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This licentiate thesis analyzes preferences among Swedish vacationers during the period of 1938-1959. The aim of the thesis is to closely examine these preferences in order to contribute to a more fully developed understanding of holiday-related consumption during the period. The thesis provides an in-depth analysis of the contents of the preferences and also analyzes the kind of consumption related to those preferences. The material on which this thesis is based consists of written recollections gathered from informants who, in response to a list of questions, described their own, past holiday experiences. An important overall result is that holidaymakers desired change. Informants sought contrast to their everyday lives. The strong desire for change had an impact on all areas of holidaymaking. Informants believed that the best way to relax was through a complete break from their ordinary lives. They appreciated meeting new people, being in new places and seeing different natural surroundings than what they encountered on a daily basis. All this meant that they needed to go away. Consequently, travelling was highly appreciated by the informants. The strong desire for change and the different expressions this took has not been fully understood before, nor has it been known that travelling was of such importance already at this time. That change and travel were such important aspects of holiday life provided strong incentives for consumption. A journey often required several modes of consumption, not only those that were directly travel-related. Travelling promoted consumption in a dynamic manner. / Licentiatuppsatsen gäller semesterfirande svenskars preferenser år 1938-1959. Uppsatsens syfte är att närmare undersöka preferenserna för att på så sätt bidra till en mer ingående förståelse av periodens semesterrelaterade konsumtion. En fördjupad analys görs av preferensernas innehåll. Dessutom analyseras vilken typ av konsumtion som kan knytas till preferenserna. Som material används nedskrivet minnesmaterial där informanter, även kallade meddelare, som svar på en frågelista redogör för egna, tidigare semestrar. Ett viktigt övergripande resultat är att semesterfirarna önskade omväxling. Det starka önskemålet om omväxling slog igenom på semesterns alla områden. Meddelarna ville ha kontrast till sina vardagliga liv. De menade vidare att de bäst fick vila genom att helt koppla av från sin vanliga vardag. De uppskattade att göra nya bekantskaper, att vistas på nya platser och i annan natur än den de såg till vardags. Allt detta innebar att de behövde åka iväg under semestern. Att resa var också mycket uppskattat bland informanterna. Det starka önskemålet om omväxling och de uttryck detta tog sig har inte varit känt tidigare, inte heller att uppskattningen av att resa var så stark redan vid den här tiden. Att omväxling och resa uppfattades som så viktiga i semesterlivet gav dessutom starka incitament till konsumtion. En resa krävde oftast flera slag av konsumtion. Resandet uppmuntrade dessutom till andra former av konsumtion än de direkt reserelaterade. Det är tydligt att det fanns en konsumtionsfrämjande dynamik i resandet. / Konsumtion och livsstilar i Sverige 1900-1965

This thesis examines the relationship between regionality and societal integration at the turn of the 20th century from an historical and pedagogical perspective. The national identity project of the time that made national unity its overarching goal and that imagined the nation as a homogenous entity, also institutionalised regional distinctiveness. How did the agents of the time handle the conflict between the regionally particular and the nationally general? What is analysed here is the publicly constructed and mediated “regionality”, which is to say the production of meanings about a region and the projection onto it of expectations and ideas. A discourse on Jämtland has been demarcated, which is analysed alongside other contemporary discourses, including class and gender. All of these discourses were rooted in the concept of “societal”. The conception showed that the development of the societal whole was primary in relation to other interests. Defined as “societal”, formerly excluded identities could be made participants in the building of the nation. Empirical examination is given to how “Jämtland” and “the Jämtlandic” were defined in the regional press, in the framework of general education, and by the Swedish Tourist Association, regional societies, institutions and so forth. The study shows that at the turn of the 20th century, regionality very much functioned as a means to territorially anchor more general ideas and notions that inheredin the modernisation and democratisation of society. With the objective of attaining a higher degree of national integration, a regional distinctiveness was constructed that was nationally complementary and that served as a metaphorfor subordinated participation in society. From grand, majestic panoramas, historical myths, traditional local handicrafts and provincial flowers a symbolic distinctiveness was created, but with the aim of establishing genuine national unity. Society was to be described and understood from particular and individual viewpoints, so that the individual could develop a sense of the general and so that society’s fundamental values were not undermined by his liberation. Jämtlandic regionality that has been identified in the study can thus be regarded as a supra-ideological institution. What came to be regionalised was something more fundamental than the artefacts of cultural heritage that people and institutions believed themselves to be rescuing from modernisation: it was the nation’s territoriality. The concept of hembygd represented a “spatialisation” of the societally coded concept of citizenship, and helped to tie this concept to the individual’s own lifeworld. More than anything else, regionality indicateda perspective on reality. If it was possible to obtain an overview of a regional context from a local vantage point or an individual locally crafted artefact, it was also possible to conceive of the larger national framework of which this region formed a part. The regional denoted the link between the private and the public, between the individual and his abstract national affiliation.

The dissertation provides an in-depth analysis of Swedes’ perceptions about vacations during the period of 1938 to 1959. The aim is to contribute to a more thorough understanding of vacation-related consumption, which in Sweden was of growing economic importance from the 1930s and onwards. The study examines perceptions about the relationship between vacation and work; the experience with nature; interactions with family members and other social relations; relaxation and rest, and the act of travelling. The dissertation also analyzes the adoption of the first Holiday with Pay Act in 1938 and examines how people vacationed during the period. Throughout the study class and gender are used as analytical categories. The principal source material is autobiographical recollections, which consist of written replies to questionnaires sent out by the Nordic Museum. Other sources include materials related to the introduction of the Holiday with Pay Act, mainly the Swedish Government Official Report and the parliamentary debate. Representations of vacations in magazine advertisements are also analyzed. Equalization between classes was an important reason for the adoption of the Holiday with Pay Act in 1938. Proponents of the legislation in parliament and, to some extent even the opponents, viewed equalization as a positive outcome of the reform. As a result of the legislation, blue-collar workers, both women and men, were able to enjoy vacations to a greater extent than before. However, large groups, mainly farmers, entrepreneurs, and housewives, continued to lack entitlement to paid vacations, a fact that were debated in parliament. Nevertheless, persons without legal entitlement to paid vacations still occasionally took time off and went on vacations. It was relatively common to travel during the vacation, even at the beginning of the period. The desire to experience a contrast to everyday life was prominent. People desired contrast not only with work but also with everyday life outside of work, including regular leisure time, something that is particularly evident in the autobiographical recollections. In one form or another, the desire for contrast permeated views on the various factors examined in the dissertation. Travel represented an ideal way to experience contrast. Nature was more interesting if it was located somewhere else, relaxation and rest was best achieved if one went away, and meeting new people was seen as more exciting than spending time with family. Overall perceptions concerning vacation were similar among blue-collar and white-collar workers of both sexes, as well as among housewives, farmers, and entrepreneurs. They all wanted to experience a contrast to everyday life. On a more detailed level, though, these desires took somewhat different forms depending on working conditions and economic circumstances. These common perceptions had economic significance, as going away meant more purchases than staying at home. It was not just a matter of spending what was required for the trip to happen. Travel and the desire for contrast had amplifying effects on other vacation-related consumption as well. An English summary of the dissertation is provided. / I centrum för avhandlingen står en analys av semesteruppfattningar år 1938–1959. Syftet är att på så sätt bidra till en mer ingående förståelse av semesterkonsumtionen, som fick en allt större ekonomisk betydelse från 1930-talet och framåt. Aspekter som undersöks närmare är uppfattningar om semester i relation till arbete, naturuppsyn, uppfattningar om familj och andra sociala relationer, uppfattningar om vila samt uppfattningar om resande. Vid sidan om den fördjupande analysen av uppfattningar studeras även införandet av semesterlagen 1938 och det konkreta semesterfirandet under perioden. Genus och klass utgör analytiska kategorier genom hela avhandlingen. Huvudmaterial är så kallade frågelistsvar. Dessa är självbiografiska minnen nedskrivna av informanter som svar på en frågelista Nordiska museet skickat ut. Dessutom används material med anknytning till semesterlagstiftningens införande, främst semesterutredning och riksdagsprotokoll, samt semesterrelaterade annonser i veckotidningarna Husmodern och Lektyr. När riksdagen fattade beslut om semesterlagen 1938 var ett viktigt motiv att man ville utjämna skillnader mellan klasserna. Både de som var positiva till reformen och de som var negativa till reformen såg klassutjämning som ett positivt resultat av den. Fler arbetare, både kvinnor och män, fick nu också semester. Samtidigt fanns stora grupper, främst jordbrukare och företagare av båda könen samt hemarbetande hustrur, vilka inte hade några semesterrättigheter alls, något som också debatterades i riksdagen. Det hände dock att kvinnor och män utan semesterrättigheter ändå tog ledigt på egen bekostnad. Det var relativt vanligt att resa iväg på semestern, även i början av perioden. I frågelistsvaren syns en stark uppskattning av att få uppleva en kontrast till vardagen. Ett liknande synsätt kom till uttryck i utredningen, i riksdagsdebatten och i de semesterrelaterade annonserna. Avhandlingen visar att informanterna ville uppleva en kontrast både till arbete och till övrig vardagsfritid. Synsättet präglade semesteruppfattningarna gällande alla aspekter som studerats närmare. Naturen sågs som mer intressant om den var belägen någon annanstans än hemmavid, vila och avkoppling ansågs bäst kunna uppnås om man reste iväg någonstans och semesterfirarna uppskattade att göra nya bekantskaper medan familjen snarare togs för given. Genom att resa iväg på semestern kunde informanterna uppfylla önskemålet om att få uppleva kontrast till hela sin vardag. Avhandlingen visar att semesteruppfattningarna på en övergripande nivå var lika bland arbetare, tjänstemän, hemarbetande hustrur, lantbrukare och företagare. På en mer detaljerade nivå kunde önskemålet att få uppleva en kontrast till vardagen ta sig något olika uttryck beroende på semesterfirarens arbetsförhållanden och ekonomiska situation. Avhandlingen visar dessutom att uppfattningarna hade ekonomisk betydelse, då resor innebar att informanterna gjorde fler inköp än då de stannade hemma. Det handlade inte enbart om sådan konsumtion som krävdes för att resan skulle bli av, utan även andra typer av inköp var större i samband med en resa än vid en hemmavistelse.