Comments on: The Neverending Hunt for Utopia

By: Distance Courses

Distance Courses — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 07:11:26 +0000

An interesting myth that endures into the present day! The hope of utopia and freedom from suffering.

By: JJ

JJ — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 21:59:48 +0000

These dreams don’t seem too much different than modern day fantasies of a languid paradise after death sometimes called heaven.

By: Margaret Lemontree

Margaret Lemontree — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 12:49:25 +0000

…error: Meant to write:
“A starving man would not be likely to think that envisioning a place where pre-cooked pigs roamed nearby with eating utensils sprouting from their backs, a very odd thought.”

By: Margaret Lemontree

Margaret Lemontree — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 12:46:22 +0000

A bit off subject:

There is a definitive trend in human history around the globe, that records the almost if not innate yearning and searching for a paradise, utopia, heaven, etc.

Whether or not there are such places, here on earth or somewhere in the cosmos, or some place we aren’t yet aware of, it is an interesting thread that courses throughout our existence as a species.

Of special note, is seeming correlation of the urgency of such a hunt for a perfect place to abide, and the abysmal circumstances of a person or people.

A starving man would not be likely to think that envisioning a place where pre-cooked pigs roamed nearby with eating utensils sprouting from their backs.

A starving pig, on the other hand, may very well envision something entirely different.

I suppose we will never know about that!

Thanks, Doc Mike, for writing this interesting tid-bit.

MLT

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 08:25:08 +0000

Big Rock Candy Mountain?

By: Mike Dash

Mike Dash — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 08:43:42 +0000

Thank you for the confirmation, Heidi. I think the correspondence we have had from you and our Finnish readers has some value, so rather than take the photo down we will adjust the caption. I will also forward your message to the staff at MuseumVictoria and with luck they will make changes to their attribution.

By: Heidi Hummelstedt

Heidi Hummelstedt — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 07:15:07 +0000

Greetings from the Ostrobothnian Museum in Vaasa, Finland!
We can confirm that the convicts are the famous criminals Antti Isotalo (1831-1911) and Antti Rannanjärvi (1828-1882)from the municipality of Härmä in Ostrobothnia. Isotalo and Rannanjärvi were two of the so-called knife fighters (research done by, for instance, professor Heikki Ylikangas at the University of Helsinki). As Mike Dash mentions above,the picture was taken by Julia Widgren, one of the first female photographers in Finland. The photo was taken around 1868/1869 in the jail of Mustasaari/Korsholm, when the two gangsters had been sentenced for (among other things) burglary, arson and forgery. The original photograph from the 1860s is part of the photo archives here at the Ostrobothnian Museum. However, the picture has been copied for decades, and even post cards have been made of the photo. This explains why there are so many copies of this picture on the Internet, and why there seems to be misattributed information in Australian museums.

By: Mike Dash

Mike Dash — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:58:06 +0000

Sadly not. “Cockaigne” is believed to derive from the Middle French cocaigne, plenty; “cocaine” from the coca plant.

By: Scott Auden

Scott Auden — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 13:10:56 +0000

Is there an etymological connection between the words “Cockaign” and “cocaine” ?

By: Seppo Kauppinen

Seppo Kauppinen — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 14:10:23 +0000

I think there is no doubt at all that this picture was taken in 1869 by a Finnish photographer named Julia Widgrén in Vaasa, a Finnish town on the west coast of Finland, where Isotalo and Rannanjärvi were taken to court. In fact, this was most probably the best-known photograph taken by her, and image of it has been in the Finnish cultural memory, including educational material, for generations.

I live now in Australia, but a friend of mine, who lives in Vaasa, will today try and visit the local Ostrobothnian Museum, where there may be more information available for reference. (http://museo.vaasa.fi/w/?lang=3&page=1). Another potential source for reference may be The Finnish Museum of Photography. (http://www.valokuvataiteenmuseo.fi/en)