Yes, I’ve recycled the title for the Finland 2024 stamp program. The hardest part of writing is coming up with a title that doesn’t utterly stink for each article. Who knew that would be the biggest issue? No matter how bad the titles I inflict on you, rest assured, writing about stamps is nothing but fun, especially aviation related ones. And food. And cats. Oh hell, any stamps. I’m easy to please.
And speaking of Finland’s 2024 year, it’s pretty much what I have come to expect – clean, beautiful lines, vivid images and somehow colours that pop off the page. Not all post offices manage to replicate such intense colours, but Finland does. It’d be interesting to research the changes in the printing process over the decades. Yet another idea to mull over.
While researching this article, I wandered off to spend an afternoon on Finland’s Postal Museum site. While poking around, looking for a bit of history on Finland’s printing process, I found Reetta Uusikulku’s first chapter in what will hopefully be an extensive history of Finland’s stamps, Part 1: The first moments of a stamp. I found it very useful in filling up some gaps in my historical knowledge and bookmarked it for future reference. It’s a good primer on Finnish stamps. This is a good solid read for beginners and long-term collectors. It’s written in Finnish, but translates well into English.
Was there a favourite from 2023? Oh yes. I can’t tell you why but Kreetta Järvenpää’s artwork intrigued me.
I don’t tend to gravitate to flowers, I’m more an airplane and food kind of person, but this set haunted me. According to Kreetta, she was inspired by the Dutch Golden Age of painting, and you can definitely see it. Maybe it simply reminds me of the days (yes days) wandering through the Riiksmuseum, oh so long ago. And now I’m wondering where that catalogue I lugged home is. Another distraction, thanks Posti, just what I needed.
Oh well, life would be boring if it weren’t littered with distractions.
Enjoy the year.
Catpaw
January
Taste of Summer
series: fruit
1 stamp, FDC, cancel, panes of 10
offset
Designer: Klaus Welp
Welp has designed 115 stamps to date. Among his designs was Finland’s 2015 EUROPA: Old Toys featuring the Moomins.
Release date: January 17, 2024
Spring Dreams
series: spring | butterflies | flowers
5 stamps, FDC, cancel, panes of 10
offset
The design of spring stamps was a pleasant assignment for Tuominen. “I drew dozens of black and white proposals, five of which made it to the final straight. I made some more edits to the illustrations before I started thinking about a color scheme that became just cute enough to bring joy and positivity to the characters. I hope that the stamps convey the feeling of happiness I felt when I made them.” Kevätunelmia (posti.fi)
Designer: Jenni Tuominen
Tuominen has a special interest in ceramics as well as print design. She is part of the Jenni & Jukka Studio.
Release date: January 17, 2024
Friendship Blooms
series: flowers | Valentine’s
5 stamps, FDC, cancel, panes of 10
offset
Designer: Paula Salviander
Paula’s 2020International Year of Plant Health, Lily of the Valley won 3rd prize in Finland’s annual Most Beautiful Stamp Competition.
Photographer: Ilona Pietiläinen.
Release date: January 17, 2024
May
Europa – Underwater Life
series: water life | EUROPA | insects
2 stamps, FDC, cancel, panes of 10 (2 x 5 stamps)
offset
- sea beetle (Macroplea pubipennis)
- sea buckthorn (Elaeagnus rhamnoides) – sea buckthorn is a small flowering deciduous shrub. Sea Buckthorn – A Foraging Guide to Its Food, Medicine and Other Uses (eatweeds.co.uk)
Aland featured sea buckthorn on one of their stamps in 2021.
Designers: Susanna Rumpu & Ari Lakaniemi
Rumpu and Lakaniemi are familiar names to EUROPA collectors. They won the 2013 Most Beautiful Europa stamp for their 1933 Volvo Postal Van stamp (Postal vehicles – celebrating PostEurop’s 20th anniversary).
Release date: May 8, 2023
Time to Celebrate
series: flowers
5 stamps, FDC, cancel, panes of 10
offset
“A stamp is a challenging entity simply because of its small size, which forces us to simplify the shapes and reduce the content. Good stamps have something in common with good posters, where the viewer has time to internalize what they see at a glance. However, the small size of the stamp also encourages us to study the image even more closely,” says Nygård. Juhlan aika (posti.fi)
Designer: Marjo Nygård
Release date: May 8, 2023
King’s Trot 100 Years / Finnhorse
series: sports | horses
2 stamps, FDC, cancel, panes of 10 (2 x 5 stamps)
offset
The Finnhorse is Finland’s national horse breed.
The Finnhorse is the only original horse breed developed in Finland that originated from Northern European landraces. The Finnhorse studbook was established in 1907. Today, Finnhorses make up about a third of Finland’s horse population, about 20,000 individuals. About 1,000 foals are born each year.
The Finnhorse is a versatile all-round horse in terms of its characteristics. It is medium-sized, well-grouped and quite robust. The look is honest. The Finnhorse is cooperative, striving, humble and serious about trying.
About the Finnhorse | Finnhorse Federation (suomenhevosliitto.fi)
The King’s Trot harness race turns 100 this year. Horses featured on these stamps are Sirpsakka, Evartti, Lumi-Oosa and Suven Velvet. The 100th anniversary celebration of this race will be at the end of July in Jyväskylän Killer. It will include a festival devoted to the Finnhorse. King’s Trot – Home (kuninkuusravit.fi)
Designer: Stiina Hovi
This article has a fascinating look at Hovi and how she creates her works Soul & Horse: Visual artist Stiina Hovi lets the horse interpret great emotions – HappyRider.
Art is a subjective experience; a one-on-one experience between the viewer and the artwork. I think I’m an artist for ordinary people, because I don’t have any actual training for this. My quiet mission is to take art to places that people might never end up in art galleries.
Stiina Hovi (ibid)
Release date: May 8, 2023
Sweden’s NATO Membership
series: Europe
1 stamp, FDC, cancel, panes of 10
offset
This stamp follows on the heels of Finland’s acceptance into NATO last year. Finland issued a stamp to celebrate the event in September 2023.
Designer: Anssi Kähärä
Release date: May 8, 2023
September
The Sun’s Glow
2 stamps, FDC, cancel, 1 sheet of 10 (2 x 5)
Photos were taken in Lapua Alajoki and Orisberg in Isokyrö
Photographer: Jukka Risikko
Risikko’s photographs have appeared on Finnish stamps in 2021 Autumn Landscapes and 2022 Winter Light.
Designer: Stiina Hovi
Release date: September 11, 2024
Modern Hobbies
5 stamps, FDC, cancel, 1 sheet of 10 (5 x 2)
- Disc golf
- National park hiking
- Hobby horse hobby
- Wall climbing
- Postcrossing.
Designer: Klaus Welp
Release date: September 11, 202
National Landscapes
Second series
5 stamps, FDC, cancel
No sheets available. Issued on rolls.
- Old Porvoo
- Punkaharju
- Aurajokilaakso
- Aavasaksa
- Hailuoto
- Utsjokilaakso
- Vanajavesi valley
Designer: Stiina Hovi
Release date: September 11, 2024
November
Heimo Vesa – Fingerpori
5 stamps in booklet sheets of 10, FDC, cancel
offset
Fingerpori is a popular comic strip in Finland.
Finland’s most popular comic strip Fingerpori gets its own stamps. Designing the stamps was an interesting challenge for Pertti Jarla. “Fingerpores are usually three-picture strips, but now we had to fit both a picture and a verbal joke on one small stamp. It took me a bit of time to get to the right frequency. I probably made about 15 sketches, and we started working on the five final stamps,”
Fingerpori
Designer: Pertti Jarla
This is the first stamp design for the creator and illustrator of the Fingerpori comic strip.
Release date: November 6, 2024
Christmas 2024 – Christmas Miracle & Christmas Trails
2 stamps, 1 FDC, cancel
offset
Artist Mainelakeus took her inspiration for this Christmas set from Finland’s natural surroundings.
Designer: Hanna-Maria Mainelakeus
Release date: November 5, 2024
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