Updated 3 months ago
In the 70s, when we would visit my Swedish grandfather’s farm in Clearfield, Iowa, there were some children’s books featuring a Swedish character who used the catchphrase “Yumpin’ Yiminy!” This led me on a search for the books. Although I haven’t located them yet, as they are probably out of print, local, and obscure, I found this.
In Scandinavia, the eldest son inherits the farm. The younger siblings have to make do or leave, similar to Germany, Ireland, Scotland, and southern France/northern Spain, known in this timestamped video as “The Authoritarian Family System”:
This custom, along with the wave of industrialization and an economic downturn, caused a wave of immigration from Sweden to the American Midwest in the the late 1800s. In terms of creating a temporary Swedish Creole argot, this period was a flash in the pan that will never be repeated; Swedish today almost always will learn English when very young, and waves of immigrants to the Midwest prairies will probably not ever happen again. And the Swedes integrated completely within one generation, easily fitting in and bringing much to the table with their Protestant work ethic.
Published in 1932 in Minnesota, Yumpin’ Yiminy was a collection of Swedish immigrant jokes, skits, and poems. It was the first time the oral history of this subculture had been committed to print, and many academic articles use this seminal book as a source. Even though the book is long past copyright, it’s never been made available online until now, to the best of my knowledge. Here is a link to a pdf of the book.
To a modern audience, the jokes themselves are all groaners, the comedy is Borscht Belt at best; the main appeal here is history and culture. In way it reminds me of the Texas Aggie joke books. In the preface, the author makes makes pains to stress that the book is not meant to ridicule Swedes, but that many laughingly contributed.
Some context: At the time, there was a popular Vaudeville archetype of the Swede, epitomized by actor El Brendel, who was the most popular comedian in the early 30s. In a way the character was an early precursor to the Swedish Chef on the Muppets. (The Swedish really don’t like the Swedish Chef – so I’m not sure they will like this character!)
