The Moomins were first seen at the department store Stockmann in Helsinki, Finland already during Easter 1956. Because of the successful Easter display, Stockmann wanted to have Moomins in their store also in the autumn.
The autumn campaign, themed “Back to the city” was organized at the same time as Back to school campaigns. For the campaign, Tove Jansson and the decorative team of Stockmann designed a “Moomin Hill” to the department store. Jansson also designed a Moominous window display for which she did several sketches. Below you can see two of the options presented to Stockmann.
The window display is very similar to the first sketch with its landscape, tiles, leaves and street lights. Of course, the Moomin-themed window display on Aleksanterinkatu also presented Moomin products sold in the department store, such as ceramic figures and handkerchiefs.
In April 2017, Huutokauppa Helander held an auction in Helsinki and sold the one-meter tall Snorkmaiden figure that was also seen in the autumn window display. In the same year, the figure returned to Stockmann after 60 years as it was on display at the Moomin pop-up shop.
Photos: © Moomin Characters™