ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the career of the Dalecarlian Horse, whose shape and provenance, in the Swedish media over a period of about six years from 1990-1996. Little do the tourists who pass the souvenir shops in Stockholm Arlanda Airport realize what a rich extramural life the rows of Dalecarlian horses have when the last plane has taken off and the lights go down at night. In the forests of eighteenth century central Swedish province of Dalecarlia, modern Dalarna, horses were important assets to the smallholders of the region who customarily mixed farming and fishing with forestry. Carved wooden horses have, since that time, been produced domestically as family mementoes - originally by woodcutters from four villages in the region, notably in the village of Nusnas. In the early 1990s a glossy leaflet made an appearance in Swedish banks and other financial institutions, the front cover of which consisted of a Dala horse painted in white and blue stripes.
