Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Norway

[David Wilson]

​

Today we move on to Norway, formally the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula with a population of 5.5 million as of 2024. The capital and largest city in Norway is Oslo (above). Norway has a total area of 385,207 square kilometres (148,729 sq mi). The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden. It is bordered by Finland and Russia to the northeast and the Skagerrak strait to the south. Norway has an extensive coastline facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea.

 

[David Wilson]

According to Jean Michelet’s article “They’re making big strides in Norway” in the May-June 1958 issue of the British Sub-Aqua Club journal Triton, Hans Hass’s book Men and Sharks “seized the imagination of three young Norwegians, Ivar Klausen, Koldrup and Ove Lund. They became Norway’s diving pioneers, making their own goggles and fashioning crude fins from four pieces of rubber glued together and interlaced with steel ribs. When complete they were nice to look at but of little practical use because the ribs quickly rusted and snapped”.

​

Bjørn W. Kahrs’ article “Del 3 om historien til sportsdykking med hovedvekt på norge frem til 1980” [History of sport diving part 3, with emphasis on Norway until 1980] in the Number 3-2021 issue of the Norwegian diving history periodical Norsk Dykkehistorisk Tidsskrift features the vintage Biledbladet NÅ magazine publicity above captioned “Badeutstyret for alle” [Bathing equipment for everybody] and advertising “Kada-Frogman” diving masks, breathing tubes and swimming fins. Norwegian diving pioneer Ivar Klausen introduced this snorkelling line in the early 1950s, prioritising Bokawawa snorkel-masks and Kada fins. Industrial-scale production followed later at the Refsum Gummivarefabrikk rubber goods factory in the port and river city of Drammen, centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Established by engineer Bjørn Refsum in 1925, this factory first specialised in rubber heels and soles, but manufacturing soon diversified into recreational goods such as balls and swimming rings.

Some time midweek we shall review the range of Kada Frogman diving masks.

 

[lowwall]

Excited to embark on an exploration of a new country

However, I can't imagine snorkeling would have attracted many followers in Norway prior to the ready availability of the wetsuit.

I once did a quick swim in a Norwegian fjord just to say I'd done it. It tied with Lake Superior north of Duluth and a beach in Nova Scotia as the coldest water I've been in without benefit of a sauna or a drysuit.

 

[Compressor]

I was also surprised by the photos of snorkelers. I can't image the water being warm.
I checked the National Data Buoy Center and none of the buoys near Norway are recording water temps.

Nevertheless, thanks for the post; looking forward to more.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for the input, Iowwall and Compressor. And for the likes, Compressor, Akimbo and Iowwall. Very little is forthcoming online about the early post-war days of underwater swimming, so I share your misgivings about suit-less snorkelling in the cold waters of Scandinavia. If you want to read a more complete history of Norwegian diving, try A short Norwegian diving History, by Bjørn W. Kahrs.

Today I promised a look at Norwegian-manufactured diving masks. Two product names come to the fore, sadly without illustrations: Kada and Bokawawa.

The Norwegian Maritime Museum (Norsk Maritimt Museum) website lists the following Kada diving mask among its holdings:

Dykkermaske Kada frogman. Kada frogman diving mask. Length: 15.0 cm. Width: 7.5 cm. Height: 12.0 cm. Colour: black.

 

[David Wilson]

As for the Bokawawa offerings:

The Norwegian Maritime Museum (Norsk Maritimt Museum) website lists the following Bokawawa diving masks among its holdings:

Dykkermaske Bokawawa. Bokawawa diving mask. Colour: blue.

Dykkermaske Bokawawa. Bokawawa diving mask. Length: 8.0 cm. Width: 16.0 cm. Height: 14.0 cm. Colour: black.

Dykkermaske Bokawawa. Bokawawa diving mask. Length: 8.0 cm. Width: 16.0 cm. Height: 14.0 cm. Colour: black, white.

The Norwegian Maritime Museum (Norsk Maritimt Museum) website lists the following Bokawawa snorkel-mask among its holdings:

Dykkermaske med snorkel Bokawawa. Bokawawa diving mask with snorkel. Colour: blue.

The Norwegian Maritime Museum (Norsk Maritimt Museum) website lists the following Bokawawa junior diving masks among its holdings:

Dykkermaske Bokawawa junior. Liten dykkermaske uten snorkelfeste, beregnet på barn. Bokawawa junior diving mask. Small diving mask without snorkel attachment, intended for children.

Dykkermaske Bokawawa junior. Bokawawa junior diving mask. Length: 7.4 cm. Width: 13.5 cm. Height: 10.6 cm. Colour: blue.

We shall move on to the Kada breathing tube and swimming fins at the weekend.

In the meantime, I wonder whether this thread can be transferred to "The History of Diving Gear" section?

 

[David Wilson]

Now for the Kada breathing tube.

​

The Kada breathing tube may be a frontal model.

The Norwegian Maritime Museum (Norsk Maritimt Museum) website lists the following Kada breathing tube among its holdings:

Snorkel Kada. Kada snorkel. Length: 45.0 cm. Diameter: 2.0 cm. Colour: white.

Front-mounted snorkels were quite popular during the 1950s:

​

Side-mounted nreathing tubes eventually won out in the battle of snorkel orientation, probably due to the inconvenience of reduced vision. Front-mounted snorkels later became "must-haves" for competitive finswimmers because they offered greater streamlining in the water.

 

[David Wilson]

Kada swimming fins.

​

According to A. A. Bryzgalov’s Soviet diving book Основы подводного спорта [Underwater sports basics], these “Norwegian fins (pair) are 1.2 kg in weight. The area of one fin is 480 cm². They are elastic, their specific gravity is greater than that of water, and hence they sink. The surface of the fins is smooth; the blade has a 13° bend.”

The Norwegian Maritime Museum (Norsk Maritimt Museum) website lists the following Kada swimming fins among its holdings:

Svømmeføtter Kada. Kada swim fins. Size: 36-38. Length: 38.0 cm. Width: 17.5 cm. Height: 6.0 cm. Colour: green.

Svømmeføtter, Type Kada. Kada swim fins. Length: 46.0 cm. Width: 19.8 cm. Height: 5.5 cm. Colour: green.

Svømmeføtter Kada. Kada swim fins. Size: 36-38. Length: 35.5 cm. Width: 19.6 cm. Height: 6.0 cm. Colour: black.

Svømmeføtter, Type Kada. Kada swim fins. Length: 44.0 cm. Width: 20.0 cm. Height: 7.0 cm. Colour: blue with white marbling.

Here ends this Norwegian thread. I wish there was more to say about early diving equipment in the country, but little information is forthcoming online. I shall start a new thread midweek, probably one dedicated to mid-twentieth-century underwater swimming gear in Turkey, now officially known as "Türkiye".

 

[DCN]

You will see a frontal tube mask in an article about Norway's first female certified diver (January 1960)

Hun var Norges første froskekvinne

Bladet for dykkeinteresserte!

www.dykking.no

Filmavisen: 4. februar 1960 - NRK TV

Uke 5 - NM på ski og tenning av OL-ilden i Morgedal

tv.nrk.no

 

[David Wilson]

You will see a frontal tube mask in an article about Norway's first female certified diver (January 1960)

Hun var Norges første froskekvinne

Bladet for dykkeinteresserte!

www.dykking.no

Filmavisen: 4. februar 1960 - NRK TV

Uke 5 - NM på ski og tenning av OL-ilden i Morgedal

tv.nrk.no

Thank you so much for these links.