Johnson Line and Latin America

For many Stockholmers, the Johnson Line was long a household name and anessential part of their existence. One of those fascinated by the sea-crossingsof these ships as a young boy was the author and journalist Nathan Shachar.

In the autumn of 1904, when the businessman Axel Johnson decidedto establish scheduled service between Sweden and Latin America, therewas minimal trade with distant continents. The lack of regularly scheduledservice was a major handicap for Swedish export industries, especially therapidly expanding engineering industry, which had many new products tooffer. Brazil and Argentina were awash with money made from selling meat,wheat and coffee to Europe s growing cities. Axel Johnson s vision was toconnect Sweden to the new markets in the developing world.

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