Archives

Karhumäki Airways

December 7, 2018 11:51 am Published by

Three brothers. A hen house. A motorcycle engine. A few decades later, an airline, a factory and a whole community. The brothers Niilo, Valto, and Uuno Karhumäki were certainly not your common idle fellows. At first they built kites, then model planes and later on real airplanes: Karhu I, Karhu II and Karhu III. Not […]

Vanha Vaasa

December 7, 2018 11:49 am Published by

Most of the regions, cities and travel companies in Finland created posters and images of their own, just like the city of Vaasa (this one is for the old part of the city). The idea was naturally to lure travels from near and afar to Finland. We continuously seek more information about all images in […]

The Anorak boy

December 7, 2018 11:47 am Published by

Inspired by the traditional clothing of the inuits the anorak (parka) also reached Finland. That’s when the skiing boy on the poster put it on – and soon the anorak became a favorite also for longtime Finnish president Urho Kekkonen. And now the anorak-boy can style up your home!

Land of the Vikings

December 7, 2018 11:45 am Published by

A classic in the poster world. The slightly fuzzy slogan “See the Lands of the Vikings” causes us to blush a bit, but at the same time we are proud of how the Nordic countries are united. The artist Ben Blessum was born in Norway, but got his career as a painter and illustrator in […]

The Hanko Lady

December 7, 2018 11:43 am Published by

Surely it must have felt like a small, a really small, uphill climb when Finland in the 1930’s tried to depict itself as a sun and beach paradise. But we love that kind of cockiness. Of course we have that one month, July that is, when everything in the posters is true. Or…almost at least. […]

For winter sports

December 7, 2018 11:39 am Published by

For all we know this must be the first poster marketing the Finnish winter and Lapland after the war. During the 1930´s the local and national Tourist Associations worked hard to promote Rovaniemi and Finnish Lapland as an exotic destination for the adventureous traveller. Small hotels were built, among others the proud ”Fell-hotel” at Pallas. […]

Off the Beaten Track Finland Line

December 7, 2018 11:39 am Published by

How could one tempt the boldest travelers to Finland? The answer was that we had to offer something that no other place could. As a result, the advertising people in Hull, England, came up with the brilliant slogan: Finland – Off the Beaten Track. In other words, Finland was described as a country that the […]

Off the Beaten Track 1935

December 7, 2018 11:35 am Published by

How could one tempt the boldest travelers to Finland? The answer was that we had to offer something that no other place could. As a result, the advertising people in Hull, England, came up with the brilliant slogan: Finland – Off the Beaten Track. In other words, Finland was described as a country that the […]

30 000 lakes

December 7, 2018 11:32 am Published by

The German illustrator, glass artist and professor Alfred Mahlau (1894-1967) surely had an idea about what the Europeans wanted from Finland. In this poster it is obvious: We will lure them in with pristine nature – and a sense of design. Note that Alfred knew this already back in 1929.

Off the Beaten Track 1928

December 7, 2018 11:30 am Published by

How could one tempt the boldest travelers to Finland? The answer was that we had to offer something that no other place could. As a result, the advertising people in Hull, England, came up with the brilliant slogan: Finland – Off the Beaten Track. In other words, Finland was described as a country that the […]

Olympics 1940 (ENG)

December 7, 2018 11:25 am Published by

Ilmari Sysimetsä’s Olympics poster featuring Paavo Nurmi – the Flying Finn – is most likely the most famous Finnish poster ever. The poster is also a great example of recycling. For the Olympic Games which were to take place in 1940 a big travel poster contest was held. The price was shared by three contestants, […]

BORE

December 7, 2018 11:25 am Published by

The ship Bore (later Bore I) is – to out it simply – a legend. She was built in 1898 in Denmark and delivered to the company Bore in Turku (Åbo) in Finland. She served the route Turku-Mariehamn-Stockholm but was lost already in 1899 after running aground. But, Bore wouldn’t be Bore if she hadn’t […]

Land of romance

December 7, 2018 11:15 am Published by

Take a deep breath. Because now we have reached the very essence of these cheerful greetings from Finland. We’re talking about this masterpiece by Helge Mether-Borgström’s, where a ship sails into the land of thousand lakes from the west. So simple, but oh how mesmerizing. Mether-Borgström isn’t any old graphic designer. It was he who […]

Saimaa…Loveliest!

December 7, 2018 10:55 am Published by

This poster by the duo Paul Söderström & Göran Englund is one of our absolute favourites. Why? Because it’s Finland in a nutshell! Finland IS Lakeland. And you can still hop on the boat (the boats looks exactly the same today) at the harbours in cities like Kuopio and Savonlinna. And what a ride! It’s […]

Lakeland by Erik Bruun

December 5, 2018 3:40 pm Published by

Erik Bruun (born 1926) is a merry rascal whom everyone gets along with. He is the grand old man of poster art in Finland and the question is if anyone else has done more than he has to attract travelers to Finland. In Bruun’s posters one can always sense his typical tongue in cheek attitude. […]

Porvoo-Borgå by Erik Bruun

December 5, 2018 3:36 pm Published by

Erik Bruun (born 1926) is a merry rascal whom everyone gets along with. He is the grand old man of poster art in Finland and the question is if anyone else has done more than he has to attract travelers to Finland. In Bruun’s posters one can always sense his typical tongue in cheek attitude, […]

The Gateway to Finland

December 5, 2018 3:16 pm Published by

In 1930 the artist duo Gunnar Forsström and Göran Hongell captured the maritime Helsinki with the Cathedral in the background. Both posters were published in several different languages, at least German, Finnish, Swedish, English and French. Who said Finland wasn’t international already back then? This thing about the Helsinki Cathedral is by the way quite […]

Turku-Åbo by Erik Bruun

December 5, 2018 3:02 pm Published by

Erik Bruun (born 1926) is a merry rascal whom everyone gets along with. He is the grand old man of poster art in Finland and the question is if anyone else has done more than he has to attract travelers to Finland.

The Salmon Flight by Erik Bruun

December 5, 2018 2:27 pm Published by

Erik Bruun (born 1926) is a merry rascal whom everyone gets along with. He is the grand old man of poster art in Finland and the question is if anyone else has done more than he has to attract travelers to Finland. In Bruun’s posters one can always sense his typical tongue in cheek attitude. […]

The Moose by Erik Bruun

December 5, 2018 2:22 pm Published by

Erik Bruun (born 1926) is a merry rascal whom everyone gets along with. He is the grand old man of poster art in Finland and the question is if anyone else has done more than he has to attract travelers to Finland. In Bruun’s posters one can always sense his typical tongue in cheek attitude, […]