2011
Vintage cars
Date of Issue 28.09.2011
Date of Issue 28.09.2011
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Vintage cars
Each vintage car featured on our stamps has its own unique story. The black lorry was the first vehicle to arrive in the Faroe Islands in 1922. The red bus that operated between Vestmanna, Kvívík and Kollafjørður was converted from a tanker and the home-made ‘De Luxe Model’ on the third stamp was the first car on the island to have a cassette player and loudspeakers.
The first car on the Faroe Islands
The first car arrived on the island on 6 May 1922 when Johannes Olsen and Júst Sivertsen from Tórshavn bought a Ford TT truck from Wenzel Petersen and Vilhelm Nielsen, who had a forge in Quillingsgård in Tórshavn.
The car was ferried to the Faroe Islands on the DFDS vessel S/S Island. As the ship was unable to dock, the car was hoisted onto a yacht, which unloaded the cargo at Kongebro marina in Tórshavn.
The car caused a sensation when it arrived in Tórshavn because the islanders had never seen a car before. The Faroe Islands had horse-drawn carriages at the time, although not many. Arthur Brend, however, was the first to own a ‘motorised’ vehicle on the island. In the autumn of 1921 he purchased a motorbike, which received a great deal of press in the local newspapers at the time.
Back in 1922, nobody on the quayside knew how to drive a car. It was therefore pushed up to the forge in Quillingsgård. A few days later the newspapers were able to report that the car had made several journeys between Tórshavn and the sanatorium in Hoydalar.
Morris Commercial Cars Ltd.England Model 1929
This commercial vehicle arrived in Kvívík on 14 June 1934. Originally from Hillerød’s Police District and owned by Nordsjællands Benzin Co., it had been without licence plates for several years. When the vehicle arrived on the island it had no body, i.e. the cab and hood were normal but there was no load or cab on the vehicle.
The plan was to take the cab from the Chevrolet bus in service at the time and fit it onto the vehicle’s chassis. The vehicle had functioned as a tanker in Zealand and as a lorry for a time.
However, these plans came to nothing, as Fritleif Johannesen from Tórshavn had heard about the vehicle and had travelled to Kvívík to take a closer look at it. His idea was to build a cab on top of the vehicle, i.e. an extension to the existing cab. He planned to build a so-called ‘omnibus’. His plans went ahead and on 12 June 1935 the vehicle was registered and approved as a mail and passenger bus between Vestmanna, Kvívík and Kollafjørður.
‘De Luxe Model’ built on the Faroe Islands
In the mid-1950s a home-made Faroese car drove through the streets of Tórshavn. It belonged to the Norwegian Almar Nordhaug, who built the car together with his colleagues at the barrel factory in Tórshavn.
It was not unusual to convert cars in the Faroe Islands in the mid-20th century, but the car they built at the factory was unique and far ahead of its time.
This was the first car on The Faroe Islands to have a cassette player and no fewer than four loudspeakers. The car generated quite a lot of attention when it attended horse shows because the music disturbed the horses and made the riders furious.
When Nordhaug moved back to Norway he took the car, which was on Faroese number plates, with him and continued to drive it in Norway for several years. Unfortunately, the car is no longer in existence. The last reliable report we had said that it was being used as part of a decorative display in a furniture store in Oslo.
Sources:“Postur í Føroyum”, Vilhelm Johannesen, 2000, “Bilar”, Magnus Gunnarsson, interview with Viggo Johannesen.
Each vintage car featured on our stamps has its own unique story. The black lorry was the first vehicle to arrive in the Faroe Islands in 1922. The red bus that operated between Vestmanna, Kvívík and Kollafjørður was converted from a tanker and the home-made ‘De Luxe Model’ on the third stamp was the first car on the island to have a cassette player and loudspeakers.
The first car on the Faroe Islands
The first car arrived on the island on 6 May 1922 when Johannes Olsen and Júst Sivertsen from Tórshavn bought a Ford TT truck from Wenzel Petersen and Vilhelm Nielsen, who had a forge in Quillingsgård in Tórshavn.
The car was ferried to the Faroe Islands on the DFDS vessel S/S Island. As the ship was unable to dock, the car was hoisted onto a yacht, which unloaded the cargo at Kongebro marina in Tórshavn.
The car caused a sensation when it arrived in Tórshavn because the islanders had never seen a car before. The Faroe Islands had horse-drawn carriages at the time, although not many. Arthur Brend, however, was the first to own a ‘motorised’ vehicle on the island. In the autumn of 1921 he purchased a motorbike, which received a great deal of press in the local newspapers at the time.
Back in 1922, nobody on the quayside knew how to drive a car. It was therefore pushed up to the forge in Quillingsgård. A few days later the newspapers were able to report that the car had made several journeys between Tórshavn and the sanatorium in Hoydalar.
Morris Commercial Cars Ltd.England Model 1929
This commercial vehicle arrived in Kvívík on 14 June 1934. Originally from Hillerød’s Police District and owned by Nordsjællands Benzin Co., it had been without licence plates for several years. When the vehicle arrived on the island it had no body, i.e. the cab and hood were normal but there was no load or cab on the vehicle.
The plan was to take the cab from the Chevrolet bus in service at the time and fit it onto the vehicle’s chassis. The vehicle had functioned as a tanker in Zealand and as a lorry for a time.
However, these plans came to nothing, as Fritleif Johannesen from Tórshavn had heard about the vehicle and had travelled to Kvívík to take a closer look at it. His idea was to build a cab on top of the vehicle, i.e. an extension to the existing cab. He planned to build a so-called ‘omnibus’. His plans went ahead and on 12 June 1935 the vehicle was registered and approved as a mail and passenger bus between Vestmanna, Kvívík and Kollafjørður.
‘De Luxe Model’ built on the Faroe Islands
In the mid-1950s a home-made Faroese car drove through the streets of Tórshavn. It belonged to the Norwegian Almar Nordhaug, who built the car together with his colleagues at the barrel factory in Tórshavn.
It was not unusual to convert cars in the Faroe Islands in the mid-20th century, but the car they built at the factory was unique and far ahead of its time.
This was the first car on The Faroe Islands to have a cassette player and no fewer than four loudspeakers. The car generated quite a lot of attention when it attended horse shows because the music disturbed the horses and made the riders furious.
When Nordhaug moved back to Norway he took the car, which was on Faroese number plates, with him and continued to drive it in Norway for several years. Unfortunately, the car is no longer in existence. The last reliable report we had said that it was being used as part of a decorative display in a furniture store in Oslo.
Sources:“Postur í Føroyum”, Vilhelm Johannesen, 2000, “Bilar”, Magnus Gunnarsson, interview with Viggo Johannesen.
Juniper berries and crowberries
Date Of Issue 01.09.2011
Date Of Issue 01.09.2011
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Juniper berry and crowberry
Of the more than 400 species of plants that make up the wild flowers of the Faroe Islands, only a few woody plants occur. Two of these ligneous plants are the juniper berry and crowberry.
Common juniper (Juniperus communis subsp. alpina)
Today, several species of conifer and shrub grow in the Faroe Islands. Most of these have been imported and planted here. The only indigenous plant species in the same family as conifers is the juniper. In some areas, the names “juniper” and “juniper berry” are used indiscriminately to describe these plants.
The juniper is a low-growing, evergreen shrub. Its needles measure approximately 1 cm and have a light, grey-green colour. Juniper is normally a dioecious species, which means that it has separate male and female plants. The male flower is yellow and oblong with an abundance of stamens. The female flower is greenish in colour, making it difficult to see. The fruit consists of so-called berry cones that take two to three years to mature. The berry cones are green in the first year, and mature in the second and third year to a deep blue colour.
During the period after the last Ice Age, juniper was relatively widespread throughout the Faroe Islands. As the climate became wetter, the juniper bushes gradually disappeared. Some 5,000 years ago, however, another change in the climate occurred and the growing conditions for juniper improved. In many areas, juniper stumps can be found in strata from this period. Around 600 BC, however, the climate became wetter again and juniper dispersal came to a complete halt. This decline continued when the islands became inhabited by people and, today, juniper can only be found on the island of Svínoy and a small number of other locations in the Faroes.
Juniper trees are low growing and, therefore, cannot be used as timber. Nevertheless, they have a number of other useful purposes. In the Faroe Islands, juniper was used for smoking meat and, a type of rope made of twisted juniper stems was found in the Viking excavation in Kvívík.
The berries, which are not actually berries but seed cones, are also used as a spice and medication. For example, gin derives its distinctive flavour from immature juniper berries.
Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum)
Crowberry is a genus of dwarf shrub that is commonly found in the Faroe Islands. It grows particularly well on dry heathland and is also among the most common plants on moorland. As with the juniper bush, the crowberry is an evergreen which means that the leaves remain on the plant throughout the winter.
Two subspecies of crowberry grow in the Faroe Islands: common crowberry (Empetrum nigrum subs. nigrum) and mountain crowberry (Empetrum nigrum subs. hermaphroditum). Mountain crowberry is found on all the islands, while the common crowberry only grows on the island of Streymoy and the southern islands. In Scandinavia, common crowberry only grows in Finland, Denmark and Southern Sweden, while mountain crowberry grows in Finland and the greater part of Sweden and Norway.
Common crowberry and mountain crowberry are very similar to each other but the crucial difference is that the common crowberry is a dioecious species, like the common juniper. Mountain crowberry, on the other hand, has hermaphrodite flowers.
The stems of the common crowberry are low and trailing. On the lower part of the bush the stems are mat-forming, making the common crowberry closer to the ground than the mountain crowberry which has more upright stems.
The first pink flowers begin to develop around April and May, while the familiar glossy black crowberries mature in July and August. Consumption of the ripe berries by people as well as animals plays an important part in the distribution of the seeds. When eaten by birds, it takes some time for the seeds to pass through the bird’s digestive system. During this period, it is likely that the bird will have moved some distance away from the original crowberry plant, thus ensuring its seeds are dispersed over a wide area.
In the Faroe Islands, crowberries are picked and eaten raw, cooked in porridge or used to make jam.
Jana Mikkelsen
Of the more than 400 species of plants that make up the wild flowers of the Faroe Islands, only a few woody plants occur. Two of these ligneous plants are the juniper berry and crowberry.
Common juniper (Juniperus communis subsp. alpina)
Today, several species of conifer and shrub grow in the Faroe Islands. Most of these have been imported and planted here. The only indigenous plant species in the same family as conifers is the juniper. In some areas, the names “juniper” and “juniper berry” are used indiscriminately to describe these plants.
The juniper is a low-growing, evergreen shrub. Its needles measure approximately 1 cm and have a light, grey-green colour. Juniper is normally a dioecious species, which means that it has separate male and female plants. The male flower is yellow and oblong with an abundance of stamens. The female flower is greenish in colour, making it difficult to see. The fruit consists of so-called berry cones that take two to three years to mature. The berry cones are green in the first year, and mature in the second and third year to a deep blue colour.
During the period after the last Ice Age, juniper was relatively widespread throughout the Faroe Islands. As the climate became wetter, the juniper bushes gradually disappeared. Some 5,000 years ago, however, another change in the climate occurred and the growing conditions for juniper improved. In many areas, juniper stumps can be found in strata from this period. Around 600 BC, however, the climate became wetter again and juniper dispersal came to a complete halt. This decline continued when the islands became inhabited by people and, today, juniper can only be found on the island of Svínoy and a small number of other locations in the Faroes.
Juniper trees are low growing and, therefore, cannot be used as timber. Nevertheless, they have a number of other useful purposes. In the Faroe Islands, juniper was used for smoking meat and, a type of rope made of twisted juniper stems was found in the Viking excavation in Kvívík.
The berries, which are not actually berries but seed cones, are also used as a spice and medication. For example, gin derives its distinctive flavour from immature juniper berries.
Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum)
Crowberry is a genus of dwarf shrub that is commonly found in the Faroe Islands. It grows particularly well on dry heathland and is also among the most common plants on moorland. As with the juniper bush, the crowberry is an evergreen which means that the leaves remain on the plant throughout the winter.
Two subspecies of crowberry grow in the Faroe Islands: common crowberry (Empetrum nigrum subs. nigrum) and mountain crowberry (Empetrum nigrum subs. hermaphroditum). Mountain crowberry is found on all the islands, while the common crowberry only grows on the island of Streymoy and the southern islands. In Scandinavia, common crowberry only grows in Finland, Denmark and Southern Sweden, while mountain crowberry grows in Finland and the greater part of Sweden and Norway.
Common crowberry and mountain crowberry are very similar to each other but the crucial difference is that the common crowberry is a dioecious species, like the common juniper. Mountain crowberry, on the other hand, has hermaphrodite flowers.
The stems of the common crowberry are low and trailing. On the lower part of the bush the stems are mat-forming, making the common crowberry closer to the ground than the mountain crowberry which has more upright stems.
The first pink flowers begin to develop around April and May, while the familiar glossy black crowberries mature in July and August. Consumption of the ripe berries by people as well as animals plays an important part in the distribution of the seeds. When eaten by birds, it takes some time for the seeds to pass through the bird’s digestive system. During this period, it is likely that the bird will have moved some distance away from the original crowberry plant, thus ensuring its seeds are dispersed over a wide area.
In the Faroe Islands, crowberries are picked and eaten raw, cooked in porridge or used to make jam.
Jana Mikkelsen
Annika í Dímun
Date OF Issue 21.02.2011
Date OF Issue 21.02.2011
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Annika of Dímun killed her husband and took one of the farmhands as her lover. She was condemned to death because of her crime but managed to get three men on the island of Dímun to guard and protect her and prevent the authorities from capturing her. The island was defended for three years until one of the men betrayed her and Annika was captured and drowned in Tórshavn harbour.
There is some uncertainty as to the identity of the real Annika of Dímun. The legend says she was the daughter of the Sheriff and niece to the priest on Sandur. She may well have been, but even though her family were fine, they weren't necessarily good people because the legend explains that Annika's father lost her in a game of cards to a peasant on Dímun. Even though she was already engaged to another man she was forced to live on Dímun. If this is correct we can understand her desire to take revenge on her unwanted husband. But whether she actually did kill him is another question.
A woman named Anna Isaksdatter, was drowned in Tórshavn harbour in 1664. She had been condemned for incest, in her case because it was said she had borne children from two men who were brothers.
Jakob Jakobsen believes this was the very same Annika of Dímun. But the legend says nothing about incest and the court case says nothing about a murdered husband. But Jakob Jakobsen may well be correct, because legend is rarely reliable or without error. The death penalty was still imposed in the Faroe Islands in the 17th century. So that part could be correct.
The legend does not place the father in a favourable light and sympathies lie with Annika even though she killed her husband. Not only had the father lost her in a game of cards, he also mocked her. "What dress shall I wear?" she asked her father as she was taken to Tórshavn. "It doesn't matter," he is supposed to have said. "It's not a wedding you're invited to."
The legend's pity for her is evident in the way it describes how she cared for her son. When the men dragged her away she shouted that they must not forget to give her son his usual cup of morning milk.
It is notable that the woman is the only one among the men in the legend: her father the Sheriff, her peasant husband on Dímun, her lover who failed to defend the island well enough and not least the foreman of the men who came to take her away. A legend says that the foreman was her brother, who would have his own death penalty dropped if he could capture his sister.
Drowning Annika wasn't easy. Her beautiful flowing hair kept her afloat and so her plaits had to be cut before she drowned. The legend describes her as astonishingly beautiful, full of love for her son - a woman who was betrayed by those she trusted.
A sad fate indeed.
Eyðun Andreassen, Professor
Caption:
There are two places where it is possible to climb onto Dímun - at the east side of the island and on the west side. Two men guarded these locations.
Annika could defend the island for three years and no unwelcome visitor managed to get onto the island, be they the authorities or otherwise. But in the end, her guards failed her.
There is some uncertainty as to the identity of the real Annika of Dímun. The legend says she was the daughter of the Sheriff and niece to the priest on Sandur. She may well have been, but even though her family were fine, they weren't necessarily good people because the legend explains that Annika's father lost her in a game of cards to a peasant on Dímun. Even though she was already engaged to another man she was forced to live on Dímun. If this is correct we can understand her desire to take revenge on her unwanted husband. But whether she actually did kill him is another question.
A woman named Anna Isaksdatter, was drowned in Tórshavn harbour in 1664. She had been condemned for incest, in her case because it was said she had borne children from two men who were brothers.
Jakob Jakobsen believes this was the very same Annika of Dímun. But the legend says nothing about incest and the court case says nothing about a murdered husband. But Jakob Jakobsen may well be correct, because legend is rarely reliable or without error. The death penalty was still imposed in the Faroe Islands in the 17th century. So that part could be correct.
The legend does not place the father in a favourable light and sympathies lie with Annika even though she killed her husband. Not only had the father lost her in a game of cards, he also mocked her. "What dress shall I wear?" she asked her father as she was taken to Tórshavn. "It doesn't matter," he is supposed to have said. "It's not a wedding you're invited to."
The legend's pity for her is evident in the way it describes how she cared for her son. When the men dragged her away she shouted that they must not forget to give her son his usual cup of morning milk.
It is notable that the woman is the only one among the men in the legend: her father the Sheriff, her peasant husband on Dímun, her lover who failed to defend the island well enough and not least the foreman of the men who came to take her away. A legend says that the foreman was her brother, who would have his own death penalty dropped if he could capture his sister.
Drowning Annika wasn't easy. Her beautiful flowing hair kept her afloat and so her plaits had to be cut before she drowned. The legend describes her as astonishingly beautiful, full of love for her son - a woman who was betrayed by those she trusted.
A sad fate indeed.
Eyðun Andreassen, Professor
Caption:
There are two places where it is possible to climb onto Dímun - at the east side of the island and on the west side. Two men guarded these locations.
Annika could defend the island for three years and no unwelcome visitor managed to get onto the island, be they the authorities or otherwise. But in the end, her guards failed her.
Cats
Date Of Issue 21.02.2011
Date Of Issue 21.02.2011
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Cats on the Faroes
"The cat lies by the door dead, and can eat neither butter nor bread." So begins an old Faroese rhyme about a poor cat that is so in love that it has completely lost its appetite. Nobody knows when cats reached the Faroe Islands, or how many cats there are, as they aren't registered. Cats don't crop up much in Faroese historical records, though Clerk E.A. Bjørk writes in Færøsk bygderet (The Faroese Village) that a number of cats died in 1778 and 1779 as a result of cat plague.
Cats have lived around people for many thousands of years, and are the world's most popular pets. They're also the most popular pets on the Faroes. One reason that cats are so popular is that they fit in readily with a modern lifestyle. Cats don't need much care, can be left on their own, and pretty much look after themselves. A cat sat on the widow sill watching something or other with its large almond-shaped eyes for hours at a time is a familiar image. Cat owners have often speculated as to what the cat finds so interesting and what it is that only it can see outside. Puss in Boots is surely also a tale that's familiar to many. By using his cunning, Puss in Boots does no less for his poor owner than help him to the kingdom and the princess' hand.
The Faroese domestic cat is a small animal that is little different to wild cats. It's happiest when eating, sleeping and playing. It can stand high temperatures, loves the sun and the night and is clean and agile, which it is why it is said that it always lands on its feet. The domestic cat is a mixed race. Its hair is short and often features several patterns and colours - normally including white. The most common colouration is black and white, although tabby cats and brown cats are also common. Plus, they can be any thing from one colour to many or be striped. The majority of pure-bred cats on the Faroes are long-haired, such as the Norwegian Forest Cat, Birman, Maine Coon and Persian.
Cats are apt to arouse people's feelings. Some people are terrified of cats, and can sense them before they enter a house, other people will refuse to enter a house with a cat in it. In the Middle Ages the cat was associated with mysticism and evil, and black cats were associated with witches and killed as a result. In Ancient Egypt, however, cats were considered holy and were worshipped as gods. In Nordic mythology the goddess of love, beauty and fertility, Freyja, travels on a carriage pulled by two cats. Some think these were the predecessors of the Norwegian Forest Cat.
Cats arouse different feelings in different people because they have a charismatic personality all of their own. Cats are affectionate, mild, loyal and humble but can also be devious, mischievous and arrogant. As the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud once said, time spent with cats is never wasted. Cats can follow you around for an entire day, only to turn their back on you the day after. A cat can drive you mad, staring at you every evening with its searching eyes only to disappear from view for days at a time. Plus, having a live, furry, heat mat draped over you when it takes its time, relaxes completely and massages your soul with its peaceful purring song is real therapy.
There can't be many who are immune to the charms of the two begging eyes of a little round fluffy kitten, or the the dangerous begging eyes of Puss in Boots in the animated film Shrek. When these eyes look deep into you, you get the feeling that whatever they tell you is true. If at that point, a cat has decided to love you there's not much you can do. You don't own the cat but become part of its life; the cat could be said to own you! The cat has been a fixture in the lives of many families and has brought pleasure to child and adults alike, precisely because it is as it is. As renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci put it, "the smallest feline is a masterpiece."
Durita L. Jóansdóttir
"The cat lies by the door dead, and can eat neither butter nor bread." So begins an old Faroese rhyme about a poor cat that is so in love that it has completely lost its appetite. Nobody knows when cats reached the Faroe Islands, or how many cats there are, as they aren't registered. Cats don't crop up much in Faroese historical records, though Clerk E.A. Bjørk writes in Færøsk bygderet (The Faroese Village) that a number of cats died in 1778 and 1779 as a result of cat plague.
Cats have lived around people for many thousands of years, and are the world's most popular pets. They're also the most popular pets on the Faroes. One reason that cats are so popular is that they fit in readily with a modern lifestyle. Cats don't need much care, can be left on their own, and pretty much look after themselves. A cat sat on the widow sill watching something or other with its large almond-shaped eyes for hours at a time is a familiar image. Cat owners have often speculated as to what the cat finds so interesting and what it is that only it can see outside. Puss in Boots is surely also a tale that's familiar to many. By using his cunning, Puss in Boots does no less for his poor owner than help him to the kingdom and the princess' hand.
The Faroese domestic cat is a small animal that is little different to wild cats. It's happiest when eating, sleeping and playing. It can stand high temperatures, loves the sun and the night and is clean and agile, which it is why it is said that it always lands on its feet. The domestic cat is a mixed race. Its hair is short and often features several patterns and colours - normally including white. The most common colouration is black and white, although tabby cats and brown cats are also common. Plus, they can be any thing from one colour to many or be striped. The majority of pure-bred cats on the Faroes are long-haired, such as the Norwegian Forest Cat, Birman, Maine Coon and Persian.
Cats are apt to arouse people's feelings. Some people are terrified of cats, and can sense them before they enter a house, other people will refuse to enter a house with a cat in it. In the Middle Ages the cat was associated with mysticism and evil, and black cats were associated with witches and killed as a result. In Ancient Egypt, however, cats were considered holy and were worshipped as gods. In Nordic mythology the goddess of love, beauty and fertility, Freyja, travels on a carriage pulled by two cats. Some think these were the predecessors of the Norwegian Forest Cat.
Cats arouse different feelings in different people because they have a charismatic personality all of their own. Cats are affectionate, mild, loyal and humble but can also be devious, mischievous and arrogant. As the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud once said, time spent with cats is never wasted. Cats can follow you around for an entire day, only to turn their back on you the day after. A cat can drive you mad, staring at you every evening with its searching eyes only to disappear from view for days at a time. Plus, having a live, furry, heat mat draped over you when it takes its time, relaxes completely and massages your soul with its peaceful purring song is real therapy.
There can't be many who are immune to the charms of the two begging eyes of a little round fluffy kitten, or the the dangerous begging eyes of Puss in Boots in the animated film Shrek. When these eyes look deep into you, you get the feeling that whatever they tell you is true. If at that point, a cat has decided to love you there's not much you can do. You don't own the cat but become part of its life; the cat could be said to own you! The cat has been a fixture in the lives of many families and has brought pleasure to child and adults alike, precisely because it is as it is. As renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci put it, "the smallest feline is a masterpiece."
Durita L. Jóansdóttir
The Christmas Seal 2011
Date Of Issue 07.11.2011
Date Of Issue 07.11.2011
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Christmas Window
As Advent approaches, Christmas windows begin lighting up villages and neighbourhoods, representing the first sign of the quickly approaching holiday.
The tradition of telling the world that the people in your home are celebrating Christmas is centuries old – almost as old as windows themselves in our part of the world.
In ancient times, it was common to place a candle in the window on Christmas Eve and let it burn all night until Christmas morning – if it did not burn out before then. Some women used to stay up all night to watch the burning candle as peace descended upon the house.
Christmas night must have been cosy. The holiest night of the year in a village covered with snow and under the glimmering stars, as bright windows celebrated the baby Jesus – a moment far from the arduous tasks of everyday life required just to survive.
New traditions emerged in the late nineteenth century, as more Christmas decorations from abroad reached the Faroe Islands, such as paper cuttings and other decorations to hang in windows. At first, these were probably only found in the fine houses of Torshavn and the larger villages, but the customs slowly spread to the rest of the islands.
Christmas windows also changed in the middle of the twentieth century with the arrival of electricity. This made it possible to buy Christmas stars made of paper with a light bulb inside, which were soon accompanied in windows by strings of small multicoloured lights. The industrial revolution made life more commercial and Christmas became a part of these modern times.
Christmas went from being a holiday lasting one to two days, to something that lasted much longer. Today it is not uncommon to see decorated Christmas windows from November until late January and there are virtually no limits to how we decorate for Christmas.
The candle in the window has now become an ocean of light that sparkles and shines in many colours. Entire houses, ships, and even villages shine out, virtually sweeping away the dark and heavy days. Christmas is a children’s holiday that also awakens the childish spirit in adults as we are moved by the Christmas spirit.
Happily and full of anticipation, we go up to the attic to get our Christmas decorations – including something beautiful to hang in the Christmas window.
Edward Fuglø
As Advent approaches, Christmas windows begin lighting up villages and neighbourhoods, representing the first sign of the quickly approaching holiday.
The tradition of telling the world that the people in your home are celebrating Christmas is centuries old – almost as old as windows themselves in our part of the world.
In ancient times, it was common to place a candle in the window on Christmas Eve and let it burn all night until Christmas morning – if it did not burn out before then. Some women used to stay up all night to watch the burning candle as peace descended upon the house.
Christmas night must have been cosy. The holiest night of the year in a village covered with snow and under the glimmering stars, as bright windows celebrated the baby Jesus – a moment far from the arduous tasks of everyday life required just to survive.
New traditions emerged in the late nineteenth century, as more Christmas decorations from abroad reached the Faroe Islands, such as paper cuttings and other decorations to hang in windows. At first, these were probably only found in the fine houses of Torshavn and the larger villages, but the customs slowly spread to the rest of the islands.
Christmas windows also changed in the middle of the twentieth century with the arrival of electricity. This made it possible to buy Christmas stars made of paper with a light bulb inside, which were soon accompanied in windows by strings of small multicoloured lights. The industrial revolution made life more commercial and Christmas became a part of these modern times.
Christmas went from being a holiday lasting one to two days, to something that lasted much longer. Today it is not uncommon to see decorated Christmas windows from November until late January and there are virtually no limits to how we decorate for Christmas.
The candle in the window has now become an ocean of light that sparkles and shines in many colours. Entire houses, ships, and even villages shine out, virtually sweeping away the dark and heavy days. Christmas is a children’s holiday that also awakens the childish spirit in adults as we are moved by the Christmas spirit.
Happily and full of anticipation, we go up to the attic to get our Christmas decorations – including something beautiful to hang in the Christmas window.
Edward Fuglø
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