A pretty custom observed in some districts is "dancing the crown off the head of the bride." The bride is blindfolded. The maidens present form a ring and dance round her, until she takes the crown off her head and places it haphazard on the head of one of the girls. She on whom this honour has been conferred will be the next to wear a crown at her own wedding. The girl places it on the head of another, and so on, till it has rested on the head of everyone.
If you enter a Swedish peasant's home, you will see one or more long poles attached to the roof. On these are strung a number of very thin round discs. This is the rye bread, which is the only kind eaten by the peasant, and is also found at the King's table. The peasantry do not eat much new bread. They only bake four times a year, and each baking lasts for three months.
A very common dish in a Swedish peasant's house is solid sour milk. It is placed on the table in a wooden dish. After the housewife has added some sugar, all sit round the table with wooden spoons, and each marks out for himself what he considers his rightful share. After this they all set to work, and do not move until the whole is eaten.
The Swedes are very fond of open-air life. They practically spend the summer out of doors. Where you find a band, there is usually a large crowd of men, women, and children, sitting at little tables drinking their punch, beer, and coffee. The Swedes are very fond of family life. The father, mother, and children usually go out together. On Sunday afternoons and feast-days every town is a scene of gaiety. All the inhabitants give themselves up to pleasure. There is no rowdyism, but a great deal of enjoyment. The innate refinement of the Swede checks any inclination there might be for anything rough or uncouth. He shows this when he goes into a shop. Very many of those behind the counters are young women. The Swede takes off his hat to them, and wishes them "Good-morning" as pleasantly as he would to his greatest lady-friends.
One thing a Swede is never without, and that is his coffee. You may not always get good tea, but you will always get good coffee. The peasants will drink it as often as five times a day. They are also fond of sugar. They have a strange custom of putting a piece of sugar between the teeth, and sweetening the coffee as it passes through the sugar into their mouths. They call this _dricka på bit_. They seem to think they get more enjoyment from the sugar in this way than if it were dissolved in the coffee.