Little Book of Tom of Finland: Blue Collar

As a boy, Tom’s first crush was a strapping young farmhand who worked the fields around his family home. Finland is a land of tough physical men, catching fish in the icy sea; cutting logs in the endless forests; threshing oats, rye, + barley on the farms. Tom, a more sensitive boy, admired these rough men + their distinctive clothing, designed for protection + utility. He later said, “When I was young, leather was worn by people who worked outside because it was warm. All the men who wore leather, they were the type of men which I adored.” The Little Book of Tom of Finland: Blue Collar traces Tom’s fascination with working men in one compact + affordable package. A brawny lineup of multi-panel comics + single-panel drawings + paintings is set alongside archival + contextual material, including historic film stills + posters, personal photos of Tom, sketches, + Tom’s own reference photos. Hardcover. 192 pages.