Aarikka

The 1970s

Aarikka weathered the social turmoil of the 1970s without any major conflicts, as the cheerful and colourful style of Aarikka is viewed as a democratic style that suits all youthful consumers.

New shops were established at a rapid pace, opening, for example, in the city of Jyväskylä and at Helsinki's Hakaniemi market hall. The boutiques established in the heart of Helsinki were named Manta, PikkuEspa, and Iso-Espa. Meanwhile, foreign customers were gained at trade fairs from New York to Tokyo. Soon, more than half of the company's production was being exported.

Toys

Aarikka’s wooden toys made a name for themselves both at home and abroad. They followed the spirit of the time in that they were high-quality, enhanced a child’s development, and incorporated innovative ideas. The toys were designed by Jorma Vennola and Pekka Korpijaakko. In 1968, the Pujo toy was named the most educational toy of the year in New York, and in 1970, Aarikka won Denmark’s toy manufacturer of the year award. New toy models were also developed as fruit of design competitions. Aarikka’s shop on Helsinki’s Fredrikinkatu was given the name ‘Lasten Aarikka’, or ‘Children’s Aarikka’. The shop’s product range also included carefully selected foreign toys.

Animal figures

In the 1970s, Kaija was inspired by the animal kingdom, and the range of Aarikka’s wood products grew. The numbered wooden bird sculptures – Tiira, Kukko, and Kurki (a tern, cock, and crane) – were created. Pässi, a wooden ram figure assembled from small wooden balls, was created as a symbol of perseverance and became a popular business gift, one that ends up in the collections of, among others, Empress Michiko of Japan and the members of the band Metallica.

Among the significant Aarikka animal figures is also the mouse designed for a fund-raising campaign of the Cancer Society of Finland. In total, more than a million of these mice were manufactured.

Unique jewellery and studio glass

In addition to designing products for Aarikka, Kaija had time for creating products for other companies, such as patterns for the products of the paper company Euran Paperi and the Tampella fabric company. Many unique pieces were created in a counterbalance to the series production.

In addition to wood, Kaija felt inspired by silver. Alongside Aarikka’s own collections of silver jewellery, she designed a collection of unique, impressively large pieces of silver jewellery, which ended up in Germany. Kaija’s silver jewellery was also exhibited at the Väinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, in the Finnish city of Turku.

Kaija became familiar with glass workshops too. She designed the Heiniä Kainalossa series and unique pieces from mirror glass for the Humppila glass factory. She also made some studio glass pieces at Sweden’s Hyllingen glass factory. The Finnish Glass Museum held a private exhibition of Kaija’s work in 1975.

Home decoration products

Clothes purchased ready-to-wear began to establish their position at the expense of home-made clothes. In this new market situation, a decision was made at Aarikka to cease the manufacture of buttons. The focus was placed on home decoration products, which started experiencing huge demand due to a strong wave of urbanisation and huge influx of people to the cities. Aarikka’s most popular products were now the colourful metal jars, plates, and trays.

The product range also featured diverse natural-colour pine products for table settings, among them massive bowls and special plates for placing under regular plates when setting the table. These were designed partially in response to the company’s priorities also: Aarikka believes in communality and the nearly magical power of parties and being together. Clients, the company’s own personnel, and friends and family were served on these wellappointed tables.