If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 26

Voss, Tvindefos, Hordaland, Norway, ca 1900

This postcard is another from Axel Eliasson printed around 1900 in Stockholm, Sweden. It shows a small mountain cabin or hytte at Tvindefos near Voss, Hordaland, Norway with a magnificent waterfall in the background. The girl stands with her milk pail at the doorway. The fenced area could be for goats or perhaps a small kitchen garden. This is near where Petra and Maggie Landaas tended goats and sheep during the summers when they were girls. It is also near where John and Lydia Hornnes lived at the time of the census before they left for America.

Even today many people still have small mountain cabins. These cabins typically do not have running water or electricity. They are small (suitable for 2 to 4 people) and not easily accessible. Eldbjørg and Hans Lefdal sent some photos of their hytte, which is located in the mountains above the main farm at Lefdal in More og Romsdal in western Norway north of Bergen and Voss. It takes 20 minutes by tractor or 45 minutes walking to reach the cabin. Eldbjørg is a descendant of Mikal Alfsen and his first wife, Ragnhild Nottosdatter Hornnes. Her brother, Bjarne Nordbu, had the farm Lunnen until his recent death. That farm has now been sold but Eldbjørg still owns the smaller red house located near the church in Hornnes where her mother lived. She and her family visit regularly and it does have modern conveniences unlike the mountain cabin.

Hytte or mountain cabin near Lefdal
[photo courtesy of Eldbjørg Lefdal]

Tractor transportation to Lefdal cabin
[photo courtesy of Eldbjørg Lefdal]

Lunch for four at the cabin
[photo courtesy of Eldbjørg Lefdal]

Notice the kerosene or gas lantern hanging from the ceiling and the candles on the table. I like the pine paneling too. My father made a children's playhouse when I was a girl and the inside looked very much like this. That playhouse was probably about this same size and did not have running water but it did have electricity.

Voss

Here is another view of cabins near Voss from the 1900 era. They look about the same size as the cabin at Lefdal but not quite as comfortable. The scenery is beautiful but the bridge looks a little scary not to mention the mode of transportation used at that time. Instead of the modern tractor pictured above one would have to ride in a cart similar to this shown on another Eliasson card from about 1900.

Transportation mode of early 1900

The stretch of road on the card at least has a guard rail. Many of the roads in the mountains are extremely narrow with turnouts for oncoming traffic but no guard rails, just straight down the mountainside hundreds of feet. I'm sure I would prefer the modern tractor and a wider road!