Postal History in Finland

• The Postal Services had more Finnish-speaking employees after the old generation retired.
• The new simplified logo in the shape of a coat of arms launched in 1956.
• Mail volumes continued to grow, and deliveries became quicker. By the mid-1960s, 95% of mail was delivered in the morning.
• Aerograms, or air letters, introduced in 1951 (an extra fee for airmail was no longer charged).
• The railway system was the backbone of mail transport until the mid-1950s.
• Mail lorries started operating between Helsinki and Turku in 1958.
• The post office bus in 1960. A bus was converted into a seven-tonne post office with two to five staff.
• Stamp vending machines launched in Helsinki in 1959.
• The Post and Telegraph Institute opened in the late 1950s. Systematic training of personnel started.
• 596.1 million items delivered in 1945 (36.2 million official items, 413.4 million newspapers).
• The number of international deliveries grew rapidly after World War II: 10.8 million in 1945, 24.4 million in 1950, 36.4 million in 1955 and 59 million in 1960.
• 3,398 postal outlets in 1945, 654 of which were post offices. There were 168 mobile post offices (carriages).
• 4,486 postal outlets in 1960, 818 of which were post offices. There were 104 mobile post offices (carriages).
• Staff: 18,590 in 1945, 22,424 in 1950, 22,774 in 1955 and 31,956 in 1960.

Finland

• More people read and subscribed to newspapers after the war.
• The author Mika Waltari's magnum opus, "The Egyptian", published in 1945.
• The first Mitä Missä Milloin yearbook published by Otava in 1950.
• The first issue of the Donald Duck comic book (a sample) in Finnish published in 1951.
• Theatre Director Mia Backman awarded the first Pro Finlandia Prize in 1945.
• The Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to A.I. Virtanen in 1945.
• The Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union in 1948.
• Marimekko founded in 1951.
• The Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952.
• Coca-Cola launched in Finland in 1952.
• Armi Kuusela crowned Miss Universe in 1952.
• Väinö Linna's novel "The Unknown Soldier" published in 1954, the film adaptation directed by Edvin Laine premiered in 1955.
• Finland developed from a rural society into an industrial society after the war.
• The first computer, an IBM 650, acquired to Postisäästöpankki in 1958.
• Regular television broadcasts began in 1958. Yleisradio started regular colour test broadcasts in 1969.
• Presidents of Finland: Risto Ryti (National Progressive Party) 1940-44, C.G.E. Mannerheim (independent) 1944–46, J.K. Paasikivi (National Coalition Party) 1946–56, U.K. Kekkonen (Agrarian Party) 1956–82.
• Population: 3.8 million in 1945 and 4.4 million in 1960.

Global Events

• NATO created in 1949.
• The first Formula 1 World Championship race was held at the Silverstone Circuit in England in 1950.
• The first colour television broadcast in the United States in 1951.
• The first James Bond book, "Casino Royale", published in 1953.
• The Vietnam War 1955–75.
• The first Eurovision Song Contest held in Lugano, Switzerland, in 1956.
• The European Economic Community created in 1957.
• The space race between the United States and the Soviet Union began in 1957 when the first Soviet Sputnik satellite was launched.
• Laika the dog was the first animal to orbit the Earth in Sputnik 2 in 1957.
•  Jet airliners introduced in 1959–60. Distances shortened.
• Yuri Gagarin was the first human to journey into outer space in 1961, when he completed an orbit of the Earth.
• Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon in 1969.
• Computers became more commonly used in research purposes in laboratories and universities in the 1960s.
• Construction of the Berlin Wall began in 1961.