The Wine Monopoly

This shop – from Holmestrand, Vestfold – is from 1904, and shows a typical wine merchant’s shop or Cooperative of the period. This interior is originally from the town of Holmestrand, and was the premises of the Holmestrand Spirits Cooperative.

In 1904 the Cooperative moved into this newly renovated locale with its classic fittings and colourful patterned floor tiles popular at the time. This tile floor has been reconstructed on the basis of remaining tiles.

1/1

The Wine Monopoly fram Holmestrand, in the Apartment Buiding Anne-Lise Reinsfelt | Norsk Folkemuseum

The Cooperative in Holmestrand was established in 1878. Cooperatives were privately owned companies run under municipal supervision. According to the 1871 Coperatives Act, profits from sale of spirits were to be used for ‘the general good’. Cooperatives operated in parallel with the Wine Monopoly until 1938, when they were abolished by Act of Parliament.