by When we walked in to the American Swedish Historical Museum in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the greeter asked if we were there for the sauna or the museum. When we indicated the latter she replied “You’re our first normal visitors today!” “It’s a little premature for that assessment,” I thought.
I digress. The museum is the oldest Swedish-American museum in the United States, and it’s located on a 17th-century land grant originally provided by Queen Christina of Sweden to settlers of New Sweden. New Sweden was a colony of the Swedish Empire from 1638 until 1655, and with settlements along the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Who knew?
In 1926 a committee was formed to preserve the memory of this colony, with the cornerstone for the museum laid that same year. The museum was not dedicated, however, until 1938, coordinated to match the 300th anniversary of the founding of New Sweden.
In addition to the historical aspect of the museum, there is also a focus on famous Swedes, such as opera singer Jenny Lind and the fictional Pippi Longstocking. There are a number of rotating exhibits; during our visit there was a room devoted to the importance of saunas. If you are so inclined, there are several small sauna rooms for rent outside (which we didn’t know about and had not planned for, boo-hoo).
The cover photo features (for Doug, of course) “Sauna Beer” which was produced by Bosch Brewing Co. of Michigan from 1968 to 1973. It was pitched as the perfect after-sauna beverage. Apparently, there is quite a sauna culture in upper Michigan, where many Finnish immigrants settled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries due to plentiful mining jobs.
