I’m not gay, so perhaps I’m not the best one to comment, but judging by the stamps the artwork is a bit kitschy, isn’t it?
Maybe when I look at these I should do a mental transformation and pretend they’re Betty Page; my guess is that they are roughly analogous.
Huh - well that’s certainly something different. There are whole genres that stamp collectors enjoy, such as space exploration. That’s how you get some middle of nowhere island to sell stamps to collectors, by slapping an astronaut on them. So I guess this is the same thing?
"Worth a trip to Finland after September 2014 just to buy a few and send postcards to conservative US lawmakers or, say, the Pope. "
Ugh - really? What’s with all the juvenile punditry lately?
-“Hi, I’d like to buy a book of stamps, please.”
- “No problem. We have several styles to choose from. Would you like European songbirds, spring flowers or the naked dude with a riding crop?”
The back of that guy’s enormous scrotum looks just like his face…how weird is that?
So far that is my favorite understatement of the day.
Somebody in Finland, PLEASE use these to send Christmas cards to Westboro Baptist Church.
Humans are really good at pattern recognition.
The new ToF stamps are not ment particularly for collectors, they are for public use and available everywhere in Finland like any other stamps. Our postal service totally surprised me!
The stamps will be available online later:
https://verkkokauppa.posti.fi/PublishedService?file=page&pageID=9&itemcode=060914
I’m really curious to hear the reactions in Russia when the ToF stamps cross the border 
Putin will be like “Hey, I did that back in the KGB… So many good memories.”
He kind of started it, or at least pushed the style into new places. In the late '50s I don’t think “kitschy” would have been applied to his work. MOMA has some of his stuff in their permanent collection, which is at least one measure of his influence.
And Moomins!
You can gaze upon Tom’s art here Flash may be required.
When did kitsch(y) enter the English language?
It matches the technical definition that I was taught in high school rather well: naturalistic idealism. And we even used a (German-language) textbook from that time.
No idea. After a quick trip to the OED, seems like it would fit. I was taking it as more along the lines of overdone, cliche, relying on a low artistic sensibility for appreciation (unless appreciated ironically.) Like Thomas Kinkade or dime store paintings of the Virgin Mary.
Well, that’s definitely a type of success. You know you’ve arrived when you’re followed by a derivative legion. (Happens in the pop music domain all the time, and I have to remind myself that it’s not a band’s fault that they’ve spawned so many flattering imitators!)
The online etymological dictionary says 1926. kitsch
Could we avoid having NSFW stuff on the front page?
I mean, it’s an amusing/interesting story and all, but I was scrolling through at work and glad/lucky nobody was standing behind me at the time.
Do you not work in Finland?
Maybe don’t read non-work-related websites at work, then.
