Christian Bjelland was born in 1858 in the Norwegian city of Stavanger

Stavanger

Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...

 and died in 1927. Christian Bjelland is the name that most people in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 would associate with Stavanger as well as the canning

Canning

Canning is a method of preserving food in which the food contents are processed and sealed in an airtight container. Canning provides a typical shelf life ranging from one to five years, although under specific circumstances a freeze-dried canned product, such as canned, dried lentils, can last as...

 industry. He was the founder of Chr. Bjelland & Co A/S, Norway's largest canned goods producer and amongst the largest in Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

.

The company was most famous for its sardine

Sardine

Sardines, or pilchards, are several types of small, oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae. Sardines are named after the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, around which they were once abundant....

s in particular the King Oscar brand

King Oscar sardines

The King Oscar brand was founded in 1902, when King Oscar II, ruler of Norway and Sweden, gave a Norwegian canning company special royal permission to use his name and likeness on a line of sardine products....

 for which Christian Bjelland received royal permission to use the image of Oscar II of Sweden

Oscar II of Sweden

Oscar II , baptised Oscar Fredrik was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death and King of Norway from 1872 until 1905. The third son of King Oscar I of Sweden and Josephine of Leuchtenberg, he was a descendant of Gustav I of Sweden through his mother.-Early life:At his birth in Stockholm, Oscar...

 on the sardine tins. The King Oscar brand became well known world wide and is still popular in the U.S.A. as well as Australia.

Christian Bjelland was one of the great industrialist of his time and in 1907 was made a Knight, 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav for his contribution to building Norwegian industry

Economy of Norway

The economy of Norway is a developed mixed economy with heavy state-ownership in strategic areas of the economy. Although sensitive to global business cycles, the economy of Norway has shown robust growth since the start of the industrial era...

.

The company remained involved in the canning industry until 1983 when Christian Bjelland's great grandson Christian Bjelland sold this section of the company to Norway Foods Ltd.

Bjelland sardines have been an important part of Norwegian culture throughout the 19th and 20th century. The company slogan

Slogan

A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm . Slogans vary from the written and the...

s and advertising

Advertising

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

 are still remembered by many Norwegians to this day. These include the company logo

Logo

A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...

 known as the "The Man with the Fish" painted by Theodor Kittelsen

Theodor Kittelsen

Theodor Severin Kittelsen was a Norwegian artist. He is one of the most popular artists in Norway. Kittelsen became famous for his nature paintings, as well as for his illustrations of fairy tales and legends, especially of trolls.-Biography:Kittelsen was born in the coastal town of Kragerø in...

, and the slogan "Ikke noe snikk-snakk, Bjellands hermetikk, takk", which translates into "No chit-chat, Bjellands canned goods, thanks".