Collection: Shetland Museum and Archive

Shetlanders wore knitted hats when off fishing, and the the multicoloured patterns contrasted with the brown oilskins and boots they wore. Visitors to the islands two hundred years ago were much taken with these vivid caps, and bartered them from the…

Whales are common in the North Atlantic, and since ancient times people have used their meat and oil. In regions with no trees, bones were fashioned into household items that would usully be made from timber; this handled cup is made from a backbone.…

Tradional Shetland farmsteads had outbuildings connected to the house, so people could go through to the byre to tend to the cattle, even in the strongest winter gale. For centuries light came from fish-oil lamps. Once imported glass became common…

Traditional fishing gear had two main parts – a baited hook to catch the fish, and a weight to sink the line into the sea. This is a specialised sinker that people used where there was a very strong tide, where big fish could be caught. The pointed…

Around 1900 hundreds of Shetlanders left their native home. It was a time of hardship but also opportunity. People settled elsewhere in Britain, or further afield in the world. This doll belonged to a girl in a seaport where islanders settled as…

When off on a boat trip, people used this kind of box, known in Shetland as a bøst, to carry food or fishing flies. These boxes were made around Hordaland province, and imported in the 18th century as part of the islands’ trading links with coastal…

Jaundice is a symptom, rather than a disease. Shetlanders used folk-remedies to try to cure the condition. One way was to drink water from a stream where three landlords’ estates met. The water was scooped with the big bowl, called a kapp, and the…

Communication sped up throughout the twentieth century, but news wasn’t that new by the time it got to Shetland by sea. The wireless meant islanders were up-to-the minute by the 1930s. Radios ran on batteries that were periodically re-charged. Most…