Moltekrig på Hedmarksvidda

Abstract

Large quantities of cloudberries were picked on Hedmarksvidda (the Hedmark Plains) during the interwar years. Hedmarksvidda is the name of large, contiguous marshy areas in the municipalities of Ringsaker, Hamar, Løten, Åmot and Stor-Elvdal. The natural growing conditions were particularly beneficial for cloudberries in this area.

This article aims to describe the picking of unripe berries as part of the histories of berry picking and of uncultivated land. The unwritten rule that the berries should not be picked until they were ripe, was increasingly challenged during the interwar years. This resulted in an increase in the number of pickers and in the picking of unripe berries. The issue is to identify the factors that influenced the picking of cloudberries on Hedmarksvidda during the interwar years. How did the unwritten rule about not picking unripe cloudberries change into a discussion of creating new laws? The main source material is newspaper clippings from local Hedmark and Oppland newspapers during the interwar years, with added sources being White Papers and minutes, which provide insight into the formal processing of the issues.

The article shows that the law came too late to make any practical difference for the evolving interwar cloudberry battle. The factors that contributed most to the creation of the cloudberry battle and the resultant debate over legislation, were enhanced communication, high unemployed, pickers of unripe berries, and the unionisation of the berry trade. Changed customs challenged the previously strong norms for proper cloudberry picking.