History
Making Dresses for “Miss Europe”
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By N. Uschanoff, Tammerfors, Finland (1934)
It has often been said that clothes "make the man" and probably it would be fully as accurate to say that clothes also "make the woman". An event that offered an interesting sidelight on this subject, and about which Europe long speculated, was the All-European beauty contest held in Hastings, England in 1934. Entrants were there from all over the continent and represented practically every known type of feminine beauty.
The event turned out to be rather extraordinary for two reasons. In the first place, the judges had a hard time deciding on the winner, and they kept the ladies on the judging platform for almost two whole days. The second unusual circumstance was the absence of swimsuits. Ordinarily, beauty contest entrants appeared in swimsuits, but in this case, only regular dresses, evening gowns, and national costumes were worn.
Many ladies might have been dismayed at the thought of having to compete with contestants wearing extremely costly clothes, but not Miss Esther Toivonen, representing Finland. Inspection of the accompanying picture will enable you to agree that she had ample reasons for being confident. In this picture, she was wearing a travel dress that she actually wore on her trip to England. It was a product of the Tricotage Mill, O/Y Suomen Trikootedhad A/B, Tammerfors, Finland.
Miss Esther Toivonen, Tammerfors, Finland, was chosen as “Miss Europe” at the contest held in Hastings, England in 1934. She had been elected “Miss Finland” in 1933. She was 19 and working in a bread shop in Helsinki when she was discovered by the director of the Helsinki Golf-Casino, where the Finnish pageant was to be held. Later she became a film star. Ester passed away on December 29, 1979.
Oy Suomen Trikootehdas A/B was founded in Pyynikki, Tampere, in 1903. Finnish From the very beginning, Trikoo advertised strongly because consumers were still unfamiliar with factory-made knitted products In the early 1900s. Initially, in addition to jersey clothing, the factory produced blankets, shoulder scarves, sweaters, and galoshe linings. By the 1920s, the quality of products improved and the practical leotard was supplanted gradually by cotton fabric underwear. The factory flourished and expanded by acquiring its competitors.
After years of shortages in the early 1930s, the factory was experiencing a boom. Women's home, office, and travel suits, as well as sweaters and a lot of jumpers, were produced. Also gaining popularity were ski suits, a wide variety of gymnastics and tracksuits, underwear as well as swimwear. Finnish athletes wore Finnish Trikoo costumes in international competitions.
During the war years, the factory was plagued by both labor and raw material shortages but still supplied the army with sweaters, socks, and gloves. After the wars, the factory became part of a sock factory that was built in Tampere. The company also began to invest in exports and participated in international fairs. New forms of advertising were still being sought. In the 1960s, Suomen Trikoo introduced new brands.
Tights became one of Finland’s most successful products. The Finnwear brand was born in the 1960s as an export brand. Later, under it marketed all the factory jersey products. In the 1970s-80s, exports to Sweden and the USSR were strong.
By the 1990s, the product range of Suomen Trikoo had remained broadly the same. The Group was divided into several different product groups, which were Sock Group, Black Horse, Finnwear, and Tricol Oy. Suomen Trikoo was decommissioned in 1996. Activities in the Pyynikin factories ended in 2002 and the diminished business was transferred to Nanso's ownership in 2005.
