I’m sure many of you have a pair of these scissors in your possession.
Perhaps you don’t know where they come from. They were originally made in a place called Fiskars, about one hour west of Helsinki in Finland.
Fiskars Bruk was founded as an iron works in 1649 and gave rise to the company Fiskars. In 1822 John von Julin bought the iron works and began the production facility and Finland’s first workshop in 1836. They produced utility items from scissors and knives to ploughs.
In the 1980s Fiskars began to move operations to make use of more modern facilities. Now the old factory site is a centre for Finnish art and design. 600 people live in the area and it is popular with artists, artisans and designers.
It is also popular with visitors, including us. Some Finnish friends, Helena and Lasse Kinnunen from Brisbane, have a summer studio in Fiskars. On the way home from Italy we stopped in Helsinki and drove across to Fiskars to visit them and see the beautiful village.
Their studio is set in a pretty forest. It is a perfect show room for their beautiful crafted furniture.
Helena and Lasse very kindly showed us around the village. The buildings in the village are scattered around the river which was an important transport route. The 3 rapids in the river provided power for the blast furnace, machinery workshop and electric power station. Come for a walk around lovely Fiskars.
Most of the buildings are used as studios for the artists, or shops to sell the lovely things they produce. There are also restaurants, cafes and hotels for those who would like to stay a while.
I particularly liked the blacksmith, where we found lots of things to buy for Casa Debbio. I will have to return with an empty suitacase.
I have been collecting these cute cups for a few years now and I was surprised and delighted to meet the designer, Riita Talonpoika, in a Fiskars shop. She also has a nearby studio which I would love to see.
In the Onoma shop we found lots of wonderful things.
As well as beautiful furniture Lasse makes these lovely necklaces for sale in the shop.
At the other end of the building is the Fiskars shop where there is an amazing range of Fiskars products as well as a display of the history of Fiskars.
Here I found the story of the orange scissors, and why they are orange.
In the year 1967 the first model was to be made. The designer wanted the scissors to be black or green. As the prototype went into production the machinist decided to use up the orange colour already in the machine. The result was that the prototypes were made in 4 colours, of which orange and black were the favourites.
A final decision was made after an in-house vote, and the orange Fiskars scissors were born. The colour, Fiskars Orange, was registered as an official trademark in Finland in 2004 and the U.S. in 2007. Orange scissors are found all over the world. We Fiskars product often in our travels.
Best of all there is a gallery chock full of interesting things.
Thank you Helena and Lasse for a lovely day in heavenly Fiskars…we will be back.
