Fairly Swedish holiday

Over the years Agneta Nilsson has become an unexpected expert on amber. She knows how it forms, how to cook it properly to get the crystallized golden glow out of it, and how to best produce it for sale.

While visiting her hometown in Sweden years back, Nilsson, 74, ran into a friend who asked if some of her stones could be sold in the United States.

“I really didn’t think there was a market for it,” Nilsson said. “But then I began studying it and found it fascinating.”

Amber forms in the dark waters of the Baltic Seas that now cover the area where there were prehistoric pine forests that bled the sap that hardened into the stone over millions of years, Nilsson said. When the amber is mined from the earth it comes out a milky hue, almost completely opaque, not like what most are used to seeing in stores.

“It looks like that originally,” Nilsson said, adding that the amber must be heated to a certain degree to get the crystallized appearance.

“Then tiny air bubbles inside break and it clears,” she said.

Adorned in the golden stone Sunday at the Swedish Christmas Fair in Costa Mesa, Nilsson, the founder of the Swedish Women’s Educational Association that hosts the event each year told her customers amber’s ties to the Scandinavian culture.

“Amber is the birthstone of Sweden,” Nilsson said.

All around Nilsson, men and women of Swedish dissent peddled their own traditional items and practices passed down through decades and into the Americas at the annual holiday event in the Costa Mesa Neighborhood Community Center.

Vendors sold red Dala horses, made famous during the 1934 World’s Fair in New York.

Eva Marie Forsberg sold her own hand-made woven wooden stars that are hung in the window during the holidays.

One of the only ways to keep warm when things got cold was the holiday drink of glögg, made from red wine, vodka and spices. It is recommended to have it with raisins and almonds.

And don’t forget about the “Tomte,” the small gnomes that guard family barns and livestock. They resemble tiny versions of Santa Claus, and every year around Christmas the children leave a dish of porridge for him in the night.

“It’s important to keep the traditions going,” said Kin Lindgren, one of the vendors and a member with the nonprofit since 1984.

This event wasn’t just about pawning off knick-knacks and cheap holiday gifts. Most of the pieces are handmade. For instance, tablecloths sold at Lindgren’s booth were stitched by women in Vietnam hired by one of the group’s members who lives in that country.

No one component holds more importance than the next, Nilsson said. The language, food, traditions and decorations all play a part in continuing the culture.

“We’re very proud of our foods, our music, etc.,” Nilsson said. “Sweden has all these traditions that people pass on. You meet third, fourth, fifth generations Swedes here and they continue the traditions from way back.”

The group’s next fair will be in Los Angeles. For more information visit www.swea.org.