A couple of years ago, 9-year-old Lukas Teräväinen became interested in collecting stamps. The hobby runs in the family, as his grandfather and father have also been enthusiastic stamp collectors.
“I already have 11 collection binders. I like to collect different countries and subjects,” Lukas says.
Lukas’s collection started with stamps that he got from his father. Lukas’s father, Tomi Teräväinen, says that his father, Lukas’s grandfather has also always brought stamps home from his business trips abroad.
Tomi estimates that there are already thousands of stamps in the collection. Lukas was able to add to his collection more quickly than anticipated thanks to an appearance in the feel-good segment of the MTV Uutiset news broadcast with Mika Tommola.
Lukas’s hobby ended up as a story for the feel-good segment because Tommola had been looking for a young hobbyist through a stamp store on Annankatu in Helsinki. Lukas’s grandfather visited the store to buy stamp collecting binders for his grandson, which prompted the storekeeper to ask whether Lukas would be interested in appearing on TV.
“Since the TV appearance, three anonymous collectors have donated their collections to Lukas. They sent the collections to MTV’s newsroom, and Tommola forwarded the stamps to us,” Tomi says.
A ticket for letters and postcards
Lukas and his family have come to visit Posti and hear from Design Manager Tommi Kantola about stamps and their history.
“A stamp is like a ticket for a letter or postcard’s journey. Today, there are not that many young stamp collectors. It’s great that you are carrying on the hobby,” Tommi says.
Lukas replies that he does not know any other stamp collectors his age.
Tommi says that stamp collecting can be done in many different ways.
“Some people collect stamps featuring sports, trains or butterflies, for example. Some focus on collecting stamps from a particular country.”
Tommi presents numerous stamps from the past few years. These include the Fazer Blue stamp and the Dudesons stamps.
“Stamps reflect the phenomena of their time, and the Dudesons were a phenomenon when those stamps were issued. Two versions of the stamps were printed. In the smaller batch, the stamps contained five errors. These prank stamps are now collectibles.”
Posti also donates a valuable collection to Lukas. Tommi gifts Lukas the stamp binders for his year of birth, this year’s stamps and a bundle of foreign stamps. In addition, Lukas is given tools needed for his hobby, such as a magnifying glass, a pair of tweezers and a stamp drying book.
Lukas says that he has no special favorite subjects when it comes to existing stamps. However, he has a few suggestions for new stamps.
“Floorball, cars and graffiti would be nice subjects for future stamps.”
Collecting stamps is a hobby for the whole family. In the picture, in addition to Lukas, mother Kadri, father Tomi and little brother Hannes.