Carl N. Platou Narrator Douglas Bekke James E. Fogerty Interviewers July 13, 2007 September 5, 2007 Minneapolis, Minnesota DB: I am interviewing Carl Platou on July 13, 2007 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. Platou, please give me your full name. II CP: My name is Carl Nicolai Platou. DB: And your birth date? GenerationPart CP: November 10, 1923. Society DB: And your birthplace? CP: Bayridge, Brooklyn, New York. Mother Project:and Dad had just arrived from Norway and my brother and I were both born Greatestin the Norwegian Lutheran Hospital in Bayridge. I was born in 1923 and he in 1922. DB: And can you tell us a little more about yourHistorical parents? I think you said that they met and married in Norway, and came over here together. History CP: That’s correct. They met and married in Norway and came over as first generation immigrants. Dad spent his time mostly on the ocean as a seaman. That’s why we lived in Bayridge. Then we moved to Philadelphia where Harald and I actually grew up through juniorMinnesota's high school Oraland high school. DB: I have a little bit ofMinnesota a question for you. Your name isn’t typically Norwegian. CP: No. DB: Now we think that someone coming from Norway (or any other place) has always been there, and that’s where they come from. But people actually moved around all the time. Does your family have a different ethnic background? CP: Yes. As a matter of fact, you raise an interesting point. My family traces back to 1528 in Norway. At that time the French came up from Normandy into Norway and 29 that’s really where the name derives. There was actually a minister by the name of Platou, and we have a family history at home that goes way back to 1528. They’ve been there ever since. It’s a large family back in Norway. As a matter of fact, it’s a family of considerable accomplishment. A wonderful family. My wife and I and my kids have had the joy of visiting Norway. It’s a beautiful country, with wonderful people. DB: You said your father was a seaman. CP: Yes. He was. And then he came ashore when his father had a terrible accident and my dad had to take over the family business. Then, of course, the Depression came along, and that was a very, very strenuous and terrible time. DB: We’ll get back to the Depression in a little while. When your father came to this country, how was he employed? Was he again employed as a seaman? CP: Yes. He was. II DB: Was that something related to his father’s company? GenerationPart CP: Yes. It was. He did not go to what they call high school. He went to what they call Norwegian Nautical School. That’s where young boys from the age of sixteen to about twenty would go to sea and learn all about seamanship, leadership, andSociety do their homework for the classes on board ship. It was the Norwegian Nautical School for teaching young people about the ocean. Project: DB: And your mother was from theGreatest same town in Norway? CP: Yes. Mother was from a town called Hamar, and we’ve been back there and visited the family home a number of times. It’s just northHistorical of Oslo, about a hundred miles. It is a beautiful little town. History DB: And what was your mother’s name? CP: Anna Sophia Arveschoug. A dear, dear lady. Marvelous lady. She tragically died at the ageMinnesota's of forty-fourOral of cancer. DB: And what was herMinnesota educational background? CP: High school. Neither of them had a college background. DB: Do you know how your parents met? CP: I do not really know how they met. But I know it was a short romance. They fell in love and decided to come to the United States. They came on two separate ships about a year apart from one another. They settled in Brooklyn. 30 DB: What was the connection with your grandfather’s business and your father’s career as a seaman? CP: My grandfather owned a number of ships and he was at one time very prominent. In those days owning a ship was a very wonderful experience. A wonderful thing, because of the shipping trade. He had a big business based in Brooklyn. Bayridge is a subsection of Brooklyn where many Norwegians live. It’s a little ghetto of Norwegians. DB: As you were growing up, did your parents talk about their experiences in Norway a lot? You obviously know a lot about it. CP: It’s interesting. I remember being about six years of age, and my mother and Harald and I went to Norway for a year to visit with grandparents. My father did not go. When we came back I said, “Why don’t we speak Norwegian at home?” Because my mother and dad never would. They would only speak English because they said we are Americans now. So I really cannot speak Norwegian. I did that year whenII I was six years of age in Norway, of course. But we never kept it up at home because all of the immigrants felt that as Americans they should not use their native language. GenerationPart DB: So they came here with the intention of staying. CP: Oh, indeed. Indeed. Yes. Society DB: But your family took a great deal of pride in their Norwegian heritage? Project: CP: Oh, indeed. Very, very much.Greatest DB: And that was an important part of your upbringing? Historical CP: Yes. And there’s a Norwegian flag right over there, here in my office. History DB: You had one brother. CP: One brother, Harald. Minnesota'sOral DB: And no sisters. Minnesota CP: No sisters. DB: How would you describe your economic situation when you were growing up? Now we’re not into the Depression yet. We’ll get into that. We’ll let it evolve into that. But during your early years, growing up. I realize you were pretty young then. CP: We rented. We did not own a home. We lived mostly in Philadelphia. It was a nice, suburban neighborhood. We went to a very good school called Haverford. Both Harald and I were very much involved in athletics and leadership in high school and junior high 31 school. I was president of my class during my freshman, sophomore and junior years in high school. We moved during my senior year, so I wasn’t president. We really had a very fine upbringing. DB: And there were lots of kids in your neighborhood when you were growing up? CP: Lots of kids, and we used to play kick the can in the street. DB: Can you describe the game? CP: Kick the can was . out in the middle of the street you’d have a circle and have a little can in there and everybody would go and hide except the person who was supposed to find the hidden ones. Then whoever got to kick the can over first, the second had to go seek the others. We used to play every night after dinner out in the street. It wasn’t a very costly game. Then my brother was very good at track so we used to have track meets in our backyard. II DB: Just informally organized? GenerationPart CP: Informally organized. Yes. Everybody did everything by themselves. DB: And of course not much traffic in the street so you could play inSociety the street. CP: No. There wasn’t much traffic. As a matter of fact, any family that had two cars was considered ultra-wealthy. Nobody had two cars.Project: There would be a single-car garage somewhere out in the back. Greatest DB: Your family had one car? Historical CP: We had one car. History DB: And did you do things with the car? Take little side trips on the weekends or was it strictly for going to work? CP: EveryMinnesota's SundayOral after dinner we would take a trip. We would drive through the countryside and buy chicken because chicken was so cheap. And corn. That was the family outing. Minnesota DB: You’d buy it directly from farmers? CP: Yes. We never went on vacations. There wasn’t anything like that in those days. We did have a radio. Of course, there was no television. DB: And your mother was a housewife? CP: Yes. Mother was a housewife. 32 DB: How did she keep busy? You didn’t have a refrigerator. I assume you had an icebox. CP: Yes. We had an icebox. The iceman would come every other day. He would come in through the back door and put in a block of ice. DB: He just had access to the house? CP: He just had access to the house. DB: So no key or anything? CP: No. He just walked in. DB: You didn’t have to worry about that. CP: And social life in those days was very, very modest. Mother and DadII would have some friends. They’d come over sometimes on Friday evening for dinner. But they weren’t much into games or going to parties. I can’t remember them going to parties at all, as a matter of fact. There was church on Sunday. GenerationWe went toPart a Lutheran church. Being Norwegian, that was part of it. We didn’t go to games as such. It would be very infrequent that we’d go see a professional baseball game.