Wings To Finland, 1950s

[Music] it was holiday time for me and I was in New York and as I strolled not far from my hotel I was quite naturally attracted by the windows of Finland house and went in naturally because these things of Finland are very dear to my heart you see I'm a Finn by birth and these laughs the glass where the Arabiya dishes all retired up with memories of my happy childhood in Finland not a y RV glass I remember having broken just such a tray is this in a fit of temper almost broke my mother's heart and my father's hand [Music] and then visit Finland a travel poster said the country of sixty thousand lakes said another I was born in Helsinki Finland overnight by air why not I was on a holiday [Music] what a delightful way to have a dream take wing and what a pleasant place to say I'm hungry as a stewardess serving as dinner this food is excellent I say our meals are served by maxima parecer says the steward there was a lot of pride in his voice as indeed there should have been it was really delicious and later I have a nightcap in the lounge downstairs imagine 20,000 feet over the sea and when I was ready to turn in there was a big soft bed already prepared here I'm out over the Atlantic and missing none of the comforts of home actually the comforts of two homes one in New York the other in Helsinki I was going to bed not too far from one and would wake up not too far from the other [Music] incredible things yesterday New York this morning far out over the Atlantic some of my fellow passengers were having breakfast in bed and in just a few hours more Helsinki I was very young when I left Finland to become a citizen of the United States but now something very warm and wonderful happened to me though I knew no one here I felt that this too would be my home that I would be in a land and among people that I loved this is the city of my birth much here I might remember yet a great deal would be new there's the Helsinki stadium site of a 1952 Olympic Games that surely was new and in a sense a symbol of an old vitality and a new international outlet mera Haines Street and here's my hotel which I left almost immediately to get back on the streets again and among the people there's the railroad station designed by soren and was it there when was I remembering what I had actually seen or seen only in pictures I've seen so many pictures so often like the post office they're around the corner on the left or the National Theatre across the square and Parliament building that I know I remembered but I've gone there once with my school teacher I even read all the name signs maybe some would strike a familiar chord it was like looking for old friends in the passing crowd and almost finding them the great church this was more than a remembered building for here I had come with my family and learned that our religion was not mere jumbled words in a church but a way of life there were statues everywhere the made of Helsinki the waiter the shipwreck symbolizing Finland's appeal for help some fifty years ago mother and child no wonder the statutes are called the beautiful ladies of Helsinki and people going about their lives like people everywhere but that this was Helsinki even their new apartment houses seemed to me to have a special character that reflected the qualities of the people they had strength simplicity beauty and I am told there are none finer in all the world [Music] next day my wanderings let me again to the great church and from there onto the marketplace here as in almost every land on earth you'll find a cross-section of the lives of the people [Music] I thought being both finished an American that I knew something about seafood and fish till I went back to Finland timeout for refreshment [Music] but it was the flower market that really surprised and delighted me when you consider that only nine percent of all the land is cultivated you know that here are people who love beauty and color and let nothing prevent them from getting their full share of both you will take a boat across Helsinki Harbor and you were go to the Valhalla restaurant that is what I had been told at Finland house when I had asked for the good places to dine Helsinki imagine taking a boat to go to dinner it was much more exciting than taking a taxi [Music] in my case of course adventure was gastronomic rather than nautical and the fact that the Valhalla restaurant had been converted from an old fort made it a sufficiently exciting objective here in what had once been a military gallery visitors sit down to a full course dinner Alysha Slee prepared exquisitely served and tell dramatic stories about secret passageways and hidden treasure after dinner back on the mainland we watch the dancing on the green young men of women of the community in native costume dancing the traditional folk dances of Finland [Music] all over Finland in summer camps like this one they start early to learn the basic steps of folk dancing [Music] the following day I flew to Kofi oh the hub of east central Finland where I stopped at this lovely old in here some of the women in our party had their first experience with the sauna these Lords feed the fires of the sama the steam bars that are a national institution through our Finland moistened birch leaves are used to stimulate blood circulation part of a ritual that not only cleanses the body but also purifies the spirit after the sauna a cold water dip preferably in a beautiful lake like this closes the pore is opened by the heat from Kuopio I took a boat to Sivan Lena through the cyma Chain of Lakes the main artery of Eastern Finland much of the country's early history centred here where control of the waterways meant control of the land this is the timber area I was stirred by the magnitude of a logging and lumber operations the gifts of nature in any land are the raw materials with which that nation builds its own way of life and out of the things it makes a woven the fabric of its contacts with other nations all over the world but most important is the character which these things build in its people [Music] not far away I visited all of the lena castle built in 1475 as a fortification against the east the Gateway to Lakes it was once the scene of many turbulent battles from there we sail along punka high orange winding for more than four miles that seven kilometres to the Finns through the loveliest of the lake country [Music] [Music] remember that notary RV glassware we saw Finland house well here's the plant where it was made [Music] my next craft visit was to the Internet era via in Helsinki for some 3000 years men have turned the potter's wheel here ceramics has been raised to the level of high art [Music] the factory is especially proud of its hand painting Department in which some of the dishes are made primarily for export to the United States [Music] I was told that the art department founded in 1932 employs the talents of some ten independent creative artists [Laughter] [Music] [Music] younger artists make small figurines by hand [Music] and from here they travel all over the world to museums gift shops homes taking beauty and color and gaiety along with them [Music] tourists traveling about Finland knows that wherever he goes he will see a bit of his own country for over all the hotels as here at Hotel Elanco fly the flags of the nations from which their guests have come [Music] nearby is the town of hämeenlinna where Sibelius was born and went to school [Music] here's humming lena castle dating from the 13th century my next stop was Tom Farah which lies between two lakes the rapids that connect the lakes are an excellent source of water power and the area boasts 200 factories which make it one of the most important industrial centers in the nation and not one plant or mill is unattractive from Tom Farah I were on to Turku making a stop at the summer home of Finland president Turku is Finland's oldest town it was founded in the 13th century and at one time was the capital of the nation an important important export harbour it buzzes with shipping and shipbuilding activity [Music] back in town I visited turku cathedral built in 1229 how different this 700 year old structure is I thought from well the one a tri amake in South Finland a fine example of the new trend in church architecture [Music] only a single block of wooden building survived Torkos Great Fire of 1819 it's now a handicraft museum there in the early evening I ran into some people who asked me to dinner we dined on the crayfish these young people caught at the table on the open terrace we talked about what I'd seen and what I hadn't seen and I've been to Lapland no but I've been pretty close well said my host as others had before him don't miss that province so not many days later I was in Lapland where I stopped briefly at they poor you navi hotel and Rabia near me the capital have you ever been served coffee and Danish pastry in a office I have ever send having a wonderful time postcard stamp Arctic Circle I did yes I did both right here at a post office inaugurated by Eleanor Roosevelt in July 1950 I wasn't the only one who wanted to see the land of the Midnight Sun the treeless felled the reindeer visitors from all over Finland and from all over the world came by foot and by bus [Music] for a native son of Finland I knew very little about finnish lapland I thought everyone lived in tents and did nothing but tend reindeer I thought I was long the nomadic Laplanders move across Finland Sweden and Norway without much regard for citizenship and the countries don't bother them one thing about reindeer they can't be pushed around like cattle ask a Laplander when he's going to get some work done with these animals and he'll tell you when the reindeer are ready this woman is wearing an old-fashioned costume whose skirt bands represent the colours of the aurora borealis [Music] these are hearty people and out of their limited materials they have built a way of life suited to their needs never ask a laplander how many reindeer he owns it's like asking your suburban neighbor has in the bank but he is an easy host with whatever he has and sometimes his possessions will surprise you [Music] it was June 23rd a time for the Midsummer Festival I flew south again to watch the festivities across the land bonfires are lit and kept burning throughout the night as they were in pagan days to ward off evil spirits or send greetings everyone young and old joins in the dance it's festival time - on the timberlands here skill and strength compete with injury even death [Music] there's no more hazardous sport than this in all the world many are hurt some are killed but the competition goes on year after year [Music] the visitors too may have an exciting ride for them these boats are far safer than logs but there's plenty of thrill in the nine miles of Rapids in swarm Asami [Music] my sports mold was climaxed a few nights later when just before I left for home I went to a track meet at the Helsinki stadium scene of the 1952 Olympic Games it was evening when I came to the stadium yet it was still daylight and I was part of a huge crowd that filled the stands to capacity as I watch the runners racing around the track I thought of the greatest Runner of them all Paavo Nurmi who carried the glory of Finnish athletes across the world for me this was no mere sports action it was a symbol of a nation devoted to its youth enjoying the delights and rewards of courage and sportsmanship even a crowd had a special thrill for me from every part of Finland these people had come come to cheer their heroes come to glory in the quality that had made them a proud nation and from every part of the world had come thousands of visitors attracted by the beauties and traditions of the land and of the people this was a thrilling climax for a wonderful trip and for myself and for the thousands of others like me I felt a deep gratitude for the miracle of air travel that had made this trip possible [Music]