Telephone switchboard, 1949 (photo)

The village Akkavare in Norrbotten Sweden. Abmot Viltok cultivates the land bordering Lake Etnajaure. "Lake of Life". There is no road to the village, you have to walk the five miles from the nearest community, Gällivare. The village also has no electricity. Abmot is 64 and his wife Hilma is 58. The family has three cows, three calves and eighteen sheep and the village's only horse. Pictured Mrs. Viltok at home in the room by the telephone switchboard that is mounted on the wall. It was common in the villages in sparsely populated areas that someone had the telephone switchboard at home and was responsible for connecting the telephone calls from and to the residents of the village. You could also go here and call if you didn't have a phone. Sweden 1949.