2010 stamps feature rock, pop and romance
12.10.2009
Finland's stamps in 2010 offer not only rock and pop but also romance. You can put stamps on letters and cards that will bring to mind the top names of Finnish rock music, pop antiques from the sixties, and country romanticism. The designers of the stamps include young talent as well as distinguished old hands.
January: rock, fairies and cat's-foot
The stamp year kicks off smartly on 25 January with top names of Finnish rock. Eppu Normaali, Popeda, Yö, Mamba, Dingo and Maarit are all on a miniature sheet to be issued in January. These popular and still performing artists were put on the miniature sheet by Klaus Welp.
Also scheduled for issue in January, with an eye to next month's Saint Valentine's Day, is a miniature sheet with cute fairies. A heart fairy, a fiddler fairy, and for example a star fairy deliver Finns' messages for Valentine's Day. The young artist Minni Havas created the fairies.
The new Cat's-foot non-value indicator stamp is the work of noted postcard designer Inge Löök. The first class non-value indicator stamp is illustrated in art nouveau style with three cat's-foot wildflowers.
March: Easter stamps and funny vegetables
In the year's second stamp issue on 8 March, we prepare for Easter with two stamps. The "My Easter" series which began two years ago is continued well by modernist Johannes Ekholm. His stamp design depicts a ring echoing the shape of Easter eggs. The ring was designed by Kirsti Doukas. The designer of the other Easter stamp is Omppu Omenamäki, noted for his postcards, who created the "Easter Twins" stamp.
In spring, thoughts move onward to the summer ahead, with a stamp booklet imbued with the spirit of country romance. On Emil Bertell's stamps are fragrant wild strawberries smell, a tractor carrying a farmer, and an accordion being played on a dance stage.
The "Funny Vegetables" stamp booklet gives you an opportunity for a little hands-on work. You can give the tomato a moustache or put a hat on the asparagus or ears on the cucumber. You can dress up the vegetable stamps designed by Nina Rintala as you wish with the accessories included in the booklet.
March will also see the issue of a booklet on outstanding Finnish women. The women featured on the stamps will not be announced until next spring. Towards the end of the month, on 24 March, there will be a separate issue of a miniature sheet in the "Nordic Maritime" series. The two stamps by Klaus Welp depict the Maritime Centre Vellamo, the wooden boat centre and the museum ship Tarmo at Kotka harbour.
May: jumping for joy and calling in at the library
Spring and summer are the seasons of celebrations and joy. The Jumping for Joy stamps scheduled for issue on 4 May are perfect for congratulations, invitations and summery greetings. The designer of the five-stamp miniature sheet is a student at the Pekka Halonen Academy, Tuomo Savolainen, who won Itella's competition to design springtime greetings stamps last year.
Libraries today are anything but gloomily silent places for reading. The hundred-year-old library movement's diversity and its current forms are shown on two Europa stamps. Children's book illustrator Leena Lumme depicts a book as a door opening into worlds of fact and fancy.
Finland will take part in the world's fair EXPO 2010 in Shanghai with the Kirnu pavilion, a structure representing modern Finnish architecture. The original and memorable Finnish pavilion building is shown on them miniature sheet. It was designed by Jenni Erkintalo, whose previous work includes Saint Valentine's Day stamps for Sweden's postal operator.
The stamp series on Finnish art will be continued in May with the issue of a stamp booklet on sculptures. The design of this is by Klaus Welp.
In May there will be a new personalised stamp frame together with Finland Post's personalised stamp.
Go-go boots in Torronsuo national park
The autumn stamps kick off on 13 September with pop antiques from the 1960s. Many homes in those days had the Cobra phone, go-go boots, ball chair and floral mirror shown on Pekka Piippo's stamp. The Antiques stamp series thus makes a leap in time from the previous Gustavian and Art Nouveau stamps.
The national parks stamp takes us this time to Torronsuo in Southwest Finland. The first class non-value indicator stamp designed by Teemu Ollikainen is an autumnal image of a marsh with data on the location.
Beautiful Finnish scenery is also shown on the miniature sheet entitled Autumn. Designed by Asser Jaaro, the three stamps depict a crayfish, mallards and a European elk (moose).
Christmas stamps come out in November
Traditional forms of Christmas greetings are still holding their own. In November, on the 5th, the always eagerly awaited Christmas stamps will be issued. The stamps were designed by Tommi Vallisto.
Further information for the media:
Further information on stamps:
Philatelic Centre, Business Area Director Markku Penttinen, Tel. +358 20 451 5519, firstname.lastname@posti.fi
For technical information:
Product Manager Petri Pohjolainen, Tel. +358 20 451 5572, firstname.lastname@posti.fi and Product Manager Tommi Kantola, Tel. +358 20 451 5531, firstname.lastname@posti.fi
Itella's Communications contact:
Communications Manager Mika Heijari, Tel. +358 20 451 3045, firstname.lastname@itella.com
Printable-quality images of the stamps will be available to the media on www.itella.com/media, To Image Service, Stamps.
