Grandma's Spinning Wheel

This is my grandma Elsie Dahlager's (1872-1959)  spinning wheel.

She had said that this had come from her mother-in-law,

so it was not only grandma's spinning wheel,

but it first belonged to my great-grandma Sigrid Leikvold Dahlager  (1853-1942).

Great-grandma's father was Ole Leikvold (1830-1916).

Ole was a wood lathe operator and carpenter.

He made lefse rolling pins, cupboards, benches, chairs and. . .

spinning wheels.

Ole made this spinning wheel for

his daughter, my great-grandma.

So how old is it, then?   One can't be absolutely sure, but if it was made for her when 

she married Christopher Dahlager in 1874, it would be 143 years old!

The spinning wheel is obviously hand-made.

All the parts appear to be included.

The foot pedal is discolored from grandma's (and great grandma's) 

foot pumping the pedal which caused the wheel to turn.

One can imagine these women sitting at the spinning wheel, 

making the sheep's wool into yarn in order to make

mittens, sweaters, or scarves.

I am honored to have this family heirloom, which will
hopefully stay in the family for years to come.

Grandma

Great-great grandpa

Great Grandma