Uuno is a ragged man, characterised by his tattered, sleeveless shirt, sparse row of teeth and untidy face, perhaps depicting a Finnish stereotype of loser.
The conventional plot of the films is based on the tension between Uuno and his father-in-law: the mining executive Councillor Tuura, disgusted by his dirty son-in-law, faces constant misfortune on his career, when Uuno pops up in the wrong places.