2.  My family has a big collection of dala horses  I enjoy looking at all of the different colors and sizes  I thought it would be interesting to know more about them

4.  The earliest records of dala horses for sale are from 1623, almost 400 years ago  The tradition of horses started in Sweden and were originally toys for children  Early horses were carved by men working in forests as gifts for their kids  The horses were painted to match other paintings on walls and furniture

5.  At first, the dala horses were well known only in Sweden and surrounding countries (Norway, Finland)  In 1939, a giant dala horse was placed outside of the Swedish pavilion at the World Exhibition in New York City  Since then, many people around the world have collected the horses

7. This is a picture of a dala horse from a long time ago.

8. This is a picture of a dala horse from today.

9. OldNew

10.  OLD WAY › Carved out of wood using knives, similar to whittling › Great variety in size and shape › Painted by the family to match home furniture  NEW WAY › Traced and cut out with a saw › Details are whittled › Dipped in bucket of paint to get the body color › Designs on the back and sides are still hand painted

12.  Based on Amazon.com, here are the prices of some dala horses:  1inch - $18  5 inches - $40  10 inches - $150  20 inches - $750

15. Create and color your own Dala Horse You can create a tradition horse where the colors match your bedroom or furniture -Or- You can create one using your favorite colors