Indian Silver - Åland's most successful trotting horse

Åland's most successful trotting horse so far was Indian Silver. Out of 61 starts, Indian Silver won 24 races.

Indian Silver had his breakthrough in 1997 at the age of four. This was the year he was housed for professional training at Stig H Johansson stables, one of the most reputed jockeys and trainers in Swedish trotting history.
Indian Silver's track record includes wins in Eliterennen in Gelsenkirchen, Copenhagen Cup and Momarken Grand Prix. Out of 61 starts, Indian Silver won 24, was placed second 12 times and third 7 times. He was in the Swedish Elitloppet final twice. In 2009, Indian Silver died from colic.
Founded in 1936, Ålandstravet - Åland Equestrian Association arranges harness racing, dressage, show jumping and Icelandic horse racing. In 2015, six harness racing events will take place at Ålandstravet.

Thank you Ella.

President's image of Åland women 1.5.2015

"Åland women" was President Tarja Halonen's choice of theme when asked to contribute to the My Åland stamp series. This postcard featuring the famous sea-farer Mimmi Widbom was issued on 1.5.2015.

Serafina Wilhelmina "Mimmi" Widbom was an extraordinary woman of her time being, as she was, a professional seafarer. She worked as cook and chief steward on several of Åland shipowner Gustaf Erikson's ships in the early 1900s. Mimmi Widbom rounded Cape Horn eight times and she made her last voyage as active sailor in 1943.
President Tarja Halonen is the third President of Finland to participate in Åland Post stamp series My Åland, which offers celebrities with a connection to Aland an opportunity to illustrate their opinion of the Aland province and personal view of Aland. In 2004, President Mauno Koivisto's stamp was issued, and President Martti Ahtisaari's stamp appeared in 2009. 

Thank you Ella.

Sailing ships Lemland and Leo

On 2 February 2015, Åland Post Stamps launched a six-year stamp series featuring Åland sailing ships. The new series covers the golden age of Åland sailing ship history from the mid-1800s until World War II. The first two stamps feature the schooner Lemland and the barquentine Leo, both characteristic of the mid-1800s. These are shown on the two maxi cards displayed above which were given to me by my dear friend Ella.

This was when Åland peasants first acquired the right to import steel and build their own vessels. The so called peasant sailing started and, from having transported only their own goods, the peasants could now transport even the goods of others.

Launched in Åland in 1856, the form of the hull of the schooner Lemland was simply a development of rustic fishing boats of the time. The schooner was typically used for transporting timber across the Baltic Sea and the North Sea and is believed to be one of the pioneers of North Sea shipping in the 1860s. Lemland wrecked in the North Sea in 1876.

Built in Finland in 1870 for Åland parties, the barquentine Leo had a more international design of both rig and hull. For almost 30 years, the vessel was used to carry wood and iron between ports in Scandinavia and Great Britain/France.  

Åland sheep

These two lovely maxi cards were given to me by my friend Ella.

Following an interesting co-operation between Åland Post and Postage Stamp Printing Bureau of China Post Group it is now time for the issue of the miniature sheet featuring Åland sheep. 

For several years, well-known stamp engraver Martin Mörck has instructed Chinese youth in the time-consuming craft of producing an engraved stamp. Initiated by Åland Post, the final exam for the trainees was the participation in a design competition designated to produce two hand-engraved, steel-printed stamp motifs for a miniature sheet featuring the species Åland sheep.  

Golden Age of Aland Music

The Aland Postal Service has issued three nice cards named "Golden Age of Aland Music" on the 25th of August 2014. These cards featured three of the most popular Aland bands during the 1960s. They were the Anacondas, the Hitch Hikers and the Stockdoves. 

During some groovy years in the middle of the 1960s, dances were arranged in the Åland

community centres on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and, sometimes, even on Sundays.

The bands Anacondas, Hitch Hikers and Stockdoves took pop music of the world to Åland and Finland. 

The 1960s was the decade when pop music took Åland by storm. The range of music in the early 1960s had more or less consisted of music performed on accordion, upright bass and guitar for the traditional dances hambo, schottische and foxtrot. But the winds changed and, inspired by bands such as The Shadows, The Spotnicks and The Violents, the Åland barbed-wire band The Anacondas was formed in 1962.
“We played in community centres up to four times a week,” Karl-Erik “Kille” Williams, clarinet and guitar player in Anacondas, accounts.

The Åland music was even exported, performing on Finnish as well as on Swedish television. Perhaps the Hitch Hikers was the band that ventured most and the band members succeeded in earning their living as band members for a few years. “At least, we made a serious attempt.  If we succeeded is another question,” organ player Håkan Rikberg laughs.
They toured in Turku and Helsinki, making detours to Ostrobothnia. Once, they performed on the same television program as Sonny & Cher. Håkan Rikberg remembers the Hitch Hikers’ tour bus, a rickety minibus, which the police did not like. It had messages and expressions of affections from loyal fans from around the country scribbled all over it. The turnover of band members was considerable. Håkan Rikberg and Kille Williams both appeared in various line-upps with the majority of Åland bands. And they did become well known.  “In an Åland perspective, we were rather popular, I do believe. Where we played, everybody wanted to be,” Kille Williams says.

Thank you Ella.

Powerlifter Kenneth ”Kenta” Sandvik

One of Åland’s largest export items, physically speaking, powerlifter Kenta Sandvik, now adorns an Åland stamp for the first time. Photographer Daniel Eriksson tagged along to the gym, Kenta’s home turf. 

About 20 years ago, Kenneth ”Kenta” Sandvik first slunk into the gym behind a friend who was more comfortable in the gym. Today, he competes in 8 to 10 competitions every year. He has seven world and six European championship medals on his shelf and has a place in the International Powerlifting Federations Hall of Fame. 

“I began to compete to stay motivated. And I aimed at not always ending up last,” Kenta Sandvik says. 

He has now been competing since 2001. At close to 40, he sees no reason to scale down or put down his barbells.

“I still find it stimulating and I enjoy the strong sense of fellowship in our club. The only thing that could make me want to quit is if I hurt myself or lose the incentive.” 

For the sake of the anecdote, we should let you know that Kenta Sandvik works for Åland Post. Therefore, we are likely to have the strongest mail carrier in the world working for us. 

Thank you Ella.

Summer Cat

Buoyant, energetic, sly and pleasure seeking. Ammi Krogius’ animals always have human qualities. On this year’s summer stamp, Ammi has featured a cat with a fishing rod, fishing for dinner. 

"This motif came out of a sensation of sitting on a rock, angling. I was thinking of how much I enjoy the Åland archipelago”, Ammi explains.

Ammi Krogius is a trained ceramist and, together with her husband, she previously ran a pottery for 25 years in Provence. Since 1999, however, she resides in Mariehamn, and the animals that previously took form in clay can now be seen in her paintings.

"I find it difficult to limn people. Instead, I feature animals and give them human qualities,” Ammi explains. She sees her style as somewhat naïve and finds inspiration using her own imagination.“I want my paintings to tell a story, but it must be a positive story, not a sad one. This time, I chose a cat; I like cats. They are bon vivants, sly and wise, indeed, many of their qualities remind very much of us.”

Thank you Ella, for this lovely maxicard from Aland.

Bellflower

It took him several weeks to find the perfect nettle-leaved bellflower to photograph for this year’s SEPAC stamps. 

Photographer Andy Horner spent quite some time in a ditch before he could catch it in ultimate lighting.
Finding the perfect nettle-leaved bellflower was not so easy. This type of bellflower is not very common in Åland and it grows in shady deciduous forests, not exactly the ideal environment to shoot this towering flower without any shadows and against a clean background. Nature photographer Andy Horner was on the lookout for weeks. 

Nettle-leaved bellflower belongs to the family Campanulaceae. In Åland, we find some 15 species. Its square stem and serrated leaves resemble those of the nettle, hence the name. The Latin name Campanula trachelium derives from campa meaning bell and trachelium meaning throat. The herb was formerly used to treat sore throat.
Andy Horner’s search for the right bell continued, from the car, when bicycling and walking.
“And I got lucky! On a warm evening walk in high summer my wife spotted a beautiful specimen”, Andy Horner smiles.
And there it was, in a ditch. In the light of the low evening sun, surrounded by buzzing bees. In the following days, Andy returned to the flower several times to catch the various types of light.

“When I later, in the autumn, passed by its black withered stem, it reminded me of summer. I’m very pleased that this specific flower has been immortalized on an Åland stamp”, Andy Horner says. 

Thank you Dear Ella for this lovely maxicard with the bellflower.

Blue Ribbon campaign and prostate cancer research

This year's charity stamp from Åland Post focuses on the Blue Ribbon campaign and prostate cancer research. This card was issued along with the the charity stamp. You can read all about the stamp and the first day cover on my blog www.letstalkstamps.blogspot.com 
The Blue Ribbon card is designed by Åland graphic designer Håkan Sandberg, who himself was diagnosed with prostate cancer.  

Håkan Sandberg’s stamp features a garden sculpture, which he has created himself. The sculpture represents a bon vivant, who enjoys life on earth. Apart from wanting to emphasize the importance of living in the here and now, another purpose of the stamp is to challenge the taboo surrounding prostate cancer. The Blue Ribbon logo has been visibly placed on the stamp.

Thank you Dear Ella for this nice FDC.

SS Princess Anastasia

Animals celebrating Christmas

My friend Ella sent me these cards issued by Åland post. These 2012 postal stationery cards appeared in time for Christmas. They were designed by artist Alexander Lindén. The funny and different motifs of the cards are well suited for both Christmas cards and winter greetings. The cards depict :-

ROE IN A KNITTED SWEATER. Alexander has designed four animals celebrating Christmas in various ways. The first card shows a roe in a knitted sweater, sitting in a chair reading while enjoying a cup of hot chocolate or, perhaps, mulled wine. A small fox relaxes by the chair, and the scenery is highlighted by the shining moon.
PIKE DRESSED IN CARDIGAN. The motif of another card takes us below the ice where we find a merry pike, dressed in a warm, green cardigan. Further down swims a chubbier type of fish, also dressed in a warm sweater. Someone also let down a Christmas star on a fishing line through a jig hole in the ice.
THREE SQUIRRELS DANCING IN A RING.  The third card shows us three merry squirrels dancing in a ring around a tree decorated with Christmas baubles, tinsel and a star at the top. Dressed in warming cardigans, the squirrels all seem to be happy and enjoying themselves.HARE IN A HOT TUB. Leaving its tracks in the snow, a hare has jumped into the hot tub shown on the fourth and last card. With a box of carrots within reach, it is very content to relax in the hot water. The sea, the archipelago and a Christmas tree on a rock sets the background.
ALL ANIMALS ARE HAPPY. The common feature of the four card designs is that the animals all seem to be merry and enjoying themselves. The cards are therefore perfect to send as a
greeting to your friends and acquaintances regardless of season!  

Museum Ship Pommern

The Pommern, formerly the Mneme (1903–1908), is a windjammer. She is a four-masted barque that was built in 1903 in Glasgow at the J. Reid & Co shipyard.

The Pommern (German for Pomerania) is one of the Flying P-Liners, the famous sailing ships of the German shipping company F. Laeisz. Later she was acquired by Gustaf Erikson of Marriehamn in the Finnish Åland archipelago, and used her to carry grain from the Spencer Gulf area in Australia to harbours in England or Ireland until the start of World War II. After World War Two, she was donated to the town of Mariehamn as a museum ship.

She is now a museum ship belonging to the Åland Maritime Museum and is anchored in western Mariehamn, Åland. A magnificent collection of photographs taken by Ordinary Seaman Peter Karney in 1933 showing dramatic pictures of life on a sailing ship rounding Cape Horn can be found in the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich.

The Pommern has a reputation of being a "lucky ship". She survived both world wars unscathed, has lost only four crew members at sea on her journeys and she has won the Great Grain Races twice, 1930 and 1937. She is one of the most popular landmarks ofÅland and annually visited by thousands of visitors.

Four other Clyde-built tall ships are still afloat. Thank you Kirsimarja for this nice card.

Nostalgic Architecture

These three maxicards and the stamps on them represent a high level nostalgia. The three stamps feature memorable and beloved buildings all to be found in Mariehamn in past times. Former town architect Folke Wickstrom has drawn the motifs.

1. Originally, Societetshuset (a club house generally known as Socis) was a school building that was dismantled and moved to Mariehamn in 1870. From the start, the building served as a hotel, town hall and restaurant. During Socis' more than 100 years of existence it had several periods of golden days and many different owners. Regardless of many protests, the demolition of Socis was carried through in June 1975, the then town architect and current stamp artist Folke Wickstrom being one of the protesters.

2. Miramar was erected in 1890 as a summer house for Nicolai Nystrom, son-in-law of Nicolai Sittkoff, a well-known tradesman in Aland. Commandeered by soldiers during both World Wars, first by the Russians and later by the Finns, Miramar was turned into a soldiers' gambling home. In the 1930s, the house served as a dance palace and meeting place and was later to become a restaurant. Inspections performed by the authorities found inadequate fire security as well as spa and sanitary defects, and the house was demolished in October 1973.

3. The Badhotellet (spa  hotel). Launched as a spa resort at the end of the 1800s, Mariehamn was to become one of the most modern resorts in Europe. At the turn of the 20th century, the establishment was at its largest with facilities for hot baths and swimming, a restaurant with assembly room, a medical centre, a gymnasium, a doctor's house and a spa hotel. The end of the 1914 season also saw the end of the spa era as World War I broke out. The hotel burnt down to the ground in February 1916, probably due to an overheated heater.

This nice set of three maxicards was sent to me by my friend Ella.

Turun Kevat 2012

Or, to put it simply – The Stamp and Card Exhibition, held in Turku, Finland on the 10th and 11th of March, 2012. The flag shown on the card is that of Åland,

and so are these beautiful stamps. This card was sent to me by my friend Pia.

Passenger Ferries

In June 2009, Àland Post started a new series of stamps on the theme of passenger ferries, which operate or have operated to and from Àland since the start of passenger ferry service in 1959. The two stamps depict the first ferry and the newest one. One of the ships featured in this post is the SS Viking; the other was still under construction and was thus called Newbuilding 2009. On 1 June 1959, the first proper passenger ferry, the SS Viking, sailed on its maiden voyage from Galtby in the Finnish archipelago of Turku, via Mariehamn to Gràddò in Roslagen. The shipping company Rederi Ab Vikinglinjen, founded by the Alanders Gunnar Eklund and Henning Rundberg, owned the ship. The Viking was built as the SS Dinard in 1924 for Southern Railways Company.

Viking Line is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruise ferries between Finland, the Åland Islands, Sweden and Estonia. Viking Line shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Viking Line is operated from the Åland Islands. Viking Line's history can be traced back to 1959, when a group of sea- and businessmen from the Åland Islands province in Finland formed Rederi Ab Vikinglinjen, purchased a steam-powered car-ferry SS Dinard from the UK, renamed her SS Viking and began service on the route Korpo (Finland) — Mariehamn (Åland) — Gräddö (Sweden). In the same year the Gotland-based Rederi AB Slite began a service between Simpnäs (Sweden) and Mariehamn. My dear friend Merja sent me these maxi cards.

Aland World Championships Of Optimist Dinghies

The Optimist is a small, single-handed sailing dinghy intended for use by children up to the age of 15. Nowadays boats are usually made of fiber reinforced plastic, although wooden boats are still built. It is one of the most popular sailing dinghies in the world, with over 130,000 boats officially registered with the class and many more built but never registered. The Optimist is recognized as an International Class by the International Sailing Federation. This maxi card given to me by my dear friend Merja and the 3.40 stamp on it were issued on 9.6.1995 to commemorate the World Championships Of Optimist Dinghies held in Aland.

Vintage cars in Åland

The stamps on the maximum cards given to me by my dear friend Merja were issued on 04 March 2005. The cars represent four different decades: the 1920’s, 1930’s, 1950’s and 1960’s. First out on the road was an Oakland Sport Convertible from 1928. The following car model is a shining black Ford V8 from 1939. The second youngest of the cars is a Buick Super 4D HT, a classic red-and-white American car. The beige Volkswagen 1200 from 1964 is the youngest of the featured vintage cars. This car is still a very popular model all over the world. All four cars are registered in Aland.
The car stamps are inserted in a booklet with a brief informative text about each car. The booklet cover shows a detail of the right rear wing of the Volkswagen. The denomination of the stamps is 1st class each.

Åland – Volunteer Fire Brigade

The Åland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland. The islands collectively constitute the smallest region of Finland, with only 0.49% of its land area, and 0.50% of its population. Because of the autonomous status of the Åland Islands, the powers exercised at the provincial level by representatives of the central state administration in the rest of Finland are largely exercised by the Government of Åland in Åland.
The Volunteer Fire Brigade of Mariehamn (Åland) was founded in 1887. The province has 20 fire brigades, which comprise about 300 active firemen, 120 women and 150 juniors. These fire brigades possess 50 fire trucks, 40 pumps and about 20 km hose-pipes. This postcard celebrates the 100^th Anniversary of this organisation, which was on 27.4.1987.