Condom

These limited edition Tom of Finland condoms have been made exclusively for House of Voltaire to coincide with Studio Voltaire’s major exhibition' Beryl Cook / Tom of Finland', bringing together the work of these two cultural icons for the very first time. The condom wrapper highlights an early work that was first published in Physique Pictorial magazine. Tom of Finland - who was then signing his works as ‘Tom’ - first submitted his drawings to Bob Mizer’s Physique Pictorial at the urging of a friend. His images of cheerful, half-naked loggers were openly suggestive but close enough to ‘wholesome’ masculine tropes to circumvent censorship. When they featured in Physique Pictorial’s Spring 1957 issue, Mizer had added an addendum, coining the now famed moniker ‘Tom of Finland’. This retitling followed a common practice of the period to obscure the identity of the artist, with some of Tom's contemporaries including Bruce of L.A., Lon of New York and Vince of London.