Chris and Ingeborg Hansen Famili

Karl ( "Ted" ) was the youngest of Christ and Ingeborg's children. One of his elder brothers
was a photographer and as mentioned on another page, he had his own dark room. Luckily for
us, their descendants we now have more photos then normal for this time period.
(On the scattered memories page, I have the top right photo labeled as Halbert. Yet the photo on
the left is labeled Ted. They both appear to me to be the same boy! Same chair, same clothes,
and apparently the same boy. Your guess is as sound as mine. From the photos below with Ted
assuredly identified, compare and decide for yourselves.)

Ted during his adolescent years

                                       Ted's oldest brothers, John & Halbert were in WWI. Obviously Ted
     was too young for that war. This seems to me to be a WWI army uniform. I do not know
     the circumstances of this photo, whether he was dressing up or was in some youth club with
     a military basis.

Halbert, Karl (Ted), Otto (Slim), Martin, Helmer (Ham ) & John

"Ted" lived on his father's farm all of his life. He and his other
brothers, Slim, Martin and Ham maintained the homestead, built it
up till their deaths. After their father, Christ died; Ted, Slim and
Martin inherited the 5 quarters. Ham had married and did not
return until about 10 years later. One of the brothers would always
stay on the property no matter what was happening; funerals, weddings
and holidays. They were very protective of their holdings as thievery
was an issue they did not want to handle.

           Ted was a good singer, guitar & accordion player at barn dances. He also
played some organ. No doubt practiced on that organ his father purchased for
the school teacher. Too bad that these days the "barn dance" is rare indeed. My
father, Melvin Eschenbaum played at barn dances. I now wonder if his uncle did
not influence him.   Though, after awhile my father refused to play as he was always
asked.   He said that he never got to dance and wanted to meet the girls!!

            Ted and his brother Slim were like "Mutt and Jeff." Always
together going to parties or family gatherings. They were tough,
Norwegian bachelors with the free flow of cocktails and smokes. They
had a hearty laugh and enjoyed life.   Though, they did miss the idea of
having a family I suspect. I, John remember them coming to our home
(Melvin Eschenbaum's) on occasion for holiday dinners. Sometimes they
would go overboard on the drinking and become more boisterous then
my father liked. He once kindly asked them to leave giving bad impressions to
the children. But, they were always welcomed back.   Dad said that one time
they were really feeling bad as they felt as if no one wanted them around. They
felt as if they had no where to go and was so grateful that Dad would give them
invites. Dad told them that we all had families that gave our attention.   Their
choice ( or perhaps not) was to remain single and live on the farm. So, they had
to accept what that all gave to them.

[ Photo ID's from 'cocktails and smokes' ] Harry Paulson, Halbert, Jack,
Joe Paulson & Joe Staufer

Another time Ted or Slim had asked about coming for Thanksgiving at my father's.
Dad told them not to come drunk and buy the turkey. So, they bought a turkey
and dropped it off at the house a few days before. My mother cooked it, the dinner
was ready waiting for the Hansen brothers to appear. Dad saw them pull up in their
car, but sat out there for a spell. They were not coming in and Dad went out there to
find out what was up. As he tells it, he asked one of the "boys" if they were coming in.
One of them said, "well, they had been drinking before they came over." Dad spoke
with them and said, "well, you don't seem drunk, come on in." However they were fed
coffee the rest of the day! At least till they got back home.

It was rather accepted that Ted was sort of the "boss" when they were
out and about, however, when home Slim was the boss! Ted was the youngest in the
family and the pecking order was set.

Isn't this a "neat" photo. A cowboy and farmer. I know farm work is very hard, but wonder what it was like working and living with 4 brothers. This was taken of Ted and Ham sometime in 1931 according
to the print. Spite of what is written on photo; Ted is on the left and Ham is on the right.

When Ted was very ill and required nursing home care, the doctor asked Slim if he could afford it. As the story goes, Slim responded, " He could buy the place if he wanted!" That ended that conversation. For all that the Hansen boys were or weren't; they sure were damn good businessmen. Hard working, hard playing, Norwegian men.

This is Ted's notification for the draft in 1942. According to his nephew, Virgil Hansen, on how he heard it or knew about it....Ted went out and got really drunk either that night or shortly afterwards. He figured he was going off to war. However, when going through the physical, he had some throat issue that precluded his acceptance. So back home he came recovering from the
hangover!

Ted downtown Faulkton in 1963

                    There is an illegible date on this photo. I would say this was
                 was sometime in the late 1960's.

Ted about 10 years before his death. Ted was found in his car slumped over the steering wheel. Virgil Hansen said he was called and went out there asking where Ted was. He said the corner had not arrived yet and Ted's body was still in the car. I do not know specifically cause of death, but I would guess it was from a heart attack.

In May of 2008, visiting Leslie Hansen, I was shown a series of sketches done by Ted when he was younger. He was one who was quite talented. View them here.