This weekend is the last chance to visit the old PTT Museum in The Hague.

Beeld & Geluid in The Hague (Zeestraat 82) is a Dutch interactive museum about life in the media. Until 2019, the museum was known as COMM, and previously as the Museum voor Communicatie and the PTT Museum. In 2019, the museum was acquired by Beeld en Geluid in Hilversum. In 2022, the Beeld en Geluid Den Haag Foundation and the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision Foundation merged into a single company and continue under the name Beeld & Geluid. June 29 and 30, 2024, are the last two days that the former PTT Museum is open to visitors in The Hague. And what is the connection to the Blue Mauritius?

Postal Museum, 1929-1989

The museum was established by law on May 18, 1929, as the 'Het Nederlandsche Postmuseum' Foundation. Pieter Waller's extensive collection of postal values ​​formed the basis of the collection. Contrary to what the name suggests, it is a museum about the history of the postal service, philately (the collecting and study of stamps and related items), telegraphy, and telephony. Various exhibitions were organized, which were very interesting for philatelists. Proofs, advertising material, and background information gave collectors a good idea of ​​the designs on display.

 

 

 

PTT Museum, 1989-1998

In 1989, there was a name change: Postmuseum became PTT Museum. Until 1998, the museum was fully maintained by the State Enterprise PTT and its successors. In 1998, the museum became independent, and from 1999 onwards, the museum acquired a new identity and a new name: 'Museum voor Communicatie'.

 

Museum of Communication, 1998-2016

The Museum of Communication was an interactive museum where visitors could discover how people communicate with one another. The difference in communication between the past and the present was also showcased. The museum was one of the first to host a multimedia children's exhibition: *Het Rijk van Heen en Weer* (The Realm of Back and Forth), which was open to visitors until March 1, 2015. The museum regularly organized workshops that complemented the exhibitions and the collection. The offerings were very varied: from writing love letters and designing stamps to a digital image editing course. Museum lessons were also offered for groups from primary, secondary, vocational, and secondary vocational education. In addition, attention was paid to films made with mobile phones, such as the world's first feature film shot on a mobile: *Waarom heeft niemand mij vertel dat het zo slecht wordt in Afghanistan* (Why Did No One Tell Me It Would Get So Bad in Afghanistan), by Dutch director Cyrus Frisch, about the distorted perception of an Afghanistan veteran. The Museum of Communication closed on March 1, 2016, for renovations to a new concept. Previously, it was a more traditional museum focusing on the history of communication and the technical workings of communication devices. Visitor numbers continued to decline, prompting the management to decide to change course.

 

COMM, 2017-2019

After a thorough transformation and a name change to 'COMM', the museum, which in its new setup focuses on the influence of communication, reopened to the public on November 3, 2017. COMM has its own conference rooms for meetings and events and is a center for conferences, courses, training sessions, workshops, press conferences, webinars, (business) meetings, and flexible workspaces. In 2019, it became known that financial irregularities had been committed. Director Tobias Walraven is blamed for the expenditures. As of 2019, there are plans to dispose of the collection and close rooms. The museum could no longer continue independently. In July 2019, COMM was acquired by the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision in Hilversum.

In July 2019, the museum closed its doors to individual visitors. The reason was the disappointing number of visitors, despite the 2017 renovation. Instead of the expected 40.000 visitors in 2018, only 23.000 came. The old 'Postmuseum' was still known to the public, but the new 'COMM' failed to catch on. It is now under the management of the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision in Hilversum, with a greater focus in the future on 'temporary exhibitions, debates, and events'.

 

Image and Sound The Hague, 2019-2024

On Thursday, September 17, 2020, Alderman Robert van Asten opened the new media museum Beeld en Geluid Den Haag. Due to consistently disappointing visitor numbers, the management of COMM was taken over by Beeld en Geluid, the audiovisual archive in Hilversum, on July 2, 2019. The new name is Beeld en Geluid Den Haag. The Board Member is Eppo van Nispen tot Sevenaer of Beeld en Geluid, the General Director is Elke Smelt, and the Business Director is Sarah-Jane Earl. The new identity of the museum is Beeld en Geluid Den Haag, and the focus is on life in the media. The museum addresses themes such as press freedom, demonstrations, and fake news. Temporary exhibitions are displayed with similar themes or themes that fit within media literacy. Educational workshops are also offered to primary and secondary school pupils, during which they gain knowledge about media and how to interact with media while visiting the museum. In addition, the museum rents out rooms where companies can organize events, and they are currently also available for organizing webinars, online events, and hybrid events.

Beeld & Geluid in The Hague, the museum for news and journalism, will leave Zeestraat on September 1, 2024. The successful programming and educational workshops focusing on themes such as media literacy and journalism will be continued with partners at locations elsewhere in the city. This marks the end of the long history of the building on Zeestraat as a museum. In 2019, Beeld & Geluid acquired the struggling Museum voor Communicatie (COMM), formerly known as the PTT Museum. The museum reopened in 2020 with an exhibition on media, news, and journalism. Due to the coronavirus crisis, visitor numbers were disappointing. Additionally, the complex permitting system and rising costs such as rent and energy made responsible operation on Zeestraat impossible.

Until July 1, 2024, various activities will still take place in the building, including the My First Smartphone exhibition and programming centered on the themes of news and journalism. From July 1 to September 1, the relocation of the collection to Beeld & Geluid in Hilversum will be facilitated. The museum's goal, promoting news literacy, is of great importance in the current media landscape and deserves attention, particularly in The Hague as the heart of our democracy. The activities and collaborations established in The Hague in this area will be continued in the city in a different way through cooperation with partners. Since 1929, the museum has built up treasure troves full of magnificent collection pieces. This collection has been the property of Beeld & Geluid since 2019, and thanks to the merger, the institute will care for these historic pieces for eternity. With the closure of the Zeestraat location, the entire collection is moving to Hilversum.  

Blue Mauritius

Post Office Mauritius, or simply Post Office, is the first stamp issue of the island of Mauritius, then a British colony, issued on September 12, 1847. The issue, featuring the likeness of Queen Victoria, consisted of two stamps: 1 pence in the color orange-red and 2 pence in the color blue. These stamps are also known as the Red Mauritius and the Blue Mauritius. [/ One_half] [one_half_last]           The two seals were engraved by Joseph Osmond Barnard, born in England in 1816, who hid on a ship to Mauritius in 1838. The designs were based on the stamps of Great Britain at the time (first issued in 1841), featuring the profile of Queen Victoria and issued in two denominations in similar colors: one penny reddish-brown and two pence blue. Although these locally produced stamps have a distinctly primitive character, they ensured that Barnard's “name became immortal in the postal history of Mauritius”.

Five hundred of each value were printed from a single plate containing both values ​​and issued on September 21, 1847, many of which were used on invitations sent by the wife of the Governor of Mauritius for a ball she hosted that weekend. The stamps were printed using the intaglio method (recessed printing) and bear the engraver’s initials “JB” on the lower right edge of the bust.

The words “Post Office” appear in the left panel, but in the next issue in 1848, these words were replaced by “Post Paid”. Later, a legend arose that the words “Post Office” were an error. Among non-philatelists, these are the best-known stamps, with the Blue Mauritius at the top, although they are not the rarest or most expensive stamps in existence. Of the Blue Mauritius, 8 used and 4 unused stamps are known worldwide; of the Red Mauritius, there are 12 used and 2 unused stamps. Four of these stamps appear on two letters: the Bordeaux letter with a red and a blue stamp, and the Bombay letter with two red stamps.

(The story of this letter: Arthur Hind (1856 – 1933) was an American textile industrialist and philatelist. Hind had an outstanding collection of United States stamps. Like Thomas Tappling, he used all the profits from his business to expand his collection. In 1922, he bought the so-called “Bordeaux letter” containing the two different stamps from the Mauritius Post Office. He also had two uncancelled copies of those same stamps. At the auction of Philipp von Ferrary’s estate, he bought important US Postmaster’s Provisionals and the only copy of the British Guiana 1c magenta — King George V of England was left empty-handed). As early as 1848, a second issue appeared with the text “Post Paid” instead of “Post Office”. Collectors (erroneously) considered the first issue a printing error, and for that reason, the stamps were highly sought after. The four unused specimens of the Blue Mauritius are located in the following collections:

• the private collection of Queen Elizabeth II;
• the National Archives in The Hague;
• the postal museum in London;
• the Blue Penny Museum in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius – an unused Red Mauritius is also located here.

(This Post Office stamp was issued as part of a combined issue in 1995. The occasion was the acquisition of the Blue Mauritius in 1994. Designer: Julius Vermeulen (1953 – 2024)). The name of stamp dealer Jean-Baptiste Moens is associated with the Post Office stamps. Jean-Baptiste Moens (1833 – 1908) was a Belgian philatelist, philatelic journalist, and one of the first stamp dealers. Because he published the very first stamp catalogue in 1862, he was called the Father of Philately. He also owned eight copies of the Blue Mauritius.

 

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Beeld & Geluid (The Hague), June 29 and 30, 2024, program: https://www.beeldengeluid.nl/bezoek/agenda/groeten-uit-den-haag And in the autumn of 2024, these are the plans elsewhere in the city: https://www.beeldengeluid.nl/bezoek/agenda/programmering-najaar-den-haag