The Mobile Post Office of 1939

The first mobile post office was probably put into service by the French Post. That was in 1929. Several other countries followed: Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, England, Switzerland, and Sweden. In 1936, the Dutch PTT purchased a large Chevrolet tractor unit with a semi-trailer. A mobile post office was set up inside, based on a design by Nicolaas de Koo, in collaboration with the Rijks Automobiel Centrale (RAC) in The Hague. In the disconnected position, eight writing desks could be extended from the front. Three soundproof telephone booths were built into the rear. A postcard vending machine and two stamp vending machines were installed on the two sides for self-service. Along the length of the bright red painted mobile post office, the words Post – Telegraph – Telephone were written in gold letters. The Mobile Post Office was first put into use in Assen in 1939 during the TT races. Both visitors and drivers used it for their postal matters. This was followed by a number of other major events, such as the Four Days Marches in Nijmegen and the NCRV national day at the Feyenoord stadium in Rotterdam.

Mobile Post Office Assen

The first stamp used in the Mobile Post Office was at the TT grounds in Assen for the TT Races. A postcard telegram from the PT.T. headquarters dated July 27, 1939, reads: On the occasion of the TT races in Assen, the mobile post office will be put into service there as a temporary branch post office on June 30 and July 1. Correspondence delivered by post and accepted items will be marked with an impression of a stamp specially manufactured for the mobile post office. Dates of use Friday, June 30, 1939, and Saturday, July 1, 1939, in violet ink.

Mobile Post Office Nijmegen 4-day event

Notice number 3642 from the Press and Propaganda Service of the PTT dated July 19, 1939, reads: PTT regarding the Four Days Marches. The PTT mobile post office will be set up on the grounds of the Prins Hendrik Barracks in Nijmegen during the Four Days Marches from July 25 to 28. A temporary branch office for the postal, telegraph, and telephone services will be established there. Correspondence posted there will, as usual, bear the special stamp of this mobile post office. A hanging mailbox is also located on the same grounds. Correspondence posted in this hanging mailbox during the march days will be provided with the imprint of a commemorative stamp specially produced for the 4-day distance marches. Print in violet (Monday, July 24) Print in green (Tuesday 25 July and Friday 28 July) Print in red (Wednesday, July 26 and Saturday, July 29) Blackprint (Thursday, July 27)

Car Post Office Feyenoord Stadium

On August 3, the Mobile Post Office was set up in the Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam during the NCRV national day. Stamps were applied here using red ink.

Mobile Post Office Olst Olanto

Announcements from the PTT Head Office No. XXXII of August 9, 1939: During the National Agricultural, Horticultural, Livestock, and Industrial Exhibition to be held in Olst from August 24 to 27, the mobile post office will be put into service there, in which a temporary branch office for the PTT service will be established. Items posted in the mailbox of the mobile post office will bear an impression of the date stamp of that office. The stamp, of the already known type, states AUTOPOSTKANTOOR at the top, the date in the middle, e.g., 24.VIII.39.11, and OLST – OLANTO at the bottom. OLANTO means: Olst Agricultural Exhibition. Due to wartime conditions and gasoline shortages, the operation of the mobile post office had to be discontinued at the end of 1939. The enormous tractor-trailer was kept well hidden for years during the war, but was eventually discovered in 1944. The mobile post office was requisitioned and transported to Germany. The mobile post office was lost in a bombing raid in Kassel. Kassel is located in the north of Germany in the state of Hesse. With that, the curtain fell for this enormous mobile post office. After the war, a new mobile post office would be put into operation, which mainly crisscrossed the country to promote the sale of summer stamps and children's stamps.