Objects Database

Bergan Rucksack

Accession Number

1133.2014.1

Object Name

Bergan Rucksack

Created

04/06/2014

Creator

Hermione Cooper

Accession Date

04/06/2014

Brief Description

A frame canvas Bergan rucksack with 3 pockets, leather straps and metal buckles.

Materials

canvas,leather,metal,

Dimensions

45(l) x 35(w) x 16(d) cms

Number Of Objects

Inscription Description

Label on front with picture of two outdoors men with rucksacks and inscription "BERGANS ORIGINAL MADE IN NORWAY"

Colour

grey

Maker

Bergans

Object Production Place

Norway

Provenance

Bergans of Norway rucksacks became so iconic in the 1930's that the word 'bergan' became the generic term for all rucksacks, whoever the maker, for several decades to come.
Ole F Bergan was a Norwegian hunter and fisherman and the story goes that he invented his revolutionary metal pack frame in 1908/9 after carrying some game on his back for a long distance which made him stiff and sore. A patent followed and the company 'Bergans of Norway' was born.
Thomas Black & Co. were one of Scotland's leading outdoor retailers back in the 1930's and they soon became the sole importer of Bergan rucksacks which were a huge success even though they were often more expensive than similar rucksacks on the UK market. Indeed, the UK outdoor manufacturers , Camtors, tried hard to compete with their, thinly disguised,'Camwegian' version of the Bergan.
We think this version of rucksack dates from the 1950's and bears all the high quality trademarks of a Bergan, including the famous depiction of two men in the great outdoors; The one 'with' has a Bergan and a pipe, the other doesn't. The Norwegians love their 'baccy' so if you have a Bergan and a pipe you are happy; if not you are sad.