By Kristina Lundström-Björk.
Most people in Jakobstad associate the symbols Faith, Hope and Charity with the celebration of Christmas
and to the great symbols that are hanging over the main street (Storgatan) of the town.
The symbols for Faith, Hope and Charity, the cross, the anchor and the heart can already be found
in the Bible for example in the Hebrews 6:19: ”...in that hope we have a firm anchor of the soul...” . The
symbol includes a religious character, but the fact that it also contains a general-ethic character may explain
why it became as popular as it did especially in the 17th century. It can be found carved in the wood of
furniture, in seals etc.
The motive can also to be found in pictures made to congratulate someone. These pictures were
made for and given on name days, birthdays and for wedding presents. They have also been used as New
Year gifts. In Finland the pictures are best known in the Swedish-speaking district on the west coast.
Exactly when the symbol was first considered as a sailors-symbol is hard to estimate, but there are
many theories proving, that it had long been popular with seafarers. Often the anchor, the cross and the
heart were carved or painted on sailors’ trunks. They were also popular motives to get tattooed on oneself.
The symbols were competing with ships and women.
It is not known exactly when the first Christmas decorations were hung over the main street, but
the first time that, the cross, the anchor and the heart were lit in Jakobstad, was probably in 1913. Prior to
that no one had succeeded in designing a heart with genuine candles, although the idea of the three symbols
had certainly evolved by then. The prototypes of today’s cross, anchor and heart were two crosses with an
anchor in the middle.
In the 12th issue of the Pedersöre newspaper of 1930 the pen name S. E writes an article called
”Christmas in the name of Faith, Hope and Charity” . S.E wrote:”At the beginning of the 19th century an
old lady from Jakobstad remembers seeing these beautiful Christmas decorations for the first time, which
now illuminate the main street every year. Then it was a shining red anchor in the corner of the square by
the Ervast-residence and two crosses, one by the Blomström-residence and the other by the Malmresidence. It is possible that the symbols were from the beginning as they are now. The same article
actually states:”In 1913 the southern Christmas cross between the Schauman- and the Finne-residences was
replaced by a heart matching the cross and the anchor.” Here it is thought that there would have been a heart
in old times which would later have been replaced by a cross. The shape of the old-fashioned lanterns was
far too inconvenient to form a heart. Electric lighting however creates no difficulty in forming an elegant
heart.
The text suggests that if the heart had existed from the beginning it would have been replaced with
a cross before 1850.
That the heart would have been attached, or possibly returned in 1913, is explained by the fact that
the symbols were provided with electric light bulbs in that year. Electricity was installed as a source of
power and lighting at the Strengberg Tobacco factory already in the 1890s. It was becoming available for
public use in the autumn of 1901.
The importance of these illuminated symbols is underlined by the fact that the town was totally
unlit at nighttime in those days. Proposals to light up the streets in the town were first put forward in the
1850s. They did however not come to anything until 30 years later when the first streetlights were installed
in Jakobstad. Those 21 streetlights were mounted on the longitudinal streets. They were petrol-lamps placed
on poles 10 feet high, and lit by lamp masters at twilight and put out at 10 in the evening.
The symbols were hung up on Christmas Eve and taken down after Twelfth Night. Nowadays they
are lit as early as 13th December, celebrating the traditional Santa Lucia. The Christmas of 1973 was an
exception due to the energy crisis when the symbols were taken down on 28th December.
The manufacturing and mounting of the symbols were, before electrification financed by the
private merchants on the main street. But soon the costs became too high for private sponsors, resulting in
no symbols at all. During the wartime blackout these symbols were not hung up at all.
In 1906 - 1907 attempts were made to replace the symbols made of translucent paper with a
christmas tree in the main square. The idea was not welcome then, but nowadays a christmas tree with
electric candlelights decorates the square at Christmas.
Winds would often cause the decorations to burn with the paper catching fire. The symbols were
also vulnerable to the full loaded timber-lorries which tore them down because of their height.
The three emblems are made of wooden frames designed as the symbol in question and cylinderformed lanterns surrounded by frames. There is a light bulb in every lantern. The lanterns are nowadays
made of a type of plastic that is stronger and more fireproof than paper.
The use of plastic began in the middle of the 1960s. Before that waxed paper was used. The
original material is known to have been colored tissue paper saturated with linoleum.
Each symbol consists of 40 lanterns, which are green in the base of the cross, and the others are
red. The symbols are approximately three meters’ wide. The cross and the anchor are about four meters
high, the heart about three meters in height. The lanterns are about thirty centimeters high and the diameter
is 10 - 20 cm. This description concerns the present-day symbols. The dimensions could vary in previous
year as they were often destroyed and had to be remade.
A. Ahlström described the lanterns as follows; ”The lanterns were made of a wooden frame,
comprising a bottom and a top with a hole, made of thin boards connected with four columns in the corners.
The coloured paper was attached with glue or adhesive. The paper was oiled to let the light through; on one
side of the lantern the paper was unglued and could be turned to light up the lantern. To prevent the paper
from bending upwards in the wind and the candle from blowing out, each lantern was tied with a yarn. Even
this did not always prevent certain lanterns from going out during the night. It was far more important then
that the weather was calm and beautiful, as the candle-lights were easily put out by the wind.
The symbols are hung over the main street with ropes attached to the houses. The cross is near the
church, the anchor in the middle by the square, and the heart at the south end, by Parentesen.
Initially private dealers by the main street had the symbols made and paid for them. As Christmas
approached it was up to the shop assistants to repair and make new emblems when necessary. When the
town took over the administration and the financing of the symbols, they were kept in storage by the Malmresidence. A carpenter’s nook was also located there, and annual repairs and inspections took place there.
It has also become tradition to have miniature versions of the symbols, these can be found in
almost every home, displayed on window sills as the symbols themselves dominate the main street.
Around 1930 the cross, the anchor and the heart were hung up along the route to the Malm hospital
in Jakobstad. These emblems, about half the size of those along the main street, were made by machine
operator Nygren, employed by the hospital in those days. The hospital also financed them. Soon these
emblems by the hospital became a link in the tradition of faith, hope and charity in the town, and are still
hung up every Christmas.
The private owned miniatures for domestic use were developed at the same time as those by the
hospital. According to sources of information the first two sets were owned by Consul Erik Schauman and
Runar C. Öhman, chief physician at that time. These two sets had probably been made at the school for the
deaf in Jakobstad where the Bethlehem-stars were made, which was typical for the locality. These symbols
were multicoloured five-sided stars made of paper, and illuminated from inside.
The miniatures rapidly became highly popular among the town residents, and practical people
began making them using their own methods. The number of those who made their own miniatures, to sell
or give away as presents is not known the electric fitters in the town realized that the miniatures could easily
become best-sellers before Christmas. In a survey carried out in 1974 four shops in the town said that they
were selling the miniatures before Christmas. The price was then around 60 - 80 Fmk. The store selling the
largest quantity of the sets has been supplying them for over 20 years, at the time of writing it has sold about
200 complete sets a year.
The stores stated that the customers are people from the town or from the surrounding countryside.
They often said that they intended to send the symbols to relatives and friends elsewhere, whose roots are in
Jakobstad. People abroad without any connection to anyone in the town sometimes contact some shop
directly, to have the Christmas-symbols delivered to them.
Customers can be found all over the world. Orders from Russia, Australia and the USA are not
unusual. The industries of Jakobstad often send the emblems as a Christmas present to their customers.
The miniatures sold in the town are mostly handmade by private persons. Most miniatures are 20 30 cm high.
The miniatures made by Ruth and Runar Norrman were made of stapled cardboard sheets with square holes.
A symbol is made of two identical sheets, joined with battens nailed to the edge. The paper is red, and green
for the base of the cross. Finally a little electric bulb is installed in the upper part of the emblem.
One of the most diligent producers of the symbols is retired teacher Karl Lundqvist who began
production quite early. As a handicraft teacher he started to make, or have stars made in the school. He
made the frames in the same way as mentioned above and glued so called star paper to cover them, finally
inserting special bulbs into each symbol. At the time of writing, Lundquist had even designed his own
special tools for this purpose. His cellar was fitted for the production of miniatures. He produces 4 - 5 sets
a year, tailor-made for transportation to Stockholm and Helsinki among other places.
The Workers Training Centre in Jakobstad has run an activitycourse since 1971 managed by Mrs.
Aune Melartti. On these courses the manufacturing of Faith, Hope and Charity has been so popular that
some 500 sets were made in just four years. The idea is Mrs Melartti’s, and the manufacturing procedure is
like those mentioned above. The symbols are 20 - 22 cm high, 17 - 21 cm wide and 5,5 cm thick.
The Swedish kindergarten teacher’s college in Finland is located in Jakobstad. As one of the first
graduating exercises the thought of designing a course-brooch came up in discussion. This brooch was to
symbolize the motto of the course. It was decided to accept the proposal made by Paul Hallvar, mayor at the
time, which comprised the Cross, the Anchor and the Heart.
The proposal was universally approaved due to the general-ethical nature, and the symbol was
considered suitable for the college as it was a well-known symbol for the town as well. The cross in the
brooch however does not have the base. This brooch is nowadays worn by virtually every graduated teacher
in Jakobstad.
People have always wanted to shed light and create decoration in different ways during Christmas.
The town, previously dark, was now lit up by Christmas crosses, stars and lanterns. Boys carrying stars went
from door to door singing Christmas carols. Lanterns and five sided stars were installed in the bigger houses
and public buildings.
In the western coastal area the tradition to erect Christmas-crosses on high posts is an integral part
of Christmas. The simplest form of a Christmas star is a straight bar with a few pine needles tied at the top
with a spray across them. The Christmas crosses often have diagonal frames linking the cross-arms. The
frames are engraved and decorated with many small figures. The frame around the cross can be squareshaped or circular. These traditions may date back to the catholic era in Finland. The model for these
crosses could be wrought iron crosses found on the top of many old church towers.
Christmas crosses used to bear one or a few light-sources which increases with the electrification.
In later years the crosses were complemented by Christmas trees with electric candles, standing in
courtyards, though miniature crosses for inside use have become a more common Christmas decoration.
The design varies from county to county, even from village to village.
Stars are closely linked with the celebration of Christmas everywhere, but a star still particular for
a certain area is the star in Nykarleby. The traditional Nykarleby star has six or seven points and sometimes
tassels at the ends. The frame is made of wood covered with tissue paper in various colours: yellow, red,
blue and green. Originally the star was mounted on a post wrapped with spruce twigs. Nowadays the star is
often seen at the top of a flagstaff or in a window.
The Nykarleby star is not for sale, since it is made by people in the area, who traditionally know
the right design and proportions. Z. Topelius wrote in a description of Christmas Eve:”Star after star was lit
in the town. I like this old tradition a lot. Presumably this is a symbol of the Bethlehem star the night the
Saviour was born.”
These are several reasons why the Cross, the Anchor and the Heart became Christmas symbols in
Jakobstad. The religious symbolism is not to be overvalued, even if the symbols are used mostly on one of
the greater celebrations in the church calendar. The religious traditions in the town have however always
been strong. Another reason is that the symbols came to the town by sea, with the sailors living in
Jakobstad. A town rich in maritime traditions. The symbols are closely associated with the sailors’
profession. This assertion is of course debatable, but even if the following words already written in 1930
sound a little haughty, not to say romantic, there may be some truth in them. ”That the people in the
maritime and the bell tower town Jakobstad wanted to raise an anchor of hope is only natural. How many
sons of our town have not ventured out on the turbulent sea! How pleased would one not have been to keep
this anchor ground stable and a lasting hope.”
Translated by Stig-G. Berglund 1997