LOS ANGELES—Stamps say a lot about a nation. For example, as one way that a simple postal stamp can define the difference between cultures, try to imagine the United States government approving a Tom of Finland stamp, like Finland just did!
Impossible, right?
But in Finland, where both the populace and government are clearly unintimidated by the specter of a man's improbably ripped abs and impossibly tight butt, a line of Tom of Finland stamps is just what the doctor ordered.
According to the European news service, Pink News, "Itella, the Finnish postal service has announced that it is to launch the line of stamps featuring the art of Tom of Finland, who inspired the look of Freddie Mercury and the Village People. The artist, whose real name is Touko Laaksonen, remains an influential figure in the gay art scene."
To say the least. As AVN reported last year, a retrospective on the work of both Tom of Finland and his contemporary, Bob Mizer, was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles through January of this year. No one that we know, however, has recommended either influential artist for a stamp.
In Finland, on the other hand, Tom of Finland's achievements are actually lauded by the postal service, which wrote in a statement, “His emphatically masculine homoerotic drawings have attained iconic status in their genre and had an influence on, for instance, pop culture and fashion. In his works, Tom of Finland utilized the self-irony and humor typical of subcultures. … The drawings on the stamp sheet represent strong and confident male figures typical of their designer.”
A movie about Tom of Finland is also in the works, by noted Finnish director Dome Karukoski, no less.
Actually, the U.S. Postal Service has just approved a Harvey Milk commemorative stamp, though Milk is not depicted in chaps on it.
The Finnish Tom of Finland stamps will be issued this fall.
