Social humor in Finland has long been an integral part of everyday life. It was also important to maintain necessary morale during war and difficult times. Erkki Tanttu was one of Finland’s most popular graphic artists and illustrators. He was born in Viipuri in 1907. He died in 1985. Tanttu was proficient in a variety of media including woodcuts and ink on paper. His woodcuts are considered among the finest produced by any Finnish artist. A prolific illustrator of novels and works of cultural history, Tanttu is best known for his portrayals of the sayings of ordinary Finnish people, rustic characters in particular - clergymen, farmers and their wives, fishermen, grave diggers, old maids, courting couples, wealthy landowners - people that everyone knew in the hamlets and farmsteads of rural Finland. He said: "Each sentence is its own independent world, allowing great scope for interpretation and virtually unlimited potential to adapt to situations and people. In illustrating sayings one does not feel tied to anything and so the work offers great freedom for personal expression."

FAVM is grateful to his family for graciously granting permission to reproduce these works. The drawings were originally published in 1953 in ME PAPIT NAUROIMME NIIN. Heikki Perttu of Fairport Harbor, Ohio provided the English translations. FAVM hopes that visitors enjoy the selection of Erkki Tanttu's drawings as well as the good old country wisdom from a time when most Finns still lived on the land.