The International Website for People Interested in Netherlands+Philately!
Special situations in history, such as war-time conditions and pre-philately
A big story at the end of December 2019 was how ex Nissan-CEO Ghosn (fig. 1), charged with financial wrongdoing, managed to sneak through a Japanese airport to a private jet that whisked him out of the country by hiding in a large, black music …
The Groninger-Lemmer Steamboat Company was founded on July 9, 1870 by the brothers Jan, Geert and Reint Nieveen. Initially, its steam ships maintained a regular service between Groningen, Sneek, Lemmer and from there on to Amsterdam and carried people, cattle and goods.
During the later part of the 16th century several cities in the Netherlands (Middelburg, Hoorn, and Amsterdam among them) equipped vessels, with the specific purpose of trading with the Far East. These were all done under single contracts. Competition among the cities was fierce and …
The cover shown in Figure 1 has a blue marker that reads “BESCHADIGD DOOR RAMP HARWICH BOOT” (damaged because of disaster with Harwich boat). It concerns a letter from London (U.K.) to Amsterdam. The flaps of the envelope (Figure 2) had become lose, probably because …
When Slavo Ramadanović brought the Montenegrin declaration of war to Austria-Hungary in the summer of 1914 he probably realized how reckless this move could be. As General Director of the department of foreign affairs of this small Balkan nation he was in charge of all …
In the Netherlands the first 3 postage stamps were introduced on the 1st of January 1852, prior to that date the sender or addressee of letters, documents and printed matter etc. had to pay the due amount of the services provided to the courier or …
The 1916 Distributiewet (Distribution Act) entered into force on August 19, 1916. There was a shortage of food in the Netherlands and a lot of things were going on. Sometimes a shortage was created, such as that of potatoes.
Documents and deeds are often boring and of little interest. But not always! Sometimes attention is drawn to a special combination, such as the document shown here. It was created on so-called formaatpapier (format paper) with an impressed formaatzegel of “50 cents ‘sGr. 1940”. In …
In April 1960, 70 western-oriented countries issued stamps for the proclaimed UN World Refugee Year. Since most of the refugees at that time came from communist countries, four of them protested by declaring these stamps invalid. These countries were Poland, Czechoslavakia, Sowiet Union and Romania. …
The printed matter (“Drukwerk”) cover shown here was mailed aboard the frigate Hr. Ms. ”Johan Maurits van Nassau” in January 1953. Its destination was Yokohama, Japan. The frigate was on assignment in Korean waters during the Korean War. Upon the frigate’s arrival on January 22, …
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