Julebukking

 by Kathy Anderson

Thor, the Norwegian mythology god of thunder, strength and protection rode through the sky in a chariot pulled by goats. Yes, goats! The symbol of the goat became a holdover as the Norwegians moved from Paganism to Christianity from about 980 AD through 1150 AD and later. During this transition, goatskins would masquerade people as they “traveled” from home to home during Yule, the Christmas season, when they tried to fool their neighbors about their identity. Hence, the tradition of julebukking, or Christmas goat fooling, was born.

 

As years passed, this “fooling” took on the form of a game as the neighbors had to guess who their visitors were. Masks and costumes of many kinds, not just goats, became part of the fun. The hosts were expected to serve the guests holiday goodies, and sometimes even a spirited beverage or two, until they could identify the intruders. As more time passed, Christmas caroling added to the fun and the hosts would even sometimes join their friends and travel as part of the fun to the next house. For many years, Norwegians would carry on this tradition during the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

Norwegians who immigrated to this area from the 1850s through the 1920s brought this tradition with them. Today, another way to explain julebukking would be to compare it to a form of Christmas “trick-or-treating” but for grownups only. The alcoholic element to this event would define the parameters for age groups.

 

To this day in Scandinavian countries, goats are still a strong Christmas symbol, appearing as straw Christmas ornaments to hang on the tree or perhaps as patterns in the Christmas table linens even though few people still go julebukking. There are some folks in the Westby area who can still tell you tales of their own fun as julebukkers. My parents went julebukking when they moved back to Westby in 1991 after Dad retired. They went for several years to visit their friends and relatives, hunching over to appear shorter, disguising their voices or perhaps remaining silent when they thought they would be too easily recognized. The costumes were very primitive but the fun lasted well past the experience. My dad would always laugh when he retold the story of surprising someone. It was easier for them than most to go unrecognized because they weren’t expected, having been gone from Westby for 40 years.

 

Christmas is a time of traditions for friends and families, some carried on since before anyone can remember and others started anew as additions come to families and circles of friends. The Westby Area Historical Society hopes that you look back to your happiest Christmas occasions and bring those traditions to your celebration this year. 

Twins, Catherine Johnson Schlicht (l) and Christine Johnson Anderson (r) with Catherine's
husband, Walter, went to see Aunt Olga Blihovde Dreves when they were julebukking..

Bound by Love

by Kathy Anderson 

 Mother’s Day is in the past, Syttende Mai is this weekend, Memorial Day is right around the bend and spring is finally here! There is something comforting in knowing that even though we expect the seasons to change, each season brings with it events we wait for year after year. We watch flowers bloom and annually receive invitations to weddings. I recently talked with Karen Rudie who despite the loss of her husband years ago still fondly celebrates their wedding anniversary, every year on May 23. 

Karen, pronounced ‘karn’ in Norwegian, was born Aug. 11, 1923. She was baptized the same year on her mother’s birthday, Aug. 30 at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and is proud to have been named after her great-grandmother, Karen Elizabeth Hagen, who donated a stained glass window to the church. Karen was also confirmed at Our Savior’s, on June 5, 1938. Karen and her husband, Grant Rudie, Jr., met in kindergarten. They dated on and off in high school, broke up when they got mad at each other once in awhile, but always quickly got back together. She “kind of always knew” they would get married one day. She graduated from Westby High School in 1941, “the big year,” she said, when Pearl Harbor was bombed.

When Grant graduated from college, he was ready to go to pharmacy school but enlisted in the Navy to avoid the draft. He made a phone call to Karen from Florida, where he was stationed, and told her to come right away. He was getting shipped out soon and he wanted to get married. It “wasn’t exactly” the plan she had but that’s just what happened. She bought a summer-wool, cream-colored suit in Madison and off she went. She had two hundred dollars, half came from each set of parents as a wedding gift. She bought a train ticket and traveled farther than she had ever ventured. 

When asked what her parents thought about all of this, her traveling alone, getting married so quickly, and without her family in attendance…. Karen’s simply said, ”They didn’t have much to say about it,” because it wasn’t their wedding.” It took her a day and a half to get to Ft. Lauderdale where she and Grant married in a church, surrounded by seven of Grant’s sailor friends. After a few months in Florida, she returned to Wisconsin and Grant went to California. Years later, Karen reworked that wedding suit into a pretty little spring coat that was even worn this past Easter by one of her eight great-grandchildren, Lanie Kathleen Tainter. Karen also has seven grandchildren. 

Grant went to pharmacy school after the Navy and took over the pharmacy that his father started. Karen would often help by cashiering, cleaning, doing the billing or whatever else needed to be done. In addition, she raised three daughters, belonged to the PTA and bowled in a league with special friends Hazel Anderson, Charlene Pederson and Gerda Aarness. Karen had fun but says she “wasn’t that good.” It was “a streak of luck” the night she actually won a bowling trophy. She was also very active at church, was part of the ladies’ circle, taught Sunday school, belonged to the church quilting group, and attended the bible study class. 

Karen shared that cooking wasn’t at the top of my list, but “I kept my family alive,” she said. She had a large vegetable garden of radishes, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, rhubarb, raspberries “and weeds,” but what her own family couldn’t use in any given year, she shared with friends. 

Karen and Grant were married just shy of 60 years when he died on Aug. 6, 2004. They enjoyed many years of retirement, particularly their many bus trips with Kinky and Gerda Aarness, plus lots of trips back to Ft. Lauderdale during the winter. She showed me a favorite photo of a pelican she saw on the beach the year she and Grant went to celebrate their 20th Anniversary. 

Winter may change to spring, but robins returning and lilacs blooming stays the same. Westby, too, will always be changing but we hope people like Karen, who work hard, have strong marriages, are good parents, and even raise gardens, will also be with us year after year. When I asked her what she did for excitement in Westby, she said “well, not much.” She had a pretty ordinary life, she told me. For at almost 95 years young, it is comforting to know that her sense of humor hasn’t changed a bit.

Karen Elizabeth Hagen Rudie
August 11, 1923 – December 5, 2020