{"id":5094,"date":"2016-08-10T19:02:35","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T17:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hejsweden.com\/en\/?p=5094"},"modified":"2020-06-03T14:34:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-03T13:34:00","slug":"swedish-red-dala-horse-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hejsweden.com\/en\/swedish-red-dala-horse-present\/","title":{"rendered":"Dala Horse: The Story Behind This Iconic Swedish Souvenir"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Buy<\/a><\/p>\n

It can be found in every Swedish souvenir-shop<\/strong>. One of the most iconic national symbols of Sweden: The Dalah\u00e4st<\/em> (Dala horse<\/a>).\u00a0It is mostly colored in red, decorated with\u00a0kurbits pattern<\/a>, twisting plants and flowers.\u00a0I have one on my desk, right next to my Swedish flag and table-midsummer pole.<\/p>\n

Those sweet little horses usually find their new homes in\u00a0shelves of people who either have been to Sweden or know someone who has.<\/p>\n

As a real\u00a0Swede, you should consider the Dala horse as one of the most typical Swedish things anyone who has some kind of connection to Sweden can have in one’s\u00a0Billy\u00a0shelf<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Origin of the Dala horse<\/h3>\n

Sweden is full of trees. Many years ago wood-workers from the Swedish province of Dalarna\u00a0were having a break from wood working, sitting on a tree trunk, being bored. They decided to do something entertaining, (back then they didn’t have a mobile phone and thereby no access to Facebook or\u00a0Aftonbladet.se<\/a>) so they looked around and since they were not very creative\u00a0they looked around for inspiration. What they saw was nothing but wood and horses, when all the sudden\u00a0one guy said, let\u2019s make wooden horses<\/em>. So they did and took them home to\u00a0the children.<\/p>\n

Later when the children grew up and had no use for the horses anymore, they took them to Gamla Stan<\/em> (old town) in Stockholm and sold them to Sweden tourists.<\/p>

\"Book<\/a><\/div>\n

Huge Dala horse<\/h3>\n

The world\u2019s largest Dalah\u00e4st is 13 meters high<\/a> and can be seen at the junction of Swedish national roads 70\/68 in Avesta<\/a>. The tree it’s made of must have been really huge, right?!<\/p>\n

Why\u00a0is the Dala horse red<\/h3>\n

Some say one guy was not too skilled with the knife, therefore the red color – ouch. \u00a0But that\u2019s just not true. It\u2019s because after being taken home from the woods, the horses were decorated with Dala red<\/em>, yes, the same color Swedes use to paint their wooden houses in. There’s a lot of that color in Sweden, so why not using it for everything?! Although, strangely, I haven’t\u00a0seen a Volvo in that color yet…<\/p>\n

Dala horse as a present<\/h2>\n

If you, as a new-Swede, ever receive a present from an old-Swede, chances are high, you might get a Dala horse. If you already have one\u00a0you’ll probably\u00a0just get\u00a0flowers or a bottle of wine instead.<\/p>\n

If you don’t own a Dala horse\u00a0yourself already, consider giving away one to someone who\u00a0at some point expressed that he or she likes Sweden.<\/p>\n

More gift\u00a0ideas<\/strong> for Sweden fans<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It can be found in every Swedish souvenir-shop. One of the most iconic national symbols of Sweden: The Dalah\u00e4st (Dala horse).\u00a0It is mostly colored in red, decorated with\u00a0kurbits pattern, twisting plants and flowers.\u00a0I have one … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":5212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[807,808,231],"class_list":["post-5094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-swedish-culture-and-traditions","tag-swedish-gift-ideas","tag-swedish-souvenirs","tag-swedish-traditions","infinite-scroll-item","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"yoast_head":"\nDala Horse: The Story Behind This Iconic Swedish Souvenir - Hej Sweden<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hejsweden.com\/en\/swedish-red-dala-horse-present\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dala Horse: The Story Behind This Iconic Swedish Souvenir - Hej Sweden\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It can be found in every Swedish souvenir-shop. One of the most iconic national symbols of Sweden: The Dalah\u00e4st (Dala horse).\u00a0It is mostly colored in red, decorated with\u00a0kurbits pattern, twisting plants and flowers.\u00a0I have one ... 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