MORAKNIV History

Once upon a time

There is a long tradition of knife making in the Mora area going back many centuries.

Accoding with Ljuder Stefan Westberg, author of the essay "Kvinnans ställning i Karl Lärkas Dalarna - wenest oðerwais", the history of Ovansiljan/Upper lake Siljan, in which Mora and Sollerön are situated, is very old.

In the oldest written sources from around the 1100s from Snorre/Island: Olof den heliges resa and Sverresagan, the area was then referred to as 'Järnbäraland' = 'The land/area that bears iron'.

Iron production which has an old history in the area, for both what is now Sweden and Norway, was a valuable deed and Mora/Sollerön was the administrative center. According to Olof den heliges resa Dalecarlia then, 1100's was part of Svithiod (Uppsala öd and the king of Swedes) but still heathen and "unfamiliar with kings and Christians".

During the Roman bronze age, the area was a trading point between the Saami and the Svithiod population. Trading furs from Saami hunters to Rome. There have been findings of Roman bronze coins from around the year 0 in the area.

The Viking age burial site on Sollerön is one of the archeological proofs of the magnitude of wealth the iron production brought to the Mora area. And there have also been numerous findings of so-called silver depots, silver coins from Arabia/Constantinople, England, and Europe from looting and payment in the Viking age in the area.

In the Solleröns Hembygdsgård historical site, a few examples of Viking era knives were found, with striking similarities to the modern Mora knife: relatively small straight blade and rat-tail tang.

source: Viking knives found at Sollerön https://www.sollero-hembygd.se/fyndkategorier/kniv/

Display of a replica knife found on a Viking burial site with a clear resemblance with the Mora knives Source: https://kulturbilder.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/olika-amnen-solleron/

In the 18th century, growth in Sweden occurred and it became necessary for many people in the population to obtain side income.

In the villages around Mora, various crafts began to take shape. In the village of Östnor outside Mora, there was another factor that forced the population to earn side income; the land consisted of lean, sandy soil that could not be sufficiently cultivated.

In Östnor, among other things, many different things were manufactured, like watches for Mora clock, harnesses, sewing machines, brass taps, and knives.

Mora Mekaniska Fabrik ( sewing machine factory) was were many of the initial craftsman's learned their first lessons.

Example of clocks made in Mora

Source: https://www.moraclock.com/pages/about-swedish-mora-clocks

Source: example of a Mora Mekaniska Fabrik N:o 1961 https://digitaltmuseum.se/021026327643/symaskin

Some important years in Östnor's industrial history

18th century...... Morawatches

1865............ Sewing machines (Mora Mekaniska Fabrik)

1865............ Water taps/faucet (FM Mattsson)

1891............ Knives (Frost)

1912............ Knives (K J Eriksson)

1918............ Sheet metal pressing (G Mattsson-Frost, present Finnveden)

1927............ Cranes (Mora Luminaire)

2002............ Merger Mora Armatur and FM Mattsson (Ostnor AB)

2006............ Merger Mora of Sweden and Frosts Knivfabrik (Mora of Sweden AB)

The different knife makers were distributed in two villages in the Mora region, the majority located in the vila of Östnor's, like Erik Frost, KJ Eriksson, Carl Andersson, etc but there were at least 2 from the neighboring village Färnäs, K.A.PERSSON, and HALLIN & Co.

The article in Mora Tidning from 21/12/1938 is referred "The whole world cuts with mora knives n . the village of Östnor— ade 225 dozen knives per day, which equates to one million knives per year. The village then had 450 inv. of which 350 industrial workers.

In Dalademokraten on 18/6/1949, it says that 6000 Mora knives are produced per day, distributed in 7 workshops. This will be about 2 million a year, including for exports worldwide.

In 1995, the were manufactured about 5 billion knives per year, distributed by 3 knife manufacturers KJ Eriksson, Frost knife factory, and Bröderna Jönsson.

Source:https://morakniv.se/en/this-is-morakniv/our-history/

List of all the different manufacturers and the relationship with each other over the years

Some of the stamps are used across history. This is the back cover of the Source "Morakniv since 1891"

Brand, companies, and craftsmen

Brand	Companies	Craftmans
Katrin Jöns Persson	Katrin Jöns Persson - 1875 to 1908	Katrin-Jöns Persson 1839 - 1908
Bronderna Jonsson	Erik och Anders Jönsson - 1908 to1933 Bröderna Jönsson - 1936 to1994 Jönssons Knivfabrik - 1994	Kana-Jerk Jönssons dä - 1876 - 1958 Kana-Jerk Jänsson dy - 1899 - 1984 Kana-Jerk Jönsson dyy - 1947 -
FA Anderssons	FA Anderssons Täljknivsfabrik - 1870 to 1920	Finn-Andres Andersson 1848 - 1930
JKNAGG		Knagg-Johannes Ersson - 1893 - 1961
NOS	Sol-Nils Olsson - 1845 - 1924
AB Moraknivar	AB Moraknivar Halliin & Co - 1930 to 1962	Hallams-Johannes Andersson 1875 - 1942
KJEriksson	Eriksson och Mattsson - 1912 to 1918 KJ Eriksson Knivfabrik - 1918 to 1980 KJ Eriksson - 1980 to 2005	Krang-Johan Eriksson -1889 - 1964 Lok-Anders Mattsson - 1885 - 1956
FMM	FM Mattson Knivar - 1917 to 1962
Carl Andersson	Carl Andersson - 1890 to 1961	Bud-Carl Andersson - 1857 - 1925
Ström	Ströms Knivslidsfabrik - 1904 to 1956
Frost	Frost Knivfabrik - 1891 to 2005	Frost-Erik Ersson 1865 - 1924
MORAKNIV	Mora of Sweden / MORAKNIV - since 2005