Moomin Arabia is now launching a limited-edition collector’s mug called Journey. The mug celebrates Finnish Airline Finnair’s 100th anniversary and will be gifted to all members of the Finnair staff and a limited stock of the mug will be available for purchase starting October 9.
The adventuresome anniversary mug shows an enchanting scene of young Moominpappa and his entourage’s journey to the King’s birthday party. The mug is a special edition with limited availability, and consumer sales will start on 9th October. Finnair gifts the mug to all members of their staff during the fall.
The illustration on the Journey mug is based on Tove Jansson’s story, The Exploits of Moominpappa, originally published in Swedish in 1950. In Tove Jansson’s fourth Moomin novel, Moominpappa narrates his memories of the courageous adventures he had as a young Moomin with his entourage Hodgkins, the Muddler and the Joxter. They travel with the Oshun Oxtra boat, which, in the story, Hodgkins also fixes to fly. When exploring the world, they encounter all kinds of new and unknown things, such as The Groke, Nibblings and Edward the Booble.
The themes of the story coincide with Finnair’s anniversary.
“For a hundred years already, Finnair has been helping their customers to explore the world and get to know new people, places and cultures. At its best, these encounters are experiences you will remember for the rest of your life,” says Finnair’s CEO Topi Manner. Finnair will delight their staff by gifting everyone the mug that celebrates Finnair’s special theme year.
“The Journey mug definitely belongs to our staff. Without their strong expertise, contribution and dedication, we would not have overcome the difficulties of past years or grown into the airline that we are today, connecting Europe, Asia and North America,” Manner says.
The enchanting mug illustration is the first by the new design team at Moomin Arabia
Finnair’s anniversary mug is the first Moomin mug released so far by Moomin Arabia’s newly announced in-house design team and illustrator Parvati Pillai, who has taken over after the designer Tove Slotte, who retired last year.
The design team has wonderfully captured the exciting adventure atmosphere in the dark-toned illustration, which makes the mug very special. Moominpappa and his entourage balancing on a rotten tree trunk bridge, are on their way to the King’s 100th birthday celebration. To get there, they need to pass through a mysterious garden full of surprises. The travellers are drawn in silhouette against a mountain landscape and a brilliant full moon.
On the inner side, the mug features a lovely hot air balloon illustration that is adapted from one of Tove Jansson’s cover illustrations used for some of the editions of The Exploits of Moominpappa. On the bottom, there’s the familiar Moomin Arabia bottom stamp.
The mug design is from Kaj Franck’s classic Teema series with a volume of 0.3 litres. The mug will be sold packed in a beautiful gift box repeating the illustration.
Available for a limited time
The Journey Moomin mug is a limited-edition collector’s item available only as long as stock lasts. The mug will not be on sale in the global Moomin Shop online, but it will be available in both Moomin Shops at Helsinki Airport: one in the Arrivals Hall (accessible without a flight) and one in the Schengen square (only accessible when taking off or landing on a Schengen flight), as well as the Moomin Shop in Gardermoen Oslo Airport.
In addition, the mug will come out for sale in the Stockmann department store in Helsinki, moominarabia.com and the Iittala store at Helsinki Airport, as well as the following stores in the Nordics: Iittala & Co. Borås, Kitchen Oslo Torggata and Illums Bolighus Copenhagen Airport store. In Japan, the mug will be available at selected retailers and Iittala stores.
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