Toko began life way back in 1916 when a guy called Jakob Tobler started making ski waxes and waxing irons in the little town of Altstaten in Switzerland. Toko soon became a world leader in ski waxing technology with their innovative waxes and associated tools. Their main rivals in the world of ski waxing was Swix of Norway and unsurprisingly, Swix bought Toko in 1989, they in turn were taken over by another company called Brav (brave in Norwegian) though Toko, Swix and several other companies retained their brand names within the group. All this leaves us with a wee enigma as we can find no record of Toko ever having made skis, and another twist is that this pair were made in Finland, when Toko is now a Swiss/Norwegian company. They are made of wood with a plastic/glass fibre top which dates them to the 1970s, the Rottefella racing binding is a little later – 1980s-90s. So, one set of Toko skis made in Finland, a Finnish pirate version? – we don’t know, though it’s nice to have them, we have a Toko wax box and waxes elsewhere in the collection for company. Thanks to the Kale family down in Edinburgh for the donation.