This stamp is an appeal for charity. So one might expect a dramatic depiction of need. The Netherlands was pretty rich by 1984. So instead we see the appeal clothed in humor and the addition of luxury to the less privileged child’s life. Says something I think of the privilege of being Dutch. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
I am not fond of the aesthetics of this stamp. There is too much going on and it is simply not serious in the appeal. It is worth remarking that the stamp looks many years ahead of its time. It is 35 years old but could easily be an issue of today. To me that is not a compliment but to some it might be. Economic security brings more leisure and time for humor and even frivolity. With issues like this, we may be going beyond the basics of human dignity.
Todays stamp is issue SP238, a fifty plus twenty five cent semi postal issue from the Netherlands that was issued on November 14th, 1984. The four stamps of various denominations feature comic strips featuring earlier period children receiving music lessons on this and on others for example going to the dentist. The extra 25 cent charge was programed to support child welfare. This was a common beneficiary of Dutch semi postal issues. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 80 cents used.
Think about what this stamp implies is being provided to Dutch children in less then fortunate circumstances. One might think of a home, basic clothing, proper nutrition, access to healthcare and a free public education. These stamps promise way more than that showing private music lessons and aesthetic dentistry such as teeth braces. Exactly the type of thing that comes automatically to the rich but for the middle class something that only exceptional parents provide by sacrifice. Yet here we have a joking charity plea that implies such things will be given to the less fortunate. The people behind the stamp issue must think that there are a lot more rich who think of such things are automatic than middle class that struggle to provide such things to their children. Probably says most about the class that decides the stamp issue.
So where does Netherlands stand economically. Not bad at all. In terms of per capita GDP, the Netherlands is about 10 percent ahead of Germany and Belgium and 20 percent ahead of France and the UK. They are slightly below Scandinavia and the USA. One can see a stamp like this put out by the USA during a liberal administration that won’t have considered how annoying it is to those in the middle who did not vote for them. This theory does not seem to play out for the Netherlands of the time as it was then governed by a center right coalition supporting Ruud Lubbers, who presented himself as a conservative reformer. Lubbers after office took positions at the UN that would more appeal to liberals, so that may be indicative that politics in the Netherlands are more left than the USA. Lubbers was later forced to resign from the UN after metoo style allegations were found unsubstantiated but still leaked. Some things are the same all over. Lubbers, still married for 56 years and the father of three, died in 2018 at age 78.
Well my drink is empty and I am afraid I won’t be donating to music lessons for the Dutch less fortunate. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.
PS. Happy birthday to my daughter Betsy, also a stamp collector, if she happens to be reading today.