SaunaScape

One of Finland's new Sauna Stamps

For those of you who are enthusiastic about both saunas and philately, Finnland Post has just issued the stamp set for you. Rather than rewrite it, we’ll let their press release do the talking.

“When I chose the pictures for the Sauna booklet, I aimed for Finnishness and the authentic sauna atmosphere,” says the designer of the booklet, Päivi Vainionpää. “The first stamp shows a moment before a sauna. The sun is going down, there’s a fresh birch whisk in the bucket on the jetty, and soft towels await the bathers,” as she describes the scene. The second stamp shows the bathers actually in the sauna, and the third stamp depicts an idyllic shoreline sauna in its natural setting. The fourth and fifth stamps show sauna atmosphere inside and out: a sauna whisk bathes in the sunlight on a log wall, and inside the sauna the sunshine lights up the bathing place through a window.

The Sauna stamps include microscopic scent capsules. When the stamps are rubbed, the capsules burst and spread a pleasing aroma of birch leaves.

Checking their website, the stamps were supposed to have been released on May 6. As of today, we can’t find a link to buy these on their online stamp shop. It looks like the booklet will cost € 4.00 (approx. US$ 5.35)

[Finland Posti] via newstamps.blogspot.com

Nokia Löyly showing the conditions the new Nokia 5800 Sauna Edition is enduring from AllAboutSybian.com

For those of us addicted both to our sauna and our smartphone, Nokia today announced the release of their 5800 Sauna Edition today. AllAboutSybian.com broke the story earlier today. They interviewed Dr. Huhtikuun Ensimmäinen of Nokia’s Consumer Innovations Unit who said:

So, here we have the 5800 Sauna Edition, heat resistant up to 120 degrees celsius and able to work without problems in a typical sauna humidity. We have included a thermometer/hygrometer application so you can follow the progress of your sauna, but the real innovation here is our work on the casing. The Sauna Edition’s casing is coated with a special organically-derived plastic which allows radio signals to move unimpeded but blocks 99.99% of all humidity from entering.

Dr. Ensimmäinen expects the device to be popular in the Nordic regions, central Europe, and Russia. They believe a niche product like this would have a market to sauna enthusiasts worldwide, including us in North America.

AllAboutSybian.com found that the specialized thermo-hygrometer application bundled with the phone, Nokia Löyly reported accurate temperatures, and since most saunas are dimly lit, “a backlit phone-based meter app clearly offer a potential advantage over traditional sauna meters.” They also report that “there are tentative proposals to make a Bluetooth-compatible sauna stove which will adjust its temperature automatically according to your personalised settings on the 5800 SE”

They recorded their full interview with Dr. Ensimmäinen, including a [NSFW] demo of the phone being used in a sauna by young women. It is available here. Enjoy.

Mihael Cankar, a Finn living in Helsinki, has been maintaining his Finnish Sauna site since 1994. He has achieved his mission of bringing information about sauna culture to the internet.

He covers all of the important topics for the potential sauna-goer: How to Use the Sauna, Health Issues, building and maintaining Your Own Sauna, and the History and Traditions of the sauna. He rounds out his own content with judicious links to content by others, including Dr. Weil and a first-time sauna goer.

Pay his site a visit, and you’ll never wonder what Avantouinti means again.

[cankar.org/sauna]