Most of the Swedish emigrant ships embarked from Gothenburg. However, it was not uncommon for young men who were required to do their military service to go through Copenhagen instead. They would secretly climb on board an America-bound vessel and disappear westward rather than serve in the army. The first stop along the way was some English port. The earliest emigrants, like Karl Oskar and Kristina, passed the white cliffs of England and then continued over the Atlantic never changing ships. The journey to America took many arduous months for the earliest emigrants. Deaths at sea were common. Larger view As the traffic of passengers increased, faster, larger and sturdier ships were built. And as railroad travel increased the length of the journey became shorter. When America fever was at its peak the time it took to reach one's destination was rapidly being reduced. Rather than it taking a few months, the trip could be completed in a few weeks. For Swedish emigrants the journey most often went via Gothenburg and Hull on England's eastern coast. They had to cross England by train followed by the boarding of steamships in Liverpool. The emigrants usually traveled as third class passengers and continued on to New York. Ellis Island was where the processing point for entry into America, known also as the "eye of the needle of emigration". Ellis Island was preceded by Castle Garden (1855-1892), which is where Karl Oskar and Kristina disembarked. Emigrants in the later days enjoyed undeniably greater comfort than in the hold where Karl Oskar and Kristina resided for months. By 1915 a shipping company called the Svenska Amerika Linien (Swedish America Lines) was founded. By then one could arrive in New York in a manner consistent with one's station. And that is not even mentioning how luxuriously the first class passengers lived on board. This was the era of the grand steamers of the Atlantic - let's not forget the Titanic. Nowadays? Well, the Swede who prefers to travel at supersonic speeds must still cross over to England and London. But from there it only takes a few hours on the Concorde to New York. Summer 1998 Last page The Musical | Background | Interactive guide | Merchandise | Downloadables | Swedish