1910–1912 Fram expedition. Clothing

1910–1912 Fram expedition

Clothing

The Fram expedition required a varied selection of clothing and equipment. On the voyage they needed clothes that protected against waves and wind, but also thin clothes for when sailing through warm waters. For the party that spent the winter in Antarctica and embarked on long sledge rides, equipment was required that could both keep them warm, but also be easy to move in.

In the book about the expedition, Amundsen describes their separate set of thick wool underwear for cold temperatures, consisting of:

2 thick hand-knitted wool undershirts
6 pairs of knitted stockings
Icelanders (knitted sweaters)
Lighter undershirt
Socks and stockings from “Tugthuset” (Kristiania’s prison for women)
Sealskin suit from Greenland
Anoraks sewn from blankets donated by the Navy stores in Horten
Additional equipment from the Army depots

In addition, they had

Sealskin suits from Greenland
Anoraks sewn from blankets donated by the Navy stores in Horten
Additional equipment from the Army depots

Amundsen donated the clothes and equipment he had used during the expedition to the Ski Museum now at Holmenkollen. This collection also contains clothes used by Olav Bjaaland and Hjalmar Johansen.

The reindeer skin clothes were made of approx. 250 skins, supplied by Fritz Gottlieb Zapffe and originally from Karasjok and Kautokeino. Anoraks and trousers were sewn according to a pattern from the Netsilik Inuit. Reindeer skin sleeping bags were also sewn; both light inner bags and thick outer ones. Photo: Axelsen, Silja / Ski Museum in Holmenkollen.

Olav Bjaaland’s breeches made from reindeer skin. Photo: Axelsen, Silja / Ski Museum in Holmenkollen.

Roald Amundsen’s woven wool socks. On his feet he usually wore seven different garments. Closest to the skin were these wool socks with senna grass, followed by a layer of wool stockings, a pair of dogskin stockings, a pair of thinner windproof stockings, a thick reindeer skin kamik and an outermost windproof layer. All this was eventually pushed into the ski boot. Photo: Axelsen, Silja / Ski Museum in Holmenkollen.

Wool socks. Layer number two of the footwear they wore during the sledge journeys. Photo: Axelsen, Silja / Ski Museum in Holmenkollen.

Roald Amundsen’s reindeer skin kamiks. Layer number five of the footwear he wore during the coldest temperatures on the sledge journeys. Photo: Axelsen, Silja / Ski Museum in Holmenkollen.

The kamiks that were the outer layer before the ski boot. Photo: Axelsen, Silja / Ski Museum in Holmenkollen.

When the reindeer skin clothes were too hot, they wore green anoraks and Burberry windproof trousers. Photo: Axelsen, Silja / Ski Museum in Holmenkollen.

Roald Amundsen’s trousers in Burberry windwear. Photo: Axelsen, Silja / Ski Museum in Holmenkollen.

Amundsen’s initials inside the waist. Photo: Axelsen, Silja / Ski Museum in Holmenkollen.

The ski boots were made at Peter Andersen’s footwear store, but were modified by the crew during the expedition. Photo: Axelsen, Silja / Ski Museum in Holmenkollen.

These boots were worn by either Roald Amundsen or Olav Bjaaland, and have clearly been well used. Photo: Axelsen, Silja / Ski Museum in Holmenkollen.

Amundsen had procured 10 pairs of ordinary kid leather walking mittens, bought in a glove shop in Kristiania. Indestructible, according to Amundsen. He used them all the way to the pole and back without breaking the seams. Outside them he wore a windproof layer. Photo: Axelsen, Silja / Ski Museum in Holmenkollen.