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Titel: Äldre inlägg (arkiv) till 29 september, 2010
Skrivet av: Ingela Martenius skrivet 2010-07-18, 03:31
Astor père one day got to thinking that it was time for Astor fils, young master William, to set up on his own. He pondered over the situation, there was no Strömparterr to be had.
 
The book Bland Bättre Folk och Pack i Det förlovade landet was published in 1871, so I would guess the Astor père and fils mentioned were John Jacob Astor III (1822-90) and William Waldorf Astor, later 1st Viscount Astor (1848-1919).
 
Strömparterren - in central Stockholm - was in 1871 an extremely well-known so-called schweizeri (Swissery - a Swiss place), which meant that it was an upscale sort of café where coffee, tea, cocoa was served with cold food like patés and above all pastries, gateaux, cakes, biscuits, shortbreads etc - and liquor, in particular liqueurs, wine etc. Unlike the 18th century coffee-houses it was a place ladies could visit, on their own (not alone of course, but two ladies together) or with a male escort. The name derived from Swiss immigrants who were the first to establish this sort of place in Sweden in, I believe, the early 1830's. Immensely popular, and the place of choice to drink punsch (punch, very fashionable in 18th and early 19th century England and we imported it lock, stock and barrel).
 
I should think the solution to why Strömparterren is mentioned will follow in the next few sentences. Either Astor Sr had a bad time pondering because there was no schweizeri of this class in NYC where he could let off steam and get new inspiration, or he had to come up with another solution to Astor Jr's problems since there was no elegant Strömparterren he could present him with - American millionaires being apt to buy their progeny wildly extravagant toys for their amusement (I should think this is the general trend of the stories, it seems a nice, gossipy kind of book).
 
In a translation I'd say you'd have to keep the name - Strömparterren - and make a footnote and explain the significance of the place, perhaps compare it to some equally famous place in the US (but not Waldorf-Astoria since that didn't come into existence until a few decades after the book was published and would cause confusion all around) - perhaps Tavern on the Green instead?
 
Ingela