Isfjorden is widely known for being the “cradle of clothing factories” in Norway. In the old days, it started as early as around year 1860, there were small clothing factories and shoemakers’ workshops in almost every house in the village. The reason for this was the Nordland Trade, which was carried out in connection with the lucrative fishing industry on the coast of northern Norway.
Some factories became large, Storm which later became Waaler and Winner Sport were two of the largest factories. One factory remains as a memory from a bygone era, that is Oddfred Tokle Konfeksjonsfabrikk at Tokle in Isfjorden.
Written by Øyvind Heen
Isfjorden – the cradle of Clothing Factories
From as early as around year 1860, the production of clothes started in Isfjorden. This was due to the Nordland trade, which was run in connection with the rich fishing on the coast of Nordland and in Lofoten, in Troms and eventually also as far north as the coast of Finnmark.
At most, more than half of those who worked in Isfjorden were employed in clothing factories and shoemaking workshops in the village. Around year 1900, there were as many people working for shoemakers as there were working in the clothing industry in Isfjorden.
One of the many stories from the time of the clothing industry in Isfjorden is from April 1940, when the Second World War came to Norway. At the very beginning of the war, camouflage suits were sewn voluntarily at the clothing factories in Isfjorden.
The camouflage suits were sewn during one night, and they were distributed to the soldiers in IR 11 at Dombås the next day, on Monday 15 April 1940.
They were white camouflage suits that had not been used in Norway before. The soldiers from IR 11 were supposed to “receive” the German paratroopers who had landed in the area around Dombås. Dombås was a junction for railways and roads, and was therefore a strategically important area for the Germans.
In the “heyday”, in the forties and fifties, there were between 20 and 30 clothing factories in Isfjorden, and many also sewed at home on assignments for the factories.
Storm had up to 200 employees at most, and during its heyday seamstresses came from all over the country to work at the factories in Isfjorden.
Winner Sport, the factory of Arnvid Sannes, was one of the factories that lasted the longest. The reason for that was that they moved away from the production of suits and instead focused on sportswear and leisurewear, which became very popular in the 70s and 80s.
When I was young at the time, practically everyone in Isfjorden and Åndalsnes wore a bubble jacket from Winner Sport.
The bubble jacket that I had was dark blue where the lower part of the jacket had a knit pattern with stretch all the way around, with “Winner Sport” embroidered in large letters on the back. That bubble jacket was incredibly cool!
The Clothing Factory Museum at Tokle in Isfjorden
Oddfred Tokle Clothing Factory started in 1938 and was closed in 1982. The factory with sewing machines and equipment is now a Clothing Factory Museum which is part of the Romsdal Museum.
The factory in Isfjorden was built on four floors and was a relatively small factory. On the first floor there was a tailoring shop, on the second floor a production room for seamstresses, on the third floor the factory owner lived with his family and on the fourth floor the employees lived in dormitories.
The Clothing Factory Museum is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in summer (opening times may vary, last updated on this website is 2024). It is also possible to visit the museum outside the normal opening hours, contact the museum to arrange a private tour.
Below you can see a selection of pictures from the clothing industry and the shoemaking workshops in Isfjorden. The pictures are from the book by Edmund Søvik and show some glimpses from different eras of what life was like in Isfjorden during the clothing industry period that lasted for more than 100 years.
There are also pictures from the Clothing Factory Museum in Isfjorden, as the sewing room is now and of an exhibition about the Nordland trade. Press “i” on the images for more information. Photo/Scan: Edmund Søvik.
See the Clothing Factory Museum’s website for up-to-date information on opening times and general information about the museum.
Read more about the clothing industry in Isfjorden in Edmund Søvik’s book Konfeksjonens Vogge og Norges kleskammer (Norwegian text only).
Isfjorden and Romsdal, an important part of the Nordland Trade
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, Isfjorden and Romsdal were part of the important Nordland Trade, which from the end of the 19th century, from around year 1870, was the main reason why clothing factories and shoemaking workshops started up in Isfjorden. Among other things, clothes and shoes from the factories in Isfjorden were sold to fishermen in Nordland and Lofoten, in Troms and at the coast of Finnmark.
In the beginning, the Nordland traders from Isfjorden filled their small boats with clothes and shoes and rowed and sailed from the Romsdalsfjord towards north, along the coast to where the fishermen worked and lived. Most of it was makeshift, and the Nordland traders lived in tents and sold their goods from their tents.
The fishermen were known to have a lot of money, but the goods still had to be looked after. The Nordland traders therefore usually stayed close to their tents, they did not want to risk someone running away with the precious goods.
As the Nordland Trade developed, things became more organized. Several traders from Isfjorden collaborated and hired larger boats to transport the goods up to Northern Norway. One of the Hurtigruten ships was also used once in that connection. Stores and shoemaking workshops were built up in the north and several traders from Romsdal with families settled in various places in northern Norway where the trade was good.
The film below is about the brothers Sivert and Ole Strande from Romsdal who went on the Nordland trade between year 1856 and 1874. The film contains photos from Knud Knudsen (Bergen University Library), Olaf Martin Væring (Oslo Museum), Henry Rosling, Peder Stokke and Jakob Kirkhorn (Romsdalsmuseet’s photo archive). The letters can be studied at the Romsdalsmuseet in Molde. Narrator of the film is conservator at the Romsdal Museum, Kenneth Staurset Fåne.
Boat with goods from Isfjorden ran aground
There are probably many great stories from the time with the Nordland Trade, most of which have probably been forgotten. Here I will try to retell a story that my uncle Ørjar told me.
One year, several of the traders from Isfjorden had joined forces and rented a larger boat to transport the goods, clothes and shoes to be sold to the fishermen up north. But on the way north, the boat ran aground off the coast of Trøndelag, and the clothes and other goods were damaged by the salt water that entered the boat.
The Nordland traders were compensated for the loss from the insurance companies. But they were also offered to buy the same goods back for a good price, which they accepted. They therefore transported the goods further north after they had been washed and cleaned of salt water in Trondheim.
The other Nordland traders were rubbing their hands because of the boat that ran aground, here they expected a good sale since many of the competitors had had their goods destroyed.
However, rumors of what had happened quickly spread to the fishermen in the north. Here, too, the fishermen saw an opportunity to make a bargain, and they therefore waited for the damaged goods to arrive before they “opened” their wallets. In the meantime, the trade for the other Nordland traders was slow.
The Nordland traders who had their goods destroyed “had their cake and were eating it too”. The insurance companies had already paid them for what was damaged, and they could also sell the same goods cheaply to the fishermen up north and make even more money out of it.
This, of course, went beyond the other Nordland traders, they were hardly able to sell anything. It is said that one of them became so desperate that he soaked his goods in salt water. Then he cleaned and dried the goods, and put up a sign in front of the tent with the following text: Now my damaged goods have also arrived!
Traders from Isfjorden established in Northern Norway
My own family was part of the Nordland Trade between Isfjorden and Northern Norway. From our family, it was Anton Ørgersen Heen who was the first man out. He and his wife eventually established and settled in Inndyr, which is located southwest of Bodø.
Another of Anton’s brothers was also a Nordland trader and moved to the Storselsøya island which is south-west of Inndyr. He also got other shoemakers from Isfjorden to move to the island to set up shoemaking workshops, often on shorter stays. The Melbø brothers from Isfjorden were both shoemakers and lived on Storselsøya for several years.
Anton and his wife moved to Inndyr in 1881. There they built a house with a store located in the heart of the idyllic Inndyrsvågen bay. Since he eventually got another job in Romsdal and they had no children, Anton’s brother took over the house and store in Inndyr. Ørger, who was 17 years younger, had worked for his brother for many years, and it was then natural that he and his wife Sofie took over the operation in Inndyr.
Ørger, who is my great-grandfather, moved permanently to Inndyr and took over the store in 1895 when his brother Anton moved back to Romsdal. The store was later closed when they built a new and larger store further out in Inndyrsvågen.
The house with the old store is still there today, still in the family’s possession. The old store has been taken care of and much of the inventory, including the counters, scales and office, is still as it was at that day when the store was closed down.
The “new store” at Heen-kaia further out in Inndyrsvågen has also closed down.
Now it is Coop Prix Inndyr that has taken over the baton. It is located at Inndyrsvågen, between the “new store” and the “old store” of the Heen family.
My grandfather, Anton Heen, was born and raised in Inndyr together with his three brothers and three sisters. Because of the strong ties between Inndyr and Romsdal, he moved to Åndalsnes after finishing his education in Oslo.
There he married his Asta from Hanekamhaug in Isterdalen. Asta ran a hairdressing salon at Åndalsnes, Anton was a manager at Rauma Mill, which was down by the fjord.
On 9th of April 1940, they filled up their Pontiac with the children (Ørjar and Torbjørn) and the goods and drove to Isfjorden where they moved into the house on the family farm in the center of the village.
They did not want to risk living at Åndalsnes because of the war. They were absolutely right in that, it didn’t take many days before both the mill and Åndalsnes were in rubble and ruin. After the war, they continued to live in Isfjorden.
It was Ørger, Anton’s father, who owned the family farm at Hen in Isfjorden. Oskar Grøvdal was a lessee on the farm when the war started. Oskar lived on the farm with our family at the start of the war. But he had just taken over the farm in Grøvdalen from his father, and not long afterwards he moved into his farm in Grøvdalen in the innermost part of Isfjorden.
Anton and Asta took over the family farm at Hen in Isfjorden in 1950.
Below is a collection of pictures from the pioneer days to the time when the Heen family was well established at Inndyr. Here we can see pictures of Anton Ørgersen Heen, Ørger Ørgersen Heen (Anton Ørgersen’s little brother), Øyvind Heen (son of Ørger Ørgersen) and Ørger Heen (son of Øyvind) who all ran stores at Inndyr. Press “i” on the images for more information. Owner of the pictures is Nordlandsmuseet.
References
Ørjar Heen
Edmund Søvik – Konfeksjonens Vogge og Norges Kleskammer
Romsdalsmuseet avd Konfeksjonsmuseet i Isfjorden
Lokalhistoriewiki
Nordlandsmuseet
Museum Nord
Wikipedia – Slaget ved Dombås