Heritage Memorialized

Mangle Board (Mangletre)

Mangleboard

Mangle Board (Mangletre)
Norwegian-American
Edward Barsness, 1989
Wood (basswood)
Little Norway Collection, Gift of Raymond & Margaret Vicker Charitable Trust
MHAHS 2014.073.0027

While made for a woman’s practical role of ironing her family’s clothes, mangle boards were also deeply symbolic of love and marriage.  In Norwegian tradition, a male suitor carved and placed a board on his love’s doorstep.  If she shared his ardor, she brought the board inside and their courtship began. If she rejected his proposal, he would have to move on and carve a new board.

This mangle board was created for Little Norway by pastor-turned-woodworker, Edward Barsness of Black Earth, Wisconsin.  In semi-retirement, Barsness studied woodworking at Vesterheim’s heritage center in Iowa and also in Norway.  The elegant acanthus carvings seen on this piece are just one of the Norwegian motifs Barsness utilized in his creations.

Ed Barsness poses with his carvings at Mount Horeb’s Fall Festival in 1990. MHAHS 5×7.00914.

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Creators, Collectors & Communities Copyright © 2017 by Mount Horeb Area Historical Society is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.