Book excerpt: Ole & Lena Jokes have been around, especially in the Midwest, for decades -- just like Ole & Lena. It is a collection of jokes about those mighty fine Scandinavians Ole & Lena along with some of their friends like Sven, Lars, and more. These jokes are a tradition passed on from generation to generation over many years. You hear them at the kitchen table, at a pot luck in the church basement, in the fishing boat, and over a beer at the local bar. This is a collection of some of the jokes that have been passed around and some new ones that the author, Mary Hirsch (herself a stoic Norwegian), has written.