This study shows that the Swedish ‘housewife era’ roughly occurred in 1930–1970. During the 1950s, the ratio of women’s worked hours to men’s worked hours reached a low point. In the early 1970s, it rose to above 50%. We argue that models of joint utility maximisation, assuming equal gender power relations unrestrained by cultural and institutional settings, cannot alone explain this era. The two principal structural mechanisms behind the rise of the breadwinner household were the decline of the farm household and the increased proportion of married women. Both weakened the bargaining position of women. Three results in our study weaken the claims of the joint utility maximisation model. Firstly, marriage was much more important than motherhood in determining the probability of women’s labour force participation, although the age of the child is then not taken into account. Secondly, the labour force participation of married women was similar across different social strata outside of the farm and top income households, indicating a prevalent capitalist patriarchal structure. Thirdly, women’s leisure was valued less than men’s, demonstrating that the preferences of the husband were prioritised over those of the wife.

The official statistics on GDP and the labour market exclude unpaid domestic services. Yet there are good theoretical reasons why historians should study unpaid work. This paper reconstructs annual estimates of time use in Sweden from 1950 to 2012 among women and men. It finds substantial convergence between the genders in time use from the 1960s to the early 1980s. During the pe-riod of inquiry, the gender difference in total working time vanished. The double burden for women did not increase when they entered the labour market. The reduction in the time women spent on unpaid work is explained about equally by the shortening of the total amount of unpaid work and by increasing male participation inhousehold chores. In 1950-1963, the reduction was explained mainly by the decline in the making and mending of clothes at home and the spread of domestic appliances. In the 1963–1984 period, instead, it was due chiefly to men’s greater participation in household work. These mechanisms were largely historically contingent, suggesting that it is impossible to single out just one factor to explain why Sweden today has less gender inequality than other countries.

To write the life of another is quite a complex matter. Apparently, in the academic field the biography as a genre has been questioned. While Barthes and Foucault suggested the Death of the Author in the 1960s, the ‘biographical turn’ has made its way back to popularity in the 21st century. This article examines how to write a biography with scientific and critical ambitions. The article concludes that the biographical approach can offer a deeper understanding of the individual in a historical context. However, by using theoretical and methodological tools the genre can be improved.

This article investigates the role of wives in the Swedish business elite in the early 1900s, through letters and diaries. The Swedish case is particularly interesting, since the country has a long tradition of successful corporate families. The corporate wife was expected to perform duties linked to the family business. To get more directly involved in the firm, the husband had to give his permission. By offering support the wife could gain tacit knowledge of her husband’s work. Her emotional efforts influenced the achievements of the family business, sometimes even its survival.

In 1910, two years before the Olympics in Stockholm, The General Secretary of the Swedish Games Mr Kristian Hellstrom assured that the competitors should expect the most exciting time of their lives. As long as they lived, they would remember the sport event. To make the competitors feeling welcomed, it required a successful organisation. The present article examines the promotional work behind the Stockholm Olympics. The event was the first Olympic Games with a professional advertising campaign and an official poster. Initially, the intention was to establish a solid organisation consisting of a specific Advertising and Reception Section. The General Secretariat was in charge of advertising, for instance contacts with the media in Sweden and worldwide. They also organised a specific Advertising and Information Committee' that worked with advertisement. Finally, the promotional work did not only focus on the sport event. The tourism of Sweden was also the object of marketing. This article argues that promotional work on different levels made it possible to modernise and internationalise the event. By analysing Hellstrom's work as General Secretary, it is possible to understand the intensity of promotional activity, which resulted in an innovative campaign.