09 Marked

01 St. Olaf

Due to the lucrative stockfish trade in the Middle Ages, many Norwegians churches were adorned with opulent church sculptures. Here we can see a statue of Norway’s national saint, St. Olaf manufactured in Northern Germany at the end of the 1400s. Olaf is standing on a dragon that is meant to symbolize his victory over Norse Paganism during his christening of Norway. The sculpture has been in the possession of several churches on Sørøya in Finnmark, and today, it is part of the collection at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo.

02 Bonnet

Thore Paulsen bought this bonnet at the Bossekop market in 1860. The bonnet had a long life before ending up in Alta Museum. Thore’s daughter-in-law, Emma Thoresen (née Larsdatter Sætrum in 1869) wore it during the forced evacuation of Finnmark in 1944. The bonnet was made by Ms. Goldman. She ran a clothing boutique in Hammerfest, and every year she travelled to the Bossekop market to sell her merchandise.

03 Trading licence

This licence gave the brothers Ludvig Halvdan and Hjalmar Alfred Berg permission to run a grocery store in Talvik. Fief man Johannes Hansen Kummeneje issued the license on November 10, 1906, in Talvik. Using the name “The Brothers Berg,” the two men ran the store, as well as a postal, shipping and travelling service. In 1930, Ludvig gave up his share, leaving his brother to run the business by himself. The trading licence expired in 1959.

04 Goods from Mikkelsen’s store

In 1902, Lars Mikkelsen established the company Lars Mikkelsen General Store in Talvik. He had his own booth at the Bossekop market. All his sons became traders: Øyvind opened a grocery store in Tappeluft in 1916, Ragnvald opened a similar business in Store Lerresfjord in 1932, and Stene ran the store in Talvik with his father, taking over after his father’s death in 1940.

05 Meal summoning bell

This meal summoning bell from 1806 was owned by Andreas Nørager and hung in the old storehouse at the Bossekop trade centre. After the Nielsen family took over the farm, the bell was taken down—the tolling sound kept disturbing the landowner’s afternoon nap. The bell was last used during World War II, when someone rang the bell, and a Norwegian guard mistook it for the air raid siren.

06 Wall decoration

This wall decoration was most likely owned by Magda Charlotte Nielsen (b. 1875), daughter of Diedrik August Nielsen, who took over the Bossekop trade centre in 1865. In 1902, Magda married postmaster Hans Puntervold from the south of Norway. Later, he became postmaster in Vikersund. It is believed that the wall decoration was made in Finnmark and used at the Nielsen trade centre before it was shipped to Eastern Norway. Eventually, the decoration returned to Alta.

07 Lajla

In his books, Lajla, Ella, and Skildringer fra Finnmarken, author J.A. Friis used Fandrem as an inspiration for the character of Merchant Lind and Komagfjord as inspiration for Garnes. Excerpt from Lajla:

“Merchant Lind lived on Garnes Farm by a bay in the Alta Fjord. Close to the farm, a fairly large river falls into the fjord…The river‘s headwater is a lake called Ravdo Lake, situated far into the mountain plateau… Seen from above, the lake, with its isles, straits and capes, its flocks of birds, abundance of fish, cloudberry marshes, and meadows along the beach, where herds of reindeer stride, is like the Garden of Eden in the eye of a mountain Sámi. In the summer, this is also a beloved retreat for many mountain Sámi families.”