Objects that belonged to ornithologist and conservationist Pentti Linkola

Typewriter and ribbons

The typewriter was constantly on the table without a protective cover, so it accumulated dirt. Linkola sometimes typed with fishy hands, and did not wash his hands in general, unless there was visible dirt on them.

According to the biography written by Riitta Kylänpää, Pentti Linkola received a Triumph typewriter from Paavo Suomalainen in 1962, during the finishing phase of the book “Pohjolan linnut värikuvin”. Linkola was one of the editors of the book, and the finishing phase was hard. When one of the authors constantly found new information and wanted to edit the already agreed text, Pentti Linkola ended up throwing his Facit typewriter at the wall. However, he continued the work using the Triumph typewriter.

It was becoming difficult to find suitable ribbons for the old typewriter. Linkola thought that if he could not find ribbons, he would not write any more. According to his daughter Leena Linkola, he told many people about his biography in a humorous way, saying that “the good thing about it” was that the author of the book, Riitta Kylänpää, pointed him to a shop in Turku where he could still get ribbons for the typewriter.

Fish-weighing scale

Pentti Linkola made his living by fishing, and he could not imagine doing anything else. The profession suited him well, since it allowed for three months of summer holidays each year for the most important activity, birdwatching.

When Linkola came home after a day of fishing, he weighed the entire catch and recorded it in his fishing logbooks, including the number of each fish species caught. The fish-weighing scale was in daily use. Linkola had several fish-weighing scales at home, and the oldest was donated to the museum.

Binoculars

Pentti Linkola went birdwatching on his bicycle. He carried heavy equipment with him: a tent, a sleeping bag and some pieces of smaller equipment, such as binoculars and food in the side bags. The binoculars donated to the museum are the oldest ones from Pentti Linkola’s estate: sturdy Leitz binoculars with their leather case. While out in nature, Linkola watched birds with binoculars and wrote journal-like notes in a notebook.

Notebooks part 2

Pentti Linkola watched birds with binoculars and wrote journal-like notes in pencil in his black-cover notebooks. The notes included the weather at his watching spot, a description of the landscape and other observations. As for birds, he wrote down details such as the observation spot, the bird’s behaviour and information about the condition of the nest and the number of nestlings. When out on his trips, he spent all his leisure time writing the notes. His handwriting is not easy to read, since the text is small and includes shorthand.

Linkola wrote up his notes in a multi-step process. He typed simple bird observations into separate folders with his typewriter. As for the content of his notebooks, Linkola wrote this up by hand into separate hardback journals. As his work progressed, he crossed out the parts he had written up, as can be seen in the two notebooks from 1966 donated to the museum.

Pentti Linkola did not finish writing up all of his notebooks. According to his daughter Leena Linkola, he had sometimes calculated that he would have to live to 150 in order to be able to write up all his notebooks. And there were always new observations to record.

Various pencils

Pentti Linkola kept short pencils sharpened with a knife in the pockets of all of his clothes for notes. He used blue and red pencils for highlighting. He emphasised passages in texts by underlining them in red pencil or by writing an exclamation mark. Linkola signed his unofficial texts with a red letter P.

Knife

Pentti Linkola always carried a knife with him. He used a knife for sharpening pencils, gutting fish, opening letters and buttering bread. The knife was in constant use and an essential tool for daily life. The most typical knife model he used was a common knife with a red plastic handle, at least a dozen of which were found in the house in various states of wear. The knife that was donated to the museum hung on Linkola’s belt for many of his last years, during trips to Helsinki, for example.

Letter scale

This letter scale was always on Pentti Linkola’s desk. It is related to his extensive correspondence and other writing work.

Linkola wrote letters to friends and other recipients, both by typewriter and by hand. To the publisher of his books, he sent his texts on typewritten sheets of paper. The publisher returned the bundles of texts with comments for Linkola to review, and he then sent them back. It was important to weigh all shipments with the letter scale to determine how many stamps were required. Linkola also used the letter scale to weigh rings used for bird ringing and other small items.

Notebooks

Pentti Linkola watched birds with binoculars and wrote journal-like notes in pencil in his black-cover notebooks. The notes included the weather at his watching spot, a description of the landscape and other observations. As for birds, he wrote down details such as the observation spot, the bird’s behaviour and information about the condition of the nest and the number of nestlings. When out on his trips, he spent all his leisure time writing the notes. His handwriting is not easy to read, since the text is small and includes shorthand.

Linkola wrote up his notes in a multi-step process. He typed simple bird observations into separate folders with his typewriter. As for the content of his notebooks, Linkola wrote this up by hand into separate hardback journals. As his work progressed, he crossed out the parts he had written up, as can be seen in the two notebooks from 1966 donated to the museum.

Pentti Linkola did not finish writing up all of his notebooks. According to his daughter Leena Linkola, he had sometimes calculated that he would have to live to 150 in order to be able to write up all his notebooks. And there were always new observations to record.