Finnish Fridays: Fun with stencils!

Our two-week trip to NJ culminated with a late flight from Newark to San Antonio, which got us in well after midnight. When I arranged for the tickets, I was a wee bit trepidatious—my kids do not sleep in cars or on planes or on anything that doesn't resemble a comfortable bed in an air-conditioned room fortified with blackout shades and a full complement of stuffies. Would they be able to keep their shit together on a plane at that hour? Never liking to leave anything to chance, I packed their rolling carry-ons with more entertainment and food than most humans would require for an Atlantic crossing. Pointlessly, as it turned out, because we were lucky enough to end up on a plane equipped with individual Direct TV screens in coach. We swiped our debit cards and the overstuffed carry-ons remained untouched at the kids' feet till landing.

Back in January 1976, when I flew from Helsinki to NYC (with stops in Copenhagen and Amsterdam), the DC-10 did not have Direct TV. I've already written about some of the contents of my meager carry-on, but neglected to mention this cute farm-animal stencil kit that my parents bought for me at some Helsinki book shop. My favorite thing about it is the "As seen on TV!" in the corner. At least that's what I think it says; you know my Finnish isn't too good. Anyway, just trying to imagine what a Finnish TV commercial for stencils would've been like is a pleasant way to pass five minutes.