Pilt Carin Ersdotter
Encyclopedia
Pilt Carin Ersdotter was a Swedish milkmaid from Djura
in Dalarna
who became famous for her beauty. She sold milk on the street of Stockholm
in 1833-1834, and attracted to much attention that she became a mascot to be displayed in the salons of the aristocracy for money. Being a girl from Dalarna, she was called "Dalkulla" (A Girl from Dalarna) and known as "Vackra Dalkullan" (The beautiful Dalarna Girl".
Pilt Carin Ersdotter are described as small and with fragile built, but there are so many different images of her that it is actually hard to know which one is the closest to reality. She is, in any case, described as extraordinarily beautiful. During the mid 19th century, it was customary for girls from Dalarna to work as season workers in the capital Stockholm, and Carin was one of these girls when she arrived to the capital in 1833. Normally, these girls worked by managing the traffic in the Stockholm archipelago by rowing boats, thereby acting as paid competitors to the independent roddarmadam
s. Carin, however, was judged to be too weak for this task, and she was instead hired to deliver milk from Järla gård in Nacka
and sell it on the square of Stortorget. She attracted more and more attention on the square, and people is said to have gathered merely to look at her. Once, the Crown Prince
came to see her incognito and finally told her: "Well, I suppose I should be some milk from you", upon which she answered: "Well, were would he like the milk..? In his hat?" When later asked about this meeting, she only replied: "Well I did'nt know he was the prince".
At one point, when an unusually large crowd had gathered, she had to escape attention by fleeing to one of the houses facing the square, and was thereafter arrested for traffic violation by having created obstacles for the town's traffic and "blocked the street with her beauty". She was, however, released, according to the paper Aftonbladet
: "Carin was found innocent and allowed to return to her milk bottles - be it said to reassure the beautiful - as although there is said that some should be fined for being ugly, no one should be denied the right to be as beautiful as possible" (22 November 1833).
After this incident, it became fashionable in aristocratic circles to put Pilt Carin Ersdotter, a person arrested for causing a traffic violation by her beauty, on display: "everyone who made the smallest presumption to be counted among the fashionable circles must, at least one evening, invite people to see the beautiful dalkulla." She is to have been displayed for money in homes belonging to the merchant aristocracy as well as the circles of the royal court and members of the royal family, accompanied by another dalkulla. Carin was also mentioned in foreign media and compared to other internationally known beauties such as the sailor daughter of Liverpool and the beautiful Mariana of Hamburg.
Pilt Carin Ersdotter made a small fortune by this display tour, and after the season was over, she returned to her home in Djura. Before she left, she was called to the King
, and escorted to her boat by the parliamentarian representing Dalarna. In her village, however, she was met with contempt: both for displaying herself for the high society, by which she was considered to have made a fool of herself, but also because most people in her home village did not believe her story and thought it more likely that she had made her fortune by prostitution. The fact that Carin bought with her a certificate assuring her good virtue signed by four baronesses, nine counteses, a count and a governor did not help the matter, and Carin was forced to appeal to her former employer, the owner of Järla gård, Karl von Moliére, a lawyer and official at Svea Hovrätt, for a new certificate. This certificate was accepted by the opinion in her village, and she was able to marry her fiance, "Margites Daniel Andersson".
Djura
Djura is a locality situated in Leksand Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden with 1 inhabitant in 1389....
in Dalarna
Dalarna
', English exonym: Dalecarlia, is a historical province or landskap in central Sweden. Another English language form established in literature is the Dales. Places involving the element Dalecarlia exist in the United States....
who became famous for her beauty. She sold milk on the street of Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in 1833-1834, and attracted to much attention that she became a mascot to be displayed in the salons of the aristocracy for money. Being a girl from Dalarna, she was called "Dalkulla" (A Girl from Dalarna) and known as "Vackra Dalkullan" (The beautiful Dalarna Girl".
Pilt Carin Ersdotter are described as small and with fragile built, but there are so many different images of her that it is actually hard to know which one is the closest to reality. She is, in any case, described as extraordinarily beautiful. During the mid 19th century, it was customary for girls from Dalarna to work as season workers in the capital Stockholm, and Carin was one of these girls when she arrived to the capital in 1833. Normally, these girls worked by managing the traffic in the Stockholm archipelago by rowing boats, thereby acting as paid competitors to the independent roddarmadam
Roddarmadam
Roddarmadam , was a Swedish historical profession for women in the capital of Stockholm, from the Middle Ages until 1904...
s. Carin, however, was judged to be too weak for this task, and she was instead hired to deliver milk from Järla gård in Nacka
Nacka
Nacka is the municipal seat of Nacka Municipality and part of Stockholm urban area in Sweden. The municipality's name harks back to an 16th century industrial operation established by the Crown at Nacka farmstead where conditions for water mills are good...
and sell it on the square of Stortorget. She attracted more and more attention on the square, and people is said to have gathered merely to look at her. Once, the Crown Prince
Oscar I of Sweden
Oscar I was King of Sweden and Norway from 1844 to his death. When, in August 1810, his father Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was elected Crown Prince of Sweden, Oscar and his mother moved from Paris to Stockholm . Oscar's father was the first ruler of the current House of Bernadotte...
came to see her incognito and finally told her: "Well, I suppose I should be some milk from you", upon which she answered: "Well, were would he like the milk..? In his hat?" When later asked about this meeting, she only replied: "Well I did'nt know he was the prince".
At one point, when an unusually large crowd had gathered, she had to escape attention by fleeing to one of the houses facing the square, and was thereafter arrested for traffic violation by having created obstacles for the town's traffic and "blocked the street with her beauty". She was, however, released, according to the paper Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet is a Swedish tabloid founded by Lars Johan Hierta in 1830 during the modernization of Sweden. It is one of the larger daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. Aftonbladet is owned by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and Norwegian media group Schibsted, and its editorial page...
: "Carin was found innocent and allowed to return to her milk bottles - be it said to reassure the beautiful - as although there is said that some should be fined for being ugly, no one should be denied the right to be as beautiful as possible" (22 November 1833).
After this incident, it became fashionable in aristocratic circles to put Pilt Carin Ersdotter, a person arrested for causing a traffic violation by her beauty, on display: "everyone who made the smallest presumption to be counted among the fashionable circles must, at least one evening, invite people to see the beautiful dalkulla." She is to have been displayed for money in homes belonging to the merchant aristocracy as well as the circles of the royal court and members of the royal family, accompanied by another dalkulla. Carin was also mentioned in foreign media and compared to other internationally known beauties such as the sailor daughter of Liverpool and the beautiful Mariana of Hamburg.
Pilt Carin Ersdotter made a small fortune by this display tour, and after the season was over, she returned to her home in Djura. Before she left, she was called to the King
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
, and escorted to her boat by the parliamentarian representing Dalarna. In her village, however, she was met with contempt: both for displaying herself for the high society, by which she was considered to have made a fool of herself, but also because most people in her home village did not believe her story and thought it more likely that she had made her fortune by prostitution. The fact that Carin bought with her a certificate assuring her good virtue signed by four baronesses, nine counteses, a count and a governor did not help the matter, and Carin was forced to appeal to her former employer, the owner of Järla gård, Karl von Moliére, a lawyer and official at Svea Hovrätt, for a new certificate. This certificate was accepted by the opinion in her village, and she was able to marry her fiance, "Margites Daniel Andersson".