Windmill - The Finnish way

There are three types of windmills in Finland: post mills represent the oldest type; hollow post mills represent a type that dates back to the second half of the 18th century; and smock mills, which are called mamselli in Finland according to mademoiselles who wore the smocks, were also introduced in the late 18th century. Most of the surviving mills were built in the 19th century. According to Hirsjärvi & Wailes “smock mills were used by the manors; hollow post mills were built by the larger farmers, and post mills by smallholders”. All Finnish windmills are made of wood with one exception. Today most of them are painted with red earth paint, and indeed, this is known to have been the tradition since long at least in the western and central parts of the country.