Vesa Hörkö, who runs Brahe’s antique shop in Turku, has almost 30 years of experience in the book industry. He knows what books Finns keep in the valuables of their homes. And the fact that collectors are now interested in a completely different kind of work.
At dusk the back of the lift door reflects light.
The industrial area in Kaarina’s Voivala, along the old number one road, is a typical wilderness of sheet metal halls: cars are repaired, washed, sold and tuned. Changing tires, importing and exporting goods.
One of the halls stands out from the others. When you peek in the door, the first thing you see is a lonely armchair, and behind it, the bookshelves are almost endless.
One could easily imagine ending up in a cemetery of forgotten books, like Carlos Ruiz Zafónin in the novel The shadow of the wind. That, too, is sure to hang out here somewhere.
In one of the shelf spaces stand in molten harmony, for example Eva Braunin biography, Maiju Lassilan Awakened from the deadnonfiction Descartesista and History of Finland, Part VIII.
In the middle of the books stands an antique shopkeeper Vesa Hörkkö. But he is not interested in Braun or Lassila now.
Instead, he admires the work, which overshadows all the hardcover opuses around him.
It is Anttila’s mail order catalog from 1981.
Vesa Hörkkö is researching a surprising collection object, Anttila’s catalog 40 years ago.
Opuses there is a huge amount here, exactly 1.2 shelf kilometers. And their owner Hörkkö is a long-line divarimies.
He founded his first store in 1995. He lived through the golden age of CDs and VHS tapes. However, new formats began to shake up music and film sales. Gradually, Hörkkö decided to focus on books.
Today, Hörkkö spends his days in a stone-foot shop on Brahenkatu in Turku, but in the mornings and evenings he drives to Kaarina’s warehouse. From there, he runs an online store with his father.
“Now pretty much everyone [Vladimir] To Putin related goes on sale, ”Hörkkö describes the latest trend.
Audio and e-books have also changed the book business. However, basic demand has remained stable.
“Sometimes young house builders with a library room nearing their new home are coming into circulation, and the shelves should be filled,” Hörkkö laughs.
“But comics, for example, are in a bad shout right now.”
The change brought about by the Internet is that school-age people, 10–15 years old, are completely absent from the clientele.
“That’s when in our youth, comics were exchanged with friends. It was taken to a divar and new ones were taken over in exchange. Today, a typical cartoon client is a middle-aged man looking for those things in his youth. ”
“Bridge in the sector, demand is fluctuating little by wave. Sometimes, for example, batch and Lapland books were in high demand, but not so much at the moment. ”
The biggest problem is quantity.
“There is a huge amount of literature on offer,” Hörkkö reflects.
The hottest collectibles right now are all that no one has ever considered worth preserving before. That is why Anttila’s catalog gives the merchant a wide grin.
“Once I went to the client to look at a collection of magazines. The magazines weren’t really from anywhere, but I asked if something else could have been forgotten in the warehouses. And oijoi! Eventually, a bunch of bicycle catalogs from the 1930s and 1940s were found in the very corner of the attic. It turned out that there was a bicycle repair shop in the house before, ”Hörkkö recalls.
He says “flags of all the world” are coveted by collectors today.
Vesa Hörkö holds the 1775 hymnal. A lot of old religious literature comes up for sale.
Old books and magazines usually come on sale from heirs. Old hardcover masterpieces have been preserved as heirloom treasures on the bookshelves of the homes. Therefore, there is an oversupply of them in the market.
Hörkkö is browsing an old hymn from 1775.
“The age of the book is not the deciding factor. For example, 19th century religious literature is not valuable. This has been the case in many farms and has been preserved from one generation to the next. ”
But then the merchant gets involved.
“Oh, if you could find old TPS match tickets or match programs somewhere,” he dreams.
“Even if someone has kept them in the drawer box, the heirloom will be the first to clean them up in the trash.”
If someone were intelligent to offer such a divar, Hörkkö would make deals right away. No jackpot would be promised to the seller, but a box of old porn magazines, for example, could be worth hundreds of euros.
Although Grandfather’s encyclopedias, expensive houses and artopase castles do not increase the heritage, Hörkö says there are still enough readers for the books. Works are purchased primarily for use, not just for collection.
And of course, certain classics always hold their own. Adolf Hitler work Mein Kampf are asked regularly.
Aamun At dawn, a bunch of books ordered during the night leave Kaarina’s warehouse.
Most of them are still traditional novels. Kauko Hörkkö shows a stack of books to peek at Stephen King and John Greenin All the last words.
Don’t throw these in the trash
Vesa (front) and Kauko Hörkkö at the Brahe antique store in Kaarina.
According to Vesa Hörkö, surprising products can have collectible value. For example, collectors are looking for:
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Bus schedules
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1990s and older men’s magazines
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Advertisements and manuals for tractors, mopeds and cars
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