Johan and Lena

Johan and Lena (Hansen) Johnson were among about 65 employees in the early 1900s who served the owners of Bogstad Gard outside of Oslo, Norway. The several hundred acre estate once belonged to Peder Anker who was named Norway's first prime minister in 1814.
"My dad worked in the field. You know there was a lot of land there," Signe recalled of the stories her parents told her.
Johan was one of the farm managers, likely tending crops such as oats, potatoes, and grass hay.
Lena, one of five milk maids at Bogstad, helped care for about 100 cows at the farm's large dairy.
"My mother milked 20 cows in the morning and 20 in the evening," Signe said. "You see the milk wagon came at 7 O' clock in the morning from Oslo to get the milk and 7 O'clock in the evening because you had to get it fresh from the farm (then)."
Lena woke at 4 a.m. to milk every morning. After she was finished with the milking she could have breakfast and even go back to sleep if she wished. And then it started all over again that afternoon with the second milking.
One of Signe's uncles, a Hansen, was the dairy manager.