75% of this article is unnecessary. "The books take on a life of their own" and "Businesses named after the characters", as sections, really have more to do with his books.
Okay, I'm from Sweden, so first of all: these Ole and Lena jokes seems to be a lot like what we in Sweden calls Norwegian jokes, so when it is claimed that the jokes are not known in scandinavia, that is not true. In fact, the Norwegian jokes are common in Sweden (but generally considered to be sort of stupid). Secondly, there is no "great rivalry" between Norwegians and Swedes.
Emil 85.226.72.232 (talk) 18:36, 26 October 2009 (UTC)Reply
Red Stangland (or Stangland) is credited, e.g. on the [hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/o_lutefisk_o_lutefisk.htm Hymns and Carols of Christmas] website with the lyrics of the song "O Lutefisk, O Lutefisk", from which two of his books also derive their titles. This is a classic Scandihoovian Christmas song, and if the authorship is documented, ought to be mentioned here. I have a suspicion that the song already existed before Red wrote about it, but it's suspicion, not verified certainty. --Haruo (talk) 06:12, 17 December 2018 (UTC)Reply