The Norwegian Folk Museum takes us back to a day
when life was more of a struggle.
It displays 150 traditional buildings
brought here from all corners of the country
and reassembled in this sprawling park.
The museum is alive with people
demonstrating slices of folk life.
Smartly crafted log construction and sod roofs
were well-designed for the long, cold winters.
Stepping inside, you get a tasty example
of life back then -- these women are
making old-fashioned "lefse."
Christianity came to Norway back in Viking times.
Builders employed their expert woodworking skills --
evident in their shipbuilding --
to make fine wooden stave churches.
They're named for the staves, or upright posts,
upon which they're built.
While commonplace in 12th-century Norway,
only a few of these churches survive.
And every hour through the day, a crowd gathers
at this farm hamlet from the northern region of Telemark
to enjoy folk music and dance.
With the very strict social constraints
of centuries past, folk dances were
an acceptable way for boys and girls to flirt
and strut their stuff.
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[ clapping ]
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[ clapping ]
For something more traditional, we're visiting
the city's "Old Town" open-air folk museum.
With 75 historic buildings carefully moved here
from throughout Denmark,
it gives a look at Danish urban life
in centuries past.
On this merchant's mansion, the carved relief
dates from 1571.
Costumed actors wander the cobbled lanes
as if living in the 19th century.
This couple's selling everything for a trip to America.
Their skillet has to go, as eggs in America
are just way too big.
This is too small.
Why? We have heard that
they have big eggs in America.
[ Laughs ]
You can appease your sweet tooth
in an old-fashioned way.
And here in the bakery, you'll see tasty
Danish treats are nothing new.
Of the many museums here in the Valley,
the Blists Hill Victorian Town,
creatively humanizing the age, is my favorite.
You'll wander through a 50-acre industrial site
with a recreated town from the 1890s,
staffed with characters in Victorian dress.
Pop into whatever shop appeals.
We're meeting the candlestick maker.
Repeatedly dipping her candles into the wax,
she reminds us, "There's no rest for the Victorian worker."
Then, she shows off her clever double-wick candle.
-This is a Victorian double-wicked candle.
The flame can jump from wick to wick,
and it won't blow out so easily.
-Around the corner, the printer is hard at work.
Even with ingenious mechanization,
mass-production still required skilled labor.
♪♪
As the engineer fires up a replica
of the first steam-powered locomotive from 1802,
we're reminded that Britain was the workshop of the world
and that the combination of steam power,
iron wheels, and iron tracks
helped propel the British Empire to world dominance.
Today, as industry evolves and this early technology
is eclipsed by our digital and global age,
museums like this help us appreciate the impact
of the relentless march of progress.
Another great sight here on the garden island
is the Skansen open-air folk museum.
This was the first in what became a Europe-wide movement
to preserve traditional architecture.
Founded in 1891, Skansen is a sprawling collection
of 150 historic buildings
that take you back in time.
These homes, churches, schoolhouses, and so on
were transplanted from all corners of Sweden.
Today, tourists take a virtual trip all over the country
without leaving the capital,
seeing wonderfully furnished old interiors
and folk crafts in action.
Artisans demonstrate their crafts.
The potter works his magic,
enthralling visitors old and young.
And glass -- traditionally a big industry here in Sweden --
is blown.
Observing peasants fiddling out on the porch
takes you back to a time when people provided
their own entertainment.
[ Applause ]
And, in a park dedicated to keeping
folk traditions alive,
a day at Skansen is memorably capped
at a bandstand with some Swedish folk dancing.