Sweedish Newspaper ~ Downey

2:00 PM PDT on October 23, 2007

Downey ~ CA

"CALIFORNIA VECKOBLAD is the local Swedish newspaper in Los Angeles. It was started by Alfred Haij in 1910. Haij was attacked and killed in 1947 by a "presumably insane" Polish typographer. Brothers Frans and John Jonsson ran the paper until they sold it to Arthur Hendricks, who had a typesetting and lithographic business in Hollywood. Though he did not speak Swedish, he did such a good job with the paper that he was offered to take over the much larger Svensk Amerikanaren Tribunen in Chicago in 1962. After his death, his wife Mary took over the allSwedish Tribunen and his daughter Jane runs California Veckoblad. They edit the bi-monthlies from their heritage mansion in Downey (complete with ball-room on the third floor) that they generously open for many local Swedish organizations. Both Jane and Mary are admirable for their efforts in upholding Swedish culture even though they have never lived in Sweden and do not speak Swedish." from "A Guide to what is Swedish or of Swedish interest around Los Angeles."

To appreciate where this story is leading, I highly recommend reading the 1947 Project's reporting on the gruesome death of Alfred Haij at the hands Otto P. Parzyjegla. Entonces, onward!

Shady lane. Old times.

"And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all." Edgar Allen Poe. The Masque of the Red Death.

Out back of the barn. Scrap yard and green jungle.

At the morgue. Bound to be stacks of California Veckoblad newspapers.

The orange groves.

Tag engraving machine? no se.

Treadle.

Here stands the retired printing press of California Veckoblad. You'd think they just hung up their apron, shut everything off, and were coming back tomorrow. Yet it's all dusty, and it's all there in one piece. The International Printing Museum, Carson will load up the machines and collect valuable artifacts to be stored and re-sold for re-use. The greater part of this shop will see another life. Will they see another death? is the question. We found a Challenge Guillotine paper cutter amid the rat shit, dust and scrap metals. Was this Otto's body chopper? Presumedly, the L.A.P.D. would not have bothered to lug the thousand lbs. Guillotine into evidence. After all, Otto confesed right then and there before the blood had time to dry. Also recovered from the shop were offset presses, a Vandercook proofing press, nipping presses, a Ludlow caster and cabinets, numbering machines, loose type, saws and tools, solvent and oil cans. The Ludlow caster and its slanted grey cabinet of type matrices are used to cast and print newspaper headlines. The heavier pieces are levered onto blocks and removed with a pallete jack. A final chapter in the history of the California Veckoblad is closing.