PECULIAR POSTCARDS

JAN BONDESON shares another deltiological discovery from his prodigious FBI collection of postcards. This month’s pictorial blast from the past explores the slightly surreal and surprisingly racy world of Swedish diving acts

46. SERENE NORD, THE DIVING VENUS Siri Stiegler was a young Swedish lass, who showed great aquatic prowess at an early age. She started swimming at the age of five, and turned to diving two years later, being coached by her brother. In 1902, at the age of just 14, she turned up in Los Angeles with a diving show, having been invited by the Swedish professional swimmer Oscar Norin, who had made a career of jumping from tall platforms, 120 feet [37m] over a shallow tank of water. Serene Nord, as Siri called herself in her professional career, became very successful, and was the world’s champion female diver, with a jump of 97 feet [30m]. As she grew up, she became quite beautiful, with luxuriant fair hair, being called…

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Fortean Times (Digital) - 1 Issue, 449

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