Flea Markets and Finnish design

Yesterday I managed to translate one of those cute fliers on notice boards for a local flea market. At least I hoped it was a flea market, it looked like the words for spring flea only with different verb endings, but for my level Finnish it was pretty spot on. It was such an event (both the flea market and my Finnish translation) that I put it in my Palm to remind me to go, so scared I was off missing it.

I love rummaging around other people's belongings. Guessing where people had been on holiday (Cyprus, Holland no Gran Canaries surprisingly!) by the tacky souvenirs hastily purchased with leftover local currency at the airport in pre-Euro days. I love seeing how long people keep wedding presents before deciding they can get rid of them. And I like discovering what clothes the average Finn would deem not suitable to wear, seeing they are a practical rather than fashionable lot of dressers.

Lots of lovely old ladies smiled at me. I think I was the first person to buy anything. A vase, and an Iittala candle holder. This made me feel really local, owning by first bit of Finnish designer glassware, snatched up for a bargain couple of Euros.

Ironically, the designer who started Iittala, Kaj Franck, designed against the concept of "throwawayism" (his words). He believed in carefully designed, well thought out adaptable pieces. He also believed that people should "blow up their tablewear" a quote he made during his "smash up your (dinner) services" campaign.

Personally, I'm quite glad not everyone did, so that I now posess my own bit of Finnish design.