Life – a user's manual Part II - Boksidan

The end of the 1800s
At the end of the previous century, Sweden was a poor country, even in comparison with other ones. We
had annual trade deficit (SCB, 1901), and our economy was very dependent on commodity production. The
few goods we had trade surplus in were (SCB, 1960): live animals (920 000 SEK), food from animals
(27 237 000 SEK), wood products (174 038 000 SEK); paper (6 245 000 SEK) and metals/minerals (35 874
000 SEK). But it was only in export of timber that we had a real position of strength, when we were the
world's top exporter (SCB, 1901). Regarding another parade branch: extraction/production of metals and
minerals, our positionwas not so brilliant (see the examples in the chart below).
Production of some metals during 1898
45000
40000
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
Silver (100s kg)
Gold (kg)
Cupper (ton)
Iron ore (1000s ton)
5000
0
Sweden
UK &
Ireland
France Austria
Spain
Germany
Norway
Hungary
The mass-produced consumer goods entered the market 1
In the late 1800s factory made fabrics and small items like handkerchiefs and
headscarves of cotton, wool and linen got available in rural areas. First, they were sold
by peddlers who had his stock in a rucksack on his back. Then it began to be sold in
shops. Around the same time factory-made shoes came on the market and were
available for purchase at various locations. Even tapestries, porcelain, glass and iron
products such as axes and iron stoves were introduced during the same period. While
factory-made furniture was not common in the country side until well into the 1900s.
1.
According to an answer from 1941 on a question from the Nordic Museum about how the
mass consumption products spread throughout Sweden (Nordiska Museet, 1941).
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