The American Trunk

Yrjö Salminen (1891–1949) was an engineer from Loimaa who, in the 1920s, traveled to North America to explore the leather industry, bringing this suitcase along. When the Loimaa Leather closed in 1930, Salminen established a new company, Loimaa Leather Ltd., to continue the business.

Salminen was also interested in sports and served as the president of the Finnish Skating Association. On Christmas Day 1926, he gave hockey sticks he had brought from Canada to ice polo players in Tampere and encouraged them to practice: “Play, boys!” Such were the beginnings of Finnish ice hockey.

Caption: Loimaa Leather Factory in 1957.
Photo: Loimaa-Seura Collection.