Historical Dutch motorcycles
We had to wait long for it, but now the time has finally come: on July 19, 2021, PostNL has released an issue entirely devoted to motorcycles. And with awareness of the Dutch motorcycle history, because the theme is "historic motorcycles" and only Dutch motorcycle brands are depicted.
The issue consists of a sheet of 10 stamps, printed within the gray personal stamp frame that has been in use since 2018. But unlike the really personal stamps, there are now 10 different images on the stamps, and the sheet as a whole also forms one continuous image.
On the sheet we see an imaginary wall in perspective with 10 framed photos of Dutch motorcycles from the period 1905-1955. Between and around the photos more frames are hanging with photos of details of the depicted motorcycles.
The sheet was designed by Huub de Lang and Anne Schaufeli of studio26 from Velp. The photo material was selected by Hans van Dissel of the Historical Motor Documentation Foundation, until recently publisher of the well-known old-timer magazine "Het Motorrijwiel".
PostNL writes the following about the subject in a press release:
The serial production of motorcycles started in Germany in 1894 (Hildebrand and Wolfmüller) and in France in 1897 (the Werner brothers). The first Dutch products were on display at the Rijwiel Industry exhibition in Amsterdam (RAI) in 1899: a motorized tricycle and a motorcycle of the Gruno brand from Groningen.
Serial production started around the turn of the century with names such as Altena (Haarlem), Burgers (Deventer) and Eysink (Amersfoort). Altena was the first Dutch manufacturer to build its own four-stroke engine; most manufacturers used third-party engines.
Other brands in the first decade of the 20th century were Bluekens (Chaam), Cup (Maashees), Eenhoorn (Rotterdam), Fongers (Groningen), Gazelle (Dieren), Hermes (Assen), Meijer (Amsterdam), Simplex (Utrecht) and Success (Zwolle). Often these were factories that originally made bicycles, and some names we come across later as moped manufacturers.
Vulkaan from Venlo is also one of the top brands from the period before the First World War. In the 1920s, Dutch motorcycle production was relatively low. Simplex and Eysink were the only factories to maintain production this entire decade.
In the second half of the 1930s, competition from light foreign motorcycles further increased. Nevertheless, Eysink, Sparta (Apeldoorn) and Simplex in particular survived quite reasonably. Brands were even added, such as Cyrus from Venray.
After an interruption in the Second World War, the Dutch factories slowly started to run again. Batavus (Heerenveen), Eysink, DMF (Driebergen), Sparta, Gazelle, Germaan (Meppel) and Hulsmann (Schiedam) came out with 98 cc and 125 cc models, powered by Villiers build-in blocks. After a short prosperous period in the 1st half of the 1950s, the Dutch motorcycle brands finally came to a halt around 1954-1955. In less than 2 years they were almost all gone. Only Sparta lasted until 1961.
(Source: Hollandsch Fabrikaat, from Het MotorRijwiel, 1999, author Hans van Dissel).
As oldtimer enthusiast with a great interest in Dutch motorcycle brands, I am of course very happy with this issue, and especially with the fact that my favorite brand Hulsmann is also on it.
Although the Netherlands does not have a very rich history as a motorcycle producing nation, a choice had to be made from the approximately 30-35 Dutch motorcycle brands. Of course I (as the owner of a Kaptein motorcycle) would have liked to see a Kaptein among them, but at least the biggest brands (Sparta, Eysink, Simplex) are represented.
Here are the stamps themselves in larger size:
| Batavus 125cc, 1937: |
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Altena
3 PK, 1905: |
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Cyrus 100cc, 1936: |
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| DMF 250cc, 1955: |
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| Eysink Alpenjager (Alps chaser)
500cc, 1934: |
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| Gazelle
125cc, 1948: |
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Hulsmann
200cc, 1954: |
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| Sparta
200cc, 1954: |
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| Simplex
1100cc, 1921: |
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| Vulkaan
350cc, 1931: |
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The sheet is printed in an edition of 3000 pieces. Unfortunately, it is not distributed via post offices and agencies, but it can be ordered via the website "www.postnl.nl/bijzondere-postzegels" and from Collect Club's customer service on telephone number +31 88 868 99 00.
Paul Essens
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