Forest Museum Årsringar
Tidaholm

Forest Museum

The forest is an integral part of the region's history and has shaped the Daretorp area. Daretorpsbygdens Intresseförening in Gälleberg, houses one of southern Sweden's few forest museums, featuring an exhibition named "Årsringar" (Rings of the Years), focusing on forest and forestry practices from the first half of the 20th century. The exhibition showcases various tools and equipment used in forestry during that time, as well as materials from other industries that depended on the forest, such as hunting and fishing gear and tools for berry picking.
The exhibition also covers topics like the large-scale production of tar in Blåhult during the 1940s and how local people could earn extra income by gathering pine cones for seedling propagation, harvesting pine branches for a soap factory in Jönköping, or contracting for forest plantation work. The exhibition also features a collection of approximately 50 chainsaws.

Exhibition of Oskar Engström's Woodcarvings in Kulturladan

The estate of Sture and Ulla-Britt Hjelm has donated many of Oskar Engström's hand-carved wooden figurines to Daretorpsbygdens Intresseförening to make them available to the public.

According to information from Oskar Engström's son, Lennart Engström, his father Oskar began crafting his first wooden art pieces in the early 1930s in a stable/workshop building that belonged to the Tidaholm Courthouse. Oskar carved between 1500-2000 figures and other items.
The woods he primarily used were elm, alder, lime, and partly birch. The initial figurines cost around 10 Swedish kronor each. Many of the items left Sweden with emigrants to America.

Oskar Engström had a special eye for Tidaholm's local characters and celebrities, including the district magistrate Sjöström, manager Valdemar Lindahl, and the character Teodor Band, among others. The collection also includes a self-portrait.

The exhibition will be kept intact and shown in conjunction with various events and activities.

History

The forest on Hökensås has been common land for at least 1000 years. In 1286, Magnus Ladulås granted the residents of Visingsö the right to use the forest in the same way as the farmers of Falbygden had already been doing. They were allowed to harvest timber for building houses and for firewood, as well as graze their cattle in the forest. The document was signed by Magnus Ladulås at Ettak's Royal Farm in Velinga parish. Today, Hökensås Häradsallmänning is a vital organization that represents the interests of about 1100 agricultural properties in Falbygden and Visingsö, which are still co-owners of the forest.