further details about the Bjerke family here. Father presumably took the snapshot. We do not know why mother was not included, we suspect she was a Nelson that Bjerke married. The photograph is not dated, but we would guess was taken in the early-1920s. The clothing, especially the collar-buttoning jackets, short pants and beige long stockings suggest the 1920s. Besides the grandfather, we see six children, four boys and two girls. We thiought the younger boy and girl may be twins, but the girl is older based on the snapshot with mother. They look to be about 5-15 years old. The girls both wear light summer dresses and the trees in the background suggest early spring. The old boys wear lapel suits with ties. the younger boys wear short pants, collar buttoning suits with Norfolk styling. Notice the floppy bows.

Created: 8:02 AM 10/20/2018
Last updated: 8:02 AM 10/20/2018