Rower woman (in Swedish called Roddarmadam, literally: "Rower Madam") was a female profession in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden, from the 15th century until the early 20th century. It consisted of women who ran a form of early

water taxi A water taxi or a water bus is a boat used to provide public transport, public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an Urban area, urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a simil ...

; rowing people between the islands of Stockholm, to and from the islands of the

Stockholm archipelago The Stockholm Archipelago () is the largest archipelago in Sweden, and the second-largest archipelago in the Baltic Sea (the largest being the Archipelago Sea across the Baltic in Finland). Part of the archipelago has been designated as a Rams ...

, as well as to and from places around

Lake Mälaren A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

on the other side of Stockholm.

History

The Stockholm rower women are mentioned in text from the 15th century, and in 1638 they formed a special group within the Swedish ferrymen

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

. They handled most of the traffic over the waters of the capital, working in teams of two, taking passengers between its islands, into

, and to and from islands in the

. They could be either married or unmarried, and they inherited their boats from mother to daughter, or bought them from retired colleagues. They were businesswomen famed for their blunt manner and coarse language. So much so, that in 1759, a law was introduced which specified that they must be sober and maintain a civil language. They were very visible because of their large "weather hoods", a special hat very suited when rowing in bad weather. In the 1690s, a visiting Italian was impressed by the strength and great speed of the rower women in Stockholm. In 1763,

Carl Michael Bellman Carl Michael Bellman (; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795) was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet, and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as wel ...

attracted attention when he came to conflict with one of the rower women and managed to win the argument.Niklas Ericsson, Magnus Hansson, Christer Jörgensson (2002) Stockholm- historien om den stolta staden (Stockholm - history of the proud city) B. Wahlströms. (Swedish) During his visit to Sweden in 1787,

Francisco de Miranda Sebastián Francisco de Miranda y Rodríguez de Espinoza (28 March 1750 – 14 July 1816), commonly known as Francisco de Miranda (), was a Venezuelan military leader and revolutionary who fought in the American Revolutionary War, the French R ...

described the rower women as: "Good women who row like devils!" During the 19th century, the rower women found increasing competition. Following '' Fabriks och Handtwerksordning'' in 1846, which abolished all guild privileges and allowed anyone to start business in any sector of society, a private company acquired a license in 1848 for

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

traffic in Stockholm with boats propelled by hand-operated

paddle wheel A paddle is a handheld tool with an elongated handle and a flat, widened end (the ''blade'') used as a lever to apply force onto the bladed end. It most commonly describes a completely handheld tool used to propel a human-powered watercraft by p ...

s instead of oars, worked by employed women from Dalarna, who were dressed in their local

folk costume Folk costume, traditional dress, traditional attire or folk attire, is clothing of an ethnic group, nation or region, and expresses cultural, religious or national identity. An ethnic group's clothing may also be called ethnic clothing or ethnic ...

s and taught to be nice and courteous to their customers. A few years later

steam boat A steamboat is a boat that is propelled primarily by steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels working on lakes, rivers, and in short-sea shipping. The ...

s started to take over the business from both types of boats and women. In 1856, there were 96 rowing boats run by women, with the capacity of transporting 20-25 people in each boat. In 1875, when the rower woman profession was formally abolished (although they were allowed to continue their trade), there were five rowing boat stations in Stockholm, with a total of 23 rowing boats run by women. The number continued to diminish thereafter, and nobody knows exactly when the last rower woman retired herself. However, according to the Stockholm history author Per Anders Fogelström, the activity may very well have continued up to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

.Christine Bladh, ''Rodderskor på Stockholms vatten'', Stockholmia förlag (2008),

References

{{Reflist History of Stockholm History of rowing Obsolete occupations Rowing in Sweden Women's rowing History of women in Sweden Women's history Social history of Sweden Women in Stockholm

History

See also

References