BYKET – ETT IMMATERIELLT KULTURARV

Abstract

This study deals with the intangible cultural heritage and tacit knowledge by highlighting the phenomenon of manual laundring. How laundring was done before washing machines were present. Laundring was a laborious and time-consuming process that involved many people. Today, many skills in manual laundring are almost forgotten because it is no longer needed. Many practical skills concerning everyday chores were taught without texts and transmitted as tacit knowledges and skills. In the study I have investigated the subject by interviewing people who have participated in the old way of laundring and have made observations at Sweden's only laundry museum, Hagalund's Laundry Museum, outside of Stockholm. The information from the interviews and the observation are compared with the information available in literature where the descriptions of old time laundring are not so specific. The purpose of the paper's study is to study the phenomenon of old time laundrying as a tacit knowledge in relation to the intangible cultural heritage, as well as the relationship between practical knowledge and preserved tools for laundrying. The aim of the study is to explore the daily work of ordinary people and tacit knowledge. The consequence of the study is hopefully that in the longer term, the past everyday skills will gain more attention and even be more actively preserved.