The 'time travel' of three retrospective stamps

Perhaps you haven't noticed yet: the children's stamps of 2025, the Juliana & Bernhard stamp, and the Máxima stamp each take a small journey through time in their own way. The images on these stamps show moments from long before the year of issue. In these three 'retrospective stamps' (or flashback stamps), there is a remarkable time difference between the depicted moment and the year of issue in each case: – for stamp [1] about 80 years – for stamp [2] about 40 years – for stamp [3] about 1 year In the remainder of this article, I will briefly explain the reason and purpose of this time difference for each stamp. There may even be more stamps in which a living person playfully makes a 'journey through time' — a kind of visual role-play. 1) Children's Stamps 2025 You undoubtedly remember that the recently issued children's stamps feature three Kader stamps (Personal Stamps) as a crowning glory (see articles of September 25 & October 5). Designer Jan van Haasteren's parents-in-law are both depicted as a boy and a girl playing marbles on the two stamps: * Mother-in-law (top stamp) looks at the father-in-law throwing marbles (bottom stamp). The suitcase (with the inscription 'marble box') next to him refers to his profession. Unfortunately, this information was not included in the previous article. * The puzzle designer and illustrator, 88-year-old Jan van Haasteren, is himself sitting on the edge of the sandbox reading a comic book as a boy. * I cannot escape the impression that the remaining nine children are anonymous individuals. In an email sent to Van Haasteren, in which I asked who the other people are (also family members?), I received no reply. Perhaps a reader of the Postzelblog is one of the fans of the Van Haasteren puzzles. Perhaps they possess the requested information (my email address is batehijl@delta.nl). 2) Juliana – Bernhard 40th Wedding Anniversary Stamp After the first arranged meeting by Queen Wilhelmina during the Winter Olympics in Garmisch Partenkirchen (February 6–16), the prince made a good impression on both Juliana and her mother. At the third meeting on July 11 at Het Loo Palace, Bernhard unsuccessfully proposed to Juliana. Juliana felt it was too soon. A month later, the marriage contract was already arranged, and on September 8, 1936, the engagement was announced to the world. On January 7, 1937, the wedding of Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard took place in St. Jacob's Church in The Hague. After the ceremony, the couple moved to Soestdijk Palace in Baarn. At the second or third meeting (at Easter or Pentecost 1936), German press photographer Erich Salomon photographed the couple on a staircase during a walk in the terraced garden of Het Loo Palace. The couple walks up the stairs with a cheerful, spirited expression. A second photograph provides clearer and more convincing evidence of mutual affection. So far, there is nothing remarkable about the information in this article. It is, however, remarkable that the 78-year-old Queen features on the 50th wedding anniversary stamp via a black-and-white photo from 40 years earlier. In other words, a 28-year-old Princess Juliana was placed on the stamp in 1987. The reason? At that time, there was still mutual affection. Designer Battinga's justification for the choice of photo: “This photo was chosen because it was taken before a stormy life with many ups and downs would take place. A quirky note of mine regarding the use of this photo is the orange-colored bouquet in Princess Juliana's hands.” Brattinga did not include a customary gold border on the anniversary stamp, but two gold borders (by way of compensation?), one even wider than the other. Indeed, all's well that ends well. Their marriage was abysmal, as evidenced by the uninvolved, businesslike, and detached profile images of Queen and Prince on the silver wedding stamp of 1962. In the preliminary design, Juliana is still wearing a diadem, with which Sierk Schreuder intended to represent royal dignity. Juliana did not appreciate this symbolic expression. Both first-day cancellations represent the opposite of the two issues: the 25th anniversary stamp comes across as cheerfully upbeat due to its rich detailing, while the 50th anniversary possesses a businesslike appearance. 3) 50-year-old Maxima in 2021 When graphic designer Maud van Rossum happened to see King Willem-Alexander during a TV speech from his office, she discovered a photo frame in the bookcase containing a black-and-white photo of Maxima Zorreguieta from Argentina. Perhaps the first photo of his beloved that he possessed at the time. Van Rossum: “If I could ever get my hands on this photo, I would immediately change the design of the design. Not Maxima combined with a collage of her three daughters, but a stamp sheet of the Queen with, among other things, photos of her [inter]national social activities.” Permission was granted to use the photo of an anonymous person as a glimpse into their private life: “I don’t think a queen has ever ended up on a stamp like that.” The large stamp is uncolored, just like Maxima when she entered our country. We as Dutch people have not had the chance to get to know her either.