Ole and Lena
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Ole and Lena (also Sven and Ole) are characters persistent in jokes by Scandinavian-Americans, particularly Norwegian-Americans, dominantly in the Upper Midwest region of the U.S., particularly in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota where Scandinavian immigrants and Lutherans are common.
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[edit] Context
Ole and Lena jokes are self-deprecating (usually told by Americans of Scandinavian heritage about their own). This self-effacing humor comes, at least in part, from the strongly egalitarian sense permeating the cultural code in the Nordic countries. It was brought to America by emigrants from these countries, who frowned upon attempts to appear to elevate oneself or claim to be better or smarter than others. It is strongly related to the emphasis on social equality and fairness that also appears in Upper Midwestern social movements like Populism - a consensus oriented and issue oriented approach to problems and an unwritten law to stress social equality and emphasize fairness for all. This cultural code has been described in Sandemose’s Jante law, which captures the underlying philosophy by emphasizing its less favorable aspects. Nonetheless, self-deprecating or self-effacing humor of this sort gives us the ability to laugh at ourselves; to make fun of our human foibles and maintain a sense of perspective. It is also powerful in defusing confrontations.
A major aspect of the humor is in the heavy Scandinavian accent given to the characters.
[edit] Format
Ole and Lena jokes can be long and drawn-out stories, or as short as two or three sentences. Lena is typically portrayed as the smarter of the two, often explaining where Ole went wrong in his misadventures. Another common character is Sven, who usually shows up in jokes along with Ole, making Sven and Ole jokes, though all three may appear together. Sven isn't as bright as Ole and Lena, but he means well. Ole and Lena are typically Norwegian, and Sven and his wife are Swedish.
[edit] Examples
- Ole goes out one day to use the outhouse, and he finds Sven there. Sven has his wallet out, and he's throwing money down into the hole of the outhouse. Ole asks, "Uff da! Sven, watcha doin' there, fella? You're throwing the five dollar bill and the ten dollar bill down into the hole of the outhouse! Whatcha doin' that for?"
- Sven answers, "Well, when I pulled up my trousers I dropped a nickel down there—and I'm not going down into that mess for just a nickel!"
- Sven and Ole are roofing a house. Ole picks a nail out of the pan, examines it, and with a "nope" tosses it over his shoulder, picks up another one does the same thing, picks up a third and after examining it uses it to nail in the shingle.
- Sven seeing all of this exclaims, "Ole! what the hell are you doing, wasting nails like that?"
- Ole replies, "Well you see, those nails they're pointing towards the house, I can use them. But these nails... they're pointing away from the house, they're useless"
- "Ole you IDIOT!!" Sven replies, "those nails aren't something you just throw 'way willy nilly... those nails are for the OTHER side of the house."
- Ole is on his deathbed. The doctor has told him he has only a few hours to live. He catches the scent of his favorite bars wafting through the air. With all the strength he can muster, he drags himself into the kitchen and sees a fresh pan cooling on the rack. He cuts one out and bites into the scrumptious cookie. Lena comes in, smacks his hand, and says, "Shame on you, Ole! Dese are for after de funeral!"
[edit] Sources
In addition to the Prairie Home Companion joke books, there are various collections in print under the name of editor Red Stangland.
