SPECIAL :: Inside the Lundby newspaper

A tiny, folded newspaper is normally glued inside the Lundby newspaper rack (Item 6855 in the 1977 Lundby catalog). I was curious but had never actually tried to read the Lundby paper until I came across a loose one without the rack.

It appears to be a miniature copy of Svenska Dagbladet (meaning “Swedish daily paper”). This is a real Swedish newspaper that has been published since 1884 and is distributed throughout Sweden. Svenska Dagbladet is online, and some of its recent content is available in English.

I can’t make out the date of the mini Lundby paper, but the headlines provide some clues. Read on for a translation of some of these headlines (thanks to Google Translate). Swedish speakers, please feel free to correct me!

Here are the (legible!) front page headlines:

Wilson sends tanks to Ulster after massacre (Wilson sänder pansar till Ulster efter massaker). This is likely referring to UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who held office from 1964 to 1970 and from 1974 to 1976, during the conflict in Northern Ireland.

Winter after 5 years (Vinter efter 5 år)

Brawl at Kumla Two isolated (Bråk på Kumla Två isolerade). Kumla is one of Sweden’s biggest prisons.

Dog days for Helmer Bryd (Hunddags för Helmer Bryd). Helmer Bryd was the alter ego of Gunnar Svensson, who was a leading Swedish jazz musician and singer. Helmer Bryd hailed from Mosebacke Monarki, a fictional state in the middle of Stockholm created for a satire series on Swedish radio.

The inside left page is part of the sports section, and headlines may be referring to the Olympic Games: 

Counter-attacks not enough to bring down Sweden world marksmen (Kontringar fållde Sverige Vårldsskytt råcker inte) 

Match hero dissatisfied: “I pushed too much”(Matchhjälten missnöjd “Jag sköt för mycket”) 

ALONE AGAINST ITALY (ENSAM MOT ITALIEN) 

Series leaders in trouble (Serieledarna illa ute)

The inside right page has political and health stories (the real newspaper undoubtedly contained a whole center section, but more pages would have made the mini version too thick for the wooden rack): 

CIA channeling money to Italian parties (CIA slussade pengar till italienska partier) 

“Competition for funding threatening researcher security” (“Konkurrensen om anslag hotar forskarnas trygghet”) 

Socialists’ refusal led to new crisis (Socialisternas vägran ledde till ny kris) 

Doctors want to abolish medical certificate “so we’ll have time for healthcare” (Läkare vill slopa sjukintyg “Då får vi tid för sjukvård”) 

New emergency conferences: Murder leaders hunted (Nya kriskonferenser Mordledare jagas) 

Environmental alerts on asthma attacks due to tire retreading (Miljölarm om astmaanfall rid regummering av däck) 

Seatbelts reduce serious injuries (Bilbälte minskar svåra skadorna). Perhaps this is what prompted designers of the Lundby family car to include seatbelts (in the front, anyway)!

The back page features what appear to be local news stories: 

Woman behind our new ski sensation hoping for Olympic start (Kvinnan bakom vår nya skidsensation hoppas på OS-start) 

“Police have demonstrated their incompetence” (“Polisen har demonstrerat sin oförmåga”) 

Minister who became a Baptist not dismissed (Komministern som blev baptist avskedas inte)  

The mini Lundby newspaper is a great little piece of history—a window into life at the time. Would you like to add this loose newspaper to your collection? Be the first to leave me a comment here or email me with your address, and I will mail it to you free of charge!