Traditional Costumes : Postage Stamps Holland 1960

This Friday I show you the children charity stamps of The Netherlands of 1960.




Children charity stamps are distributed each year by the Dutch Post and you can buy them at every post office in The Netherlands. There is an extra charge on the stamps, which is intended for cultural, social or health projects. In 1960, the children stamps were designed by Jeanna Bieruma Oosting, one of the most prominent Dutch graphic artists in that time. The rather realistic colored line drawings of children in traditional costumes are placed in front of loudly colored backgrounds. Funny enough, just like the rejected designs of Hubert Levigne from only two years before, she gives only a bust view of the kids (face and half-face).



The stamps depict some traditional costumes from around the former inland sea the Zuiderzee (now Lake IJsselmeer), and very appropriately the first sale of these stamps started in the Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuizen. The children portrayed are Aaltje van Rie from Marken (4 ct), Jannetje Kwakman from Volendam (6 ct), Magda van Halteren from Bunschoten (8 ct), Janna Marijke Atema from Hindeloopen (12 ct) and Dittie Klein from Huizen (30 ct).



I think this 1960 series is a very charming set, lovely designs with children very well taken into consideration.

Flickr Favourites: Traditional Costume of Hindeloopen, Holland

Today in the Flickr Favourites it's the turn of the traditional costume of Hindeloopen in Friesland in The Netherlands; it's an old city in the north at Lake IJsselmeer. In 1368 the city became part of the Hanseatic-league. Ships of Hindeloopen made journeys to the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts. The strong overseas connections with foreign countries were probably the reason for the development of an own Hindeloopen language; a mixture of Frisian, English, Danish, and Norwegian. The ship-trade brought Hindeloopen great prosperity, especially in the 17th and 18th century. Lots of money were spent in Amsterdam on precious fabrics and objects, which were supplied through the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The rich town developed in those days her own costume and interior design style with colorful painted walls and furniture. The costume was very richly decorated and knew many variations; so you could easily see whether a woman was married or not, or if she was in mourning or not. They used dyed cotton from India and woolen and linen materials from Holland. The long or short coat was made of chintz with a flower-pattern and the apron and the headdress were made of a woven check pattern.

For more flickr favourites see ArtMind's blog.

1. Fries Museum Hindelooper dracht, 2. Hindelopen klompjes, 3. Chintz Baby Boy Hat - original, 4. IMG_6993

And two picture postcards from my own collection.