| Linen itself has been featured in history since | | | | were in charge of less delicate jobs, while those with |
| Prehistoric times. Egyptian culture used linen as a basic | | | | manual dexterity and stamina were given the task of |
| cloth as well as for costume. Archaeologists have | | | | making the higher quality fine Swedish table linens on |
| found samples of linen, dating back to 4200 BC. Linen | | | | one of the many looms. |
| that is now used in fine Swedish table linen was | | | | Prior to weaving and spinning, the women would color |
| processed in much the same way, back in 642 AD. | | | | the flax. Bleaching the fine Swedish table linens was |
| Unfortunately, few pieces have survived from that | | | | difficult, as many of the dyes were not colorfast. |
| time. | | | | Some of the natural dyes that were utilized were from |
| By the 1500’s, a damask linen was imported by | | | | natural findings—leaves, lichens, moss, and bark. In the |
| Holland and Flanders. This linen was used for table | | | | rare occasions when other colors were requested, |
| cloths by the wealthy. This tradition was replicated in | | | | they could buy colorings—logwood, gambier, indigo, |
| the seventeenth century in Sweden. Fine Swedish | | | | and Farnock (from a tree). |
| table linens were owned by wealthy Swedish | | | | The complicated process of weaving fine Swedish |
| families—they were ornate and decorative. And it | | | | table linen was not without good results though. One |
| wasn’t until the 1800’s that table linen was used | | | | story goes that an owner of a weavery—Calle |
| as an everyday table cloth. | | | | Redhe-- used to go to Norway to sell his fine Swedish |
| From the seventeenth century, Halsingland, Sweden | | | | table linen. In one particular summer trip, he met an |
| began to produce both flax and linen. It was in 1730 | | | | older woman of about seventy years old. The woman |
| that a man by the name of Stephen Bennet set up a | | | | came up to Calle and asked him if he was indeed |
| linen factory of sorts with about eighty looms. The | | | | Calle Redhe, to which he replied yes. |
| quality of the damask created was high, but the | | | | The woman was delighted to find Calle as she herself |
| factory stopped producing fine Swedish table linen in | | | | had bought a fine Swedish table linen from Calle’s |
| 1845 when it closed down. | | | | father in 1948 just after she was married. Now, |
| In terms of producing the linen, most histories agree | | | | recently widowed after fifty-seven years and returned |
| that men were given the responsibility of the heavier | | | | to Norway to live she was delighted to learn she could |
| work—carrying and lifting and transport of materials. | | | | finally buy some napkins woven from the same loom |
| Women were taught from a young age about the | | | | as the tablecloth. She had her tablecloth with her and |
| craft of linen. Many of the children and older women | | | | purchased matching napkins. |