Object of the month: Baking tools

Monthly Artifacts

Baking tools

The nostalgia of Christmas is tied to traditions, memories, tastes, scents and family gatherings. Many people have fond memories of Grandma’s Christmas cookies or the scent of “krumkaker” (Norwegian waffle cookies) baked on a wood stove. And what child hasn’t been guilty of eating cookie dough, standing on a chair by the kitchen counter under the pretense of helping?

At Christmas we enjoy ourselves, and baking treats are an important part of that. Tradition dictates seven different kinds of cookies for Christmas, though the precise selection often varies from place to place, and even from house to house.

These baking tools therefore bring forth the Yuletide spirit here at the museum. All the equipment originates from the Alta area. The rolling pin was even once rescued from a landfill in Komagfjord! We’d like to think the purpose for this rescue was to eventually display it here, while we hum along to Christmas tunes on the radio and look forward to the festive season.

Written by Aurora Dorothea Sommervik, student at the Master's programme for Media and Documentation Science, UiT