”Onhan tämä nyt mukavaa, kun on kotonta yhteys suureen maailmaan”

Lapin asukkaiden puhelimeen liittämät toiveet, huolet ja odotukset 1900-luvulla

Abstract

“It’s nice now that our house is connected to the big world” – hopes, concerns, and expectations related to the telephone among the residents of Lapland in the 20th century

This study explores the meanings that residents of northern Finland have attributed to the telephone, as well as the hopes and fears associated with it. The development—or lack thereof—of telephone infrastructure in past decades is linked to the concept of human security. This includes feelings of insecurity in cases of illness or accidents, concerns about poor connections, experiences of injustice, perceptions of the right to participate and stay connected, and the view of the telephone as an enabler of economic activity. In Lapland, telephone lines were extended even to remote villages with the aim of providing residents with a means of communication. However, telephone technology did not always function as expected, and “telephone misery” was also the result of interpersonal conflicts among local residents. The ways in which the telephone was used in Lapland often differed from southern Finland, with state-funded public telephone points playing a central role.

The justifications for acquiring a telephone changed over the course of the 20th century. For instance, the need to report car accidents became more prominent from the late 1950s onward. In the 1960s, the growth of tourism, hiking, and the popularity of summer cottages became evident in applications for telephones, as did rising environmental concerns from the late 1960s onwards. Thus, the telephone was not only a catalyst or accelerator of change, but also an indicator through which we can study how everyday life and communities evolved. Establishing telephone connections in Lapland often required unique technical solutions, such as transmission towers built on mountain peaks. While the telephone was generally welcomed, the construction of telephone lines, the placement of public telephone points, and the introduction of new technologies encountered opposition at various times throughout the decades.