Grepa: Of Prams and Ovens

A fellow pram collector in Sweden sent me this photo of her Grepa pram:

Grepa was not a name I’d seen before.  A little research turned up a bit of information about the company, which made kitchen appliances until June, 2008, when, according to the website, the factory closed its doors for the last time.

There’s a history of the company on the website, but it’s somewhat short of detail when it comes to dates.  (And it’s written in Norwegian, so everything you read here has been run through a translation filter  Thanks, Google!)  Grepa, in its more-or-less modern iteration, began in 1907, and endured its share of tribulations along the way.  Initial production apparently depended on a steady electrical supply, assured steam ship passage, and guaranteed water for the fire hydrant.  (And you were tearing your hair out over that silly little  SBA loan!)

Stoves and household appliances were the company’s mainstay.  Grepa’s pram production began around 1932 as part of an attempt to develop product lines (including children’s cars – probably ride-ons toys? – and doll carriages) to take up the seasonal slack during months when ovens did not sell well.  That worked for about 50 years, but then

[I]n 1982 elected Grepa to concentrate on only a stove manufacturing. They stood over for a selection of what was most profitable, what the future will earn money for and production of prams and other equipment was made down.

The issue appears to have been the mutability of parental taste:

Motane changed all the time, and the year before had been a state of the art, could already next year be completely obsolete.

That was probably a sensible call:   In 1980s traditional prams, even those that had been substantially modernized over the years, virtually disappeared.  (I’m just guessing on the translation of “motane” – isn’t alternative language fun?)

Liina’s Grepa is difficult to date without more information, but clearly it is one of the more modern ones, likely from the 1970s or among the last few made in the early 80s.

Here’s a charming picture of two prams from 1959, just about mid-way through Grepa’s pram production:

The Grepa on the right looks very much like The Pram Museum’s Italian Giordani, though the Giordani is on a higher chassis.  (More information about these two, including the names of the passengers and their care-takers, on the original page.)

So, you’re asking yourself, what does “grep” mean, exactly?  The website says

“Grepa” står for tilitsverdig og førsteklasse.

Google translates this phrase as ‘

“grep” stands for tilitsverdig and first grade.

“Grep” translates, separately, as “grip”, and    “tillitsverdig” translates, separately,  as “on its worthy” so we get the idea here.  First-rate stuff!  (Grep does not appear to be the name of any principal of the company.)

10/2/09  Corrected to show Liina’s true country (my apologies, Liina!), and to add Liina’s note indicating that she thinks “tilitsverdig” means “trustworthy”, which is consistent with Google’s version, but much more graceful.