Skateboard Gear

Happy Hour Skateboards x Tom of Finland – Second Collection

Fully authorized collab release between Tom of Finland and Happy Hour Skateboards

Happy Hour Skateboards x Tom of Finland – Second Authorized Collection

In spring 2017, the Helsinki-based Happy Hour Skateboard brand became the first-ever skateboarding company to collaborate with the Tom of Finland Foundation on a collection of skate decks and accessories.

Tom of Finland is one of the world’s most influential artists. From the late 1950s onwards, he produced a massive body of work and played a key part in gay liberation and remains a fixture of pop culture.

“We were unsure about how the first collection would be received,” said Jarkko Poropudas, founder and owner of Happy Hour Skateboards.
“But when the products became available in the Tom of Finland online store, the first batch sold out in a day. It feels like lots of people wanted to send a message by wearing something from the Happy Hour Skateboards X Tom of Finland collection, but the first edition was quite small. That’s why we decided to make another batch.”

The collection includes a real treat for Tom of Finland fans: The Just Cruising deck features an early illustration of a happy lumberjack floating down the river on a log – a scene of Finnish agrarian life of yore. It ended up on the cover of Physique Pictorial, an early gay porn magazine, in 1957.
The editor in chief, Bob Mizer, came up with the moniker Tom of Finland.

Durk Dehner, President of Tom of Finland Foundation explained how the collaboration came about…

“Working with Happy Hour was so simple – we met, had a drink, shook hands on it and boom, it all came together with so much ease. Those dudes are truly positive in the manner in which they sail through life. It’s very cool to see them in action. I think that the current generation of skaters are still outsiders or at least found skating through being outsiders. It is a professional sport, yet the spirit of young hooligans is still strong in their blood.”

Happy Hour Skateboards X Tom of Finland Collection 2 will be released on Saturday, February 17, 2018. The products will be available in stores and online via numerous retailers, including: