Moomin History

So, the final round up, and a few quirky gems. The first is this gorgeous postmark. Of the many wonders to be found in Muumimaailma, the fact that it has its own post office is not the least. It’s located in the book shop and of course, a wide range of Moomin stamps and postcards are available – and posting a card or letter from there is the only way you’ll get this lovely postcard, and presumably a guarantee that Moomin himself will hand-deliver your mail.

The last two images are curios from the past. The Moomins were not the first creations from the Jansson stable to grace Finland’s postage stamps. Tove’s mother, Signe Hammarsten Jansson was an acclaimed artist and illustrator in her own right and between 1929 and 1962, designed over 200 different stamps. Signe – or ‘Ham’, as she was known – was a huge influence on her daughter, and the young Tove would spend hours at her mother’s side, copying her drawings. It’s here that she gained her fascination with cross-hatching, an often-used anti-forgery device, and something that was repeatedly used in the Moomin illustrations.

Ham also drew the cover illustration for another book… but that’s a post for another time.

On learning this, I dug out my old stamp collection, untouched for around three decades and – lo and behold – there were two of her stamps. As collectibles, their value is probably low, but to a Moomin archivist, they’re quite the find.