Johnson Line and Latin America

For many Stockholmers, the Johnson Line was long a household name and an essential part of their existence. 

One of those fascinated by the sea-crossings of these ships as a young boy was the author and journalist Nathan Shachar. In the autumn of 1904, when the businessman Axel Johnson decided to establish scheduled service between Sweden and Latin America, there was minimal trade with distant continents. The lack of regularly scheduled service was a major handicap for Swedish export industries, especially the rapidly expanding engineering industry, which had many new products to offer. Brazil and Argentina were awash with money made from selling meat, wheat and coffee to Europe’s growing cities. Axel Johnson’s vision was to connect Sweden to the new markets in the developing world.
 

This book provides vibrant glimpses of the Johnson Line’s ninety years of operations in Latin America – from life at sea and in the port, and from many of the delightful adventures that took place on the ships and in the exotic countries where the shipping line was an extension of the Swedish economy. This richly illustrated volume is based on Nathan Shachar’s many years of research, including in Nordstjernan’s archive, as well as interviews with a large number of ‘Johnsoners’ and their memories of life at sea. Johnson Line and Latin America is a cultural and economic history woven together into an entertaining account of a bygone era.

Nathan Shachar is a Swedish writer and journalist. He was the foreign correspondent in Latin America for the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter for many years.