These stories can also be heard on Sunday mornings around 10 am on WILD 102’s “Look Back in Time” program. Each week’s radio story will be posted here on our website.
Weekly radio stories are researched, compiled, and read by Sheila Winstead, RCHS Board Member.
December 8, 2024
From the Roseau Times-Region dated December 22, 1992, comes this description of Christmas
traditions as remembered by Elizabeth Kjersten.
Christmas just would not be the same without lutefisk and lefse, according to Elizabeth “Liz”
Kjersten. She lives on a farm northwest of the Haug store, which is north of Greenbush.
Thinking back to Christmastime of her youth, Liz remembers when life was much more real and
Christmas was not so commercialized.
“Christmas involved a lot of work, since little was bought from the stores,” explained Liz.
The longtime Roseau County resident has always lived on a farm. Liz’s mother, Carrie Graff
Thompson, came from Norway in the 1800s with two children and homesteaded on land east of
the present farm site where Liz lives today.
“There was no electricity,” said Liz. “Our lights were from a kerosene lantern, a mantle kerosene
lamp and a gas lantern.”
There were no indoor toilets. A path led through the winter snow to the outdoor bathroom.
Liz remembers large piles of wood used for heating and cooking. Her dad, Charlie stoked the fire
every night to keep it lit until the morning hours.
Her mother would split wood, which she used in the kitchen stove for cooking and baking
purposes.
Liz said beef and pork animals were butchered before the holidays. A holiday favorite was “röl
pulsa,” taken from a side of beef. It was seasoned, rolled up, tied and boiled. This was then
sliced and served as a cold meat.
“It was good,” said Liz. “If I could get that kind of meat now, I’d make it again.”
From the pork came “sylta,” or head cheese, pickled pig’s feet, side pork, pork chops and
roasts. The fat was rendered into lard and used for baking pies and other Christmas goodies.
Those who originate from a Scandinavian country other than Norway might disagree, but Liz
says lutefisk has to be of Norwegian origin.
“The way we got it back then, it came in big slabs,” said Liz. “It would soak in a wooden barrel
filled with lye and water until the proper time for use. That was much better lutefisk than what
we get now. I think it was a better grade of fish.”
Lutefisk is an acquired taste, according to Liz. She thinks adding butter to lutefisk definitely adds
to the taste. One does not have to be a Norwegian to eat lutefisk.
“Here the Bohemians eat our lutefisk,” said Liz with a grin. “And we eat their sausages.”
Lefse, a Scandinavian sweet treat, is another Christmas favorite Liz remembers her mother
making.
“She would make big stacks on the wood-fired range,” remembers Liz.
Her mother also made a type of flat bread that was so thin, it often would fall apart when
butter was applied.
Fattigmand is another Norwegian favorite, which is a donut-like treat that is fried.
“There’s nothing to it,” said Liz on making fattigmand.
Liz remembers her mother baking 10-12 large loaves of bread, flat bread, doughnuts, rolled
sugar cookies, fattigmand and rosettes.
Pies were baked for the company that would show up. Christmas also brought apples, peauts in
the shell and hard candies.
“Mom used to get through at noon on Christmas Eve and go to the Haug store to buy all of our
Christmas gifts,” said Liz. “We would get them after supper – not wrapped, though.”
The gifts were simple, but very much appreciated by the Thompson children.
“There were nine of us,” said Liz. “One gift might be a box with four handkerchiefs in it. We
were so happy to get something like this.”
Liz remembers one Christmas as a young girl, when she got a doll. It had a homemade body and
a tin head with braids.
“Anything new was wonderful,” said Liz.
An important part of Christmas Day were the Christmas programs, both at school and at the
church, according to Liz.
“Everyone tried to dress up and look his or her best for the occasion,” said Liz. ‘It was a special
time for everyone.”
The Thompson family went to the Oiland Lutheran Church in a horse-drawn sled on double
runners. Riders in the sleigh were well covered, according to Liz.
“How well I remember the first car,” said Liz. “We felt we were in style.”
Liz says her family still follows many Norwegian traditions, but celebrating Christmas today is
easier than in the old days.
“The nostalgia of the past still lingers on, though,” said Liz.
Lizzie was born in Soler Township in 1913 and lived to be 93 years old, dying in 2007.
If you have special memories of your past Christmases and the traditions that you still carry on for your
descendants, we’d be happy to have your stories in the collection at the Roseau County Museum. Life
goes by fast and we don’t always tell our kids all about our childhood. They leave home and we realize
they really don’t know much about our younger days. I’d encourage you to write your own story if they
haven’t had time to ask you themselves. They’ll be grateful later. The little details that you might think
aren’t interesting will be fascinating for the next generations who have very different experiences.
Thank you to 
for letting us share our county’s history with your listeners by donating air time, studio time, and production staff every week.