At the Sõru Museum, Old Thomas is depicted on very different kinds of objects. Collector Eero Kööp said he has found, bought and received these items as gifts over roughly ten years.

"I don't remember how the interest started. Maybe it began with one wall plaque. Many items were left out of this exhibition," Kööp said.

Tallinn's guardian Old Thomas, or Vana Toomas in Estonian, will soon be celebrating a major anniversary.

"The Old Thomas weather vane was placed on the [Tallinn Town Hall] tower when the year was 1530. But according to one legend, he was named Thomas later," Kööp said.

It is also unknown who the author of the first Old Thomas — now held at the Tallinn City Museum — originally was. And in broad terms, Old Thomas has retained his appearance over five centuries.

"But he has been stylized in several different ways. For example, once we had a sister city, Schwerin, and they made him into a complete clown. At the request of restaurants, Old Thomas looks a bit different. But mostly he is still the same — the flag is always on one side," Kööp said.

Most of the Old Thomas items on display at the exhibition date back decades. The best‑known object is perhaps the former Estoplast factory's Old Thomas table lamp from the Soviet era. But today's so‑called modern Old Thomases have a completely different story.

"Modern Old Thomases are made in China. Our souvenir sellers order their products from China," Kööp noted.

And the reason such an exhibition was set up on Hiiumaa at all is very simple and practical.

"Here at the Sõru end, Eero Kööp had a few Old Thomases, and over ten years he collected more. Then the time came when he needed to do renovations at home. And then he came to the museum and asked whether an exhibition could be made. And that's how it started to branch out," said Sõru Museum director Eve Ellermäe.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!