First it was an out of print book about saunas from the 1970s and some Finnish chocolate bars.
Then it was another book about saunas, printed in Finland.
Today, it is a collection of Finnish atmospheric postcards, a bag of Finnish candies, and a DVD copy of the landmark Finnish film Steam of Life.
The Sauna Elf – Saunatonttu – has visited me three times now. Â I am now convinced that the sauna elf is pleased with saunatimes.com waving the AUTHENTIC Finnish sauna flag.
What is NOT a sauna:
- An infrared light bulb closet hawked at a trade show.
- A hotel sauna or health club ‘sauna’ that prohibits water being tossed onto sauna rocks.
- A lame attempt of a hot room that can’t reach well north of 140 degrees f. (60 degrees c.).
What IS a sauna:
- A cedar lined hot room that is well insulated containing a
- Decent sauna stove, wood burning preferred, that produces
- Ample heat for multiple hot room rounds along with a
- Changing room for cooling down between rounds after
- a cold water swim or a cold shower.
Saunatonttu knows that the rising authentic sauna tide is lifting all sauna boats.  100 lame saunas mean that almost everyday now, at least one person is going to come over to the authentic sauna camp.