Interwar
(1918 to 1939)
What happened?
The Interwar was the period between the First and the Second World War in the 20th century. After World War I ended, the old international system was torn down. Europe was reorganized and a new world was born. The European nations emerged economically and socially crippled. Economic depression prevailed in Europe during the interwar period. Debtor nations found it impossible to pay, without borrowing more money at higher rates, thus worsening the economy to an even greater degree. Especially Germany was economically destroyed by WWI and its aftermath.
the 1920s led to a period of economic prosperity and growth for the middle class in North America, Europe, Asia and many other parts in the world. Automobiles, electric lightning, radio broadcast and more became common among populations. The indulgences of the era were followed by the Great Depression, an economic downturn that severely damaged many of the world’s largest economics.
The League of nations was created to represent an effort to break the pattern of traditional power politics and bring international relations into an open and cooperative forum in the name of peace and stability. But they never grew strong enough to make that impact. The political atmosphere was divided between the extreme left and the extreme right. The situation kept the governments of Britain, France and Eastern Europe kept in constant turmoil. Extreme viewpoints won out in the form of totalitarian states in Europe during the Interwar. Communism took hold of the Soviet Union and fascism controlled Germany, Italy and Spain.
The European politics turned into an arena for sharp conflict, erupting in a Spanish Civil War in Spain. The fascist Nazi Party of Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany during the 1930s and prepared once again to make war on Europe.
Found: Dampiere-en-Burly, France (JN0252)
Identity Card
± 1919
From 1795 then on, regular censuses were held in the Netherlands. The rise of the national states brings change in the 19th century. The German occupier wanted to have a view of the population. That is why every Belgian in occupied territory, in 1915, was obliged to carry an identity card: the certificate of identity. Nobody could do without and it was required. Flemish author, Virginie Loveling, wrote in 1916 in her diary, that not being able to show your certificate of identity was punished with a hefty fine. Some people hardly ever had the certificate in their pocket. And they didn't give the Germans a penny. Every Belgian thought that way, according to her in 1917.
After WWI and the departure of Germans the identity certificate maintained. Belgium was therefore one of the first countries to recognize this obligation. This was not yet the case in the Netherlands. But an official working group in 1939, recommended the introduction of such a pass. The advice was rejected, by the government De Geer, in 1940, on the grounds that an introduction of proof of identity would regard every citizen as a potential criminal, and this was contradictional to Dutch tradition.
Shortly afterwards, the Netherlands was occupied by the Germans during WOII. Everyone had to get an identity card as soon as possible. The Netherlands let it happen without any problems and got to work. Jacob Lentz, chief inspector of population registers, designed an identity card that was considered the best of Europe at the time. The identity card started in 1941. The occupier had thus made a difference: the identity and place of residence of every Dutch resident was known and verifiable. The hunt for Jews and enemies became easier. Population registers were the target of the resistance.
The identification requirement was maintained on paper after the Second World War. Unlike Belgium, the identification requirement has been abolished in 1951. Due to the experiences during the occupation, there was an aversion to the identification obligation. For years it remained taboo.
Suspicions about a government that was too curious came to the surface. In the year 1971, the Dutch government wanted to conduct a census and store the data in a computer. Refusal was punishable. Anti-authorization and empowerment was the spirit of time. Many Dutch considered it an invasion of their privacy. Why did the government want to know so much? Some boycott the count. The count went on but ended in failure. It was also the last one.
The identification requirement was introduced in 2005 for the Netherlands. Striking without much resistance. The attacks on the Twin Towers, Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh had apparently ripened many people. The introduction of the card was accompanied by a propaganda "Postbus 51" video, in which actor Piet Römer explained the importance of the ID card. The arguments in favor of combating of terror, crime and fraud. The newspaper, De Volkskrant, looked back, in 2006, on a year of compulsory identification. Since the introduction, more than 80.000 tickets had been issued for not being able to show an ID card, worth 3,8 million euros. The reason for the control turned out to be insignificant, most often public urination and cycling without lights. The Public Prosecution Service also had to admit that no serious crimes had been committed. The safety gain seemed minimal, the increase in annoyance was bigger.
But in the 21th century, many people are willing to give up their privacy and rights, in exchange for a sense of security.
Found: Gourdon, France (JN0125-1)
Found: Gourdon, France (JN0125-2)
Bra
± 1920
In ancient Greece and ancient Rome, the women let their breasts hang freely at most during sports activities the torso girded with fabric. During the Middle Ages, the breasts were hidden under clothing. During renovation works in Lengberg, Austria, in the 20th century, the remains of what looks like the modern 15th century brassiere were recovered.
During the Renaissance, the breasts reappeared as an exuberant cleavage. Tight bodies pushed the breasts upwards, accentuated by a largely bare neck. Showing a leg or ankle was then considered more daring, a posture that remained long. The bodice developed into a corset, a tight waistcoat that can be tied in a waist, reinforced with metal, bone or whalebone. The shaped wasp waist was later emphasized more. Philosopher Rousseau speaks disapprovingly of the wasp waist in 1762.
Some kind of bra is used around 1800. The wasp waist became the highest feminine ideal for the elite in the 19th century. The corset was literally a straitjacket, tight clothing, which seriously hindered the health of the woman. Out of necessity, the working woman wore practical clothing without special breast support. The rise of women's sports demanded more spacious clothing. There were masculine accusations of immorality for women who did sports.
One of the first known BH patents belongs to the American Henry S. Lester from 1859. "Corselet Gorge", a loose bodice, a double corset, combined with a bra with shoulder straps from 1889 was made by the French Herminie la Cadolle. Loose reform clothing made its appearance in 1890. The corset became a symbol of weak and defenseless women.
About 1900, Paul Poiret, a French couturier, designed clothing that would have been unthinkable with a corset. He came up with some sort of bra. Mary Phelps Jacobs, the mother of the modern bra, created a simple design in 1914, out of two handkerchiefs and some pink ribbon. She sold the patent for $ 1,500, then worth millions. That bra went along with more freedoms for women.
Western women had entered factories en masse instead of the men who had to fight at the front during WWI. The US government called on women to stop wearing corsets to save metal for the war industry. This call would have yielded metal for two fully armed battleships. The women no longer put on the wasp waist corset after WWI. There was need for a different kind of support.
The first bras did not emphasize the bosom. Women's fashion in the 1920s was decidedly boyish. The "Flapper girl" phenomenon arose self-confident women cut their hair short, listened to jazz, and were seen as contemptuous of acceptable behavior. As trendsetters they got rid of the corset. It was the time of the "Charleston" and the Garçonne, the "boy girl".
The breast returned gloriously in the 1950s with the "bullet bra", a distinct emphasis on the bust. The bra had evolved from a practical to an erotic garment. Men still think that the bra is worn to seduce.
Feminists turn against the bra during the 1960s. The breast, the symbol of the woman through and through, had to be free. Emancipation of women.
Madonna, pop singer, starts the emancipation of the bra in the 1980s. During performances she wears bras as outerwear and set a trend.
British lingerie company Rigby & Peller was purveyor to the court in 2005 and largely owned by lingerie manufacturer Van de Velde from Schellebelle, Belgium. Belgians discreetly supply the Queen of England with her bras.
The bra line of Marlies Dekkers, Dutch designer, is a big hit internationally. In 2012, extravagant singer Lady Gaga commissioned the making of a bra with thousands of black Swarovski crystals on it.
Postcard Original Photo De Havilland DH.16 Commercial Biplane Construction. Found: Fareham, UK (JN0393)
Charter Airline
± 1920
The first commercial passenger flight from the Netherlands took place in 1920 and went from Amsterdam to London. The regular service was maintained by the Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (= Royal Aviation Company) for the Netherlands and Colonies. Known as KLM, this company was founded a year earlier. Flying was still in its infancy. KLM's home base was a muddy military 'airfield' at Schiphol Fort, well outside the city. The connection with Amsterdam ran along winding roads and narrow drawbridges, which were also often open. It flew in an Airco DH16, a double-decker aircraft that could accommodate up to four passengers. A ticket cost a fortune: 150 Dutch guilders for a single ticket. Two journalists were allowed to join. They were unlucky: it was raining cats and dogs, with strong wind and rain trickling into the cabin through the tent canvas. The machine reared up like a ship and regularly fell several meters. A tin tray was provided for each passenger in which to vomit. Via Belgium, it went over Calais to England, where the plane landed safely more than four hours later.
Because Schiphol was difficult to reach, KLM opened a small office on Leidseplein in Amsterdam in 1921. From here buses departed daily to the airport. Rarely did more than ten passengers per day take to the skies during the 1920s. Just before WWII, there were already a few hundred a day that took to the air with KLM.
Sobelair was founded in Belgium in 1946 under the name Société Belge des Transports Aériens. The last bus departs from the Amsterdam office in 1953.
Martinair was founded in 1958 by aviation pioneer Martin Schröder, then under the name Martin's Air Charter. With one aircraft and five employees, the start was modest. The first foreign destination from the Netherlands was Palma de Mallorca, a five-hour flight. Coffee came from a thermos. Instead of a three-course menu, there were homemade sandwiches. The first flying experience was no less for most. The pilot was applauded on landing.
For the common man, flying remained unaffordable. That changed about 1960, people earned more money and got more free time. The holiday took shape. Charter companies saw opportunities and successfully offered all-inclusive travel. At prices that were lower than those of traditional liner services. Dutch and Belgians flocked to countries such as France and the Spanish coasts. The distinctive aviation luxury was sacrificed to the price. Flying became like a bus trip. The charter planes were disrespectfully called "flying touring carts." Little Mallorca received a million tourists in 1965 with Martinair. On summer weekends, Palma's airport in Spain was the busiest in Europe, with one plane landing every minute at peak times, up to 350 in a day.
The newspaper, Het Algemeen Dagblad, (= The General Journal) talks about the 'democratization' of travel: The aristocratic tourism of the past has been replaced by the mass migrations of people that descend on Mallorca by charter plane in 1965. It has already come to a point where people, who have often boarded a plane for the first time in their lives, who sometimes have never set foot across the border, amble in dense throngs and burnt red under the palms of Palma's Paseo de Sagrera.
That first holiday wave by plane turned out to be just the beginning. The number of flights increased every year. Low-cost airlines Ryanair and EasyJet proved that it could be even cheaper at the end of the 20th century. Charter companies 2.0 with increased efficiency and cost savings. The basic prices are very low. EasyJet advertised “Air tickets for the price of jeans” in 1996. Since then, jeans have only become more expensive. The price of a ticket is halved.
In 2016, a one-way ticket to Dublin will cost just as much as a one-way train ticket from Rotterdam to Groningen or from Bruges to Liège. Flying has become ordinary.
Unused. Found: Madbury, New Hampshire, US (JN0228)
Crossword Puzzle
± 1922
The New York World newspaper was the first in 1913. It was an invention of a Liverpool journalist Arthur Wynne (1871-1945), who was inspired by ancient letter and word games that he had only adapted with some black boxes. The crossword was an immediate success. Few newspapers could afford not to have one.
Simon and Schuster, an American publishing duo, came up with the idea in 1924 to bring a collection of only crossword puzzles to the market. The "Crossword Puzzle Book" appeared and became a huge hit. For a time, a true crossword madness reigned and spread to Great Britain. The puzzle featured in songs such as "Crossword mamma, you puzzle me (but daddy's gonna figure you out)", as well as fashion and cartoons. Not all attention was positive. Libraries in particular complained. Avid puzzlers flocked to dictionaries and encyclopedias in their search for the right word. That did not do the condition of the books any good. They were almost unavailable for serious use. Borrowing from New York dictionaries was limited to five minutes. Doctors and other experts were harassed by pushy puzzlers who wanted to know, for example, a tropical disease of seven letters.
The first crossword puzzle in the Netherlands was published in Het Algemeen Dagblad in 1925. In the section "Below the Line for Children" by "Dr. Linkerhoek ".
The puzzle magazine "Denksport" (= Think Sports) was founded in 1930 by Isaac Keesing and has contributed a lot to the popularity of the crossword puzzle. All over the world there is a lot of physical sport, mind sport is neglected. The Netherlands shows that it does not stand aside for other countries and values brain gymnastics as physical exercise.
Until 1942, the newspaper, the New York Times, continued to reject the crossword puzzle. One of the reasons was the world war. You can't worry while solving a crossword puzzle. Ironically, the New York Times puzzle today (2021) ranks as the world's leading crossword puzzle.
The crossword puzzle proved to be a keeper and the negative noises disappeared. The Daily Telegraph had to run a crossword competition during WWII. The submitters were discreetly polled afterwards for a job as a code breaker at Bletchley Park, the British center of the British Secret Service, where work was done day and night to crack encrypted messages from the Germans.
In the months leading up to the Normandy landings, military code words appeared in the crosswords of the same Daily Telegraph. People were terrified that such secret information was being passed on to the enemy. An in-depth investigation was initiated. The compiler of the crosswords turned out to be a teacher at Strand School, a primary school in London, who had been temporarily relocated to Effingham, Surrey, during the war because of the bombing of London. Master Leonard Daws and a colleague were interrogated vigorously for a few days. The interrogators decided not to shoot them anyway. He returned to his school and fell silent.
The true facts of the case. D-Day Daily Telegraph crossword security alert was revealed in 1958. Many Americans and Canadians were stationed near the school during the war in preparation for the upcoming landings. There was a lot of contact between the men and the neighboring youth. Everyone around there roughly knew the outlines of the landing plan, including the code words. They did not know the meaning. Daws used to ask his students for interesting words for his crossword puzzles. They passed on their picked up code words as Juno, Swordfish or Overlord. Thus, the military secrets unwittingly entered the newspaper.
Goodrich Zipper Boots. Found: Kalamazoo, Michigan, US (JN0212)
Zipper
± 1923
The American Elias Howe (1819-1867), inventor of the sewing machine, created the first zipper when buttons, push-buttons and laces were the normal helpers for closing clothing and footwear. Although they did, they could be quite time consuming due to many hooks, knots, and eyes. Howe was the first to patent a type of zipper in 1851. Its closure went unnoticed.
The idea was picked up again in Chicago, America, by Whitcomb Judson (1846-1909) in 1893. His invention consisting of two rows of metal hooks and eyes that were pushed together by a slider. Presented at the world exhibition it made little impression. The new product turned out to be far from perfect. Sometimes pulling it closed was difficult. Once closed, the closure tended to reopen on its own.
In 1914, Gideon Sunback (1888-1954), Swedish immigrant to America, greatly improved Judson's closure. The idea of snags was discarded. This resulted in Sunback's “Hookless No2”, in everything the zipper as we know it in 2021. The zipper was ready for the market. Not everyone was enthusiastic. Orthodox circles warned against it. Pastors called the zipper “the devil's fingers” because taking off clothes was now very easy. It would promote licentiousness. The convenience was convincing, and the zipper was used more and more often. First in children's clothing, later in dresses and other women's fashion. In addition, the "quick release" was still discreetly hidden from view by a flap, as we know from the fly. Initially, the closure was referred to as a "fastener" in America.
The company B.F. Goodrich used the zipper in a women's rubber boot in 1923. Because of the noise and speed the zipper made, the boots were called "Zipper Boots". It is a derivative of the verb "to zip", (= "move quickly"). The name turned out to be a bull's eye, the "fastener" became a "zipper".
The zipper was slow to make its appearance in the 1920s. Also, in the Netherlands and Belgium. There was talk of the "American drawstrings". For a short time in 1929 there was talk of a "zip hype" in the Volkskrant, a Dutch newspaper. More and more people talked about the zipper or simply the zip during 1930. Like the word "zipper," this refers to the onomatopoeia of closing that sounded like tears for which the word "zipper" already existed.
The zipper was indispensable during the 1930s and soon became common. The zipper found more resistance in conquering the men's fly. A zip fly was perceived as unmanly, something for wimps. Here, too, convenience won.
The company Turnbell & Asser designed the Siren Zipper Suit, a strange mix of overalls and children's suit, with plenty of easy zippers for Winston Churchill in the 1940s. In this suit, it seemed as if Churchill was personally about to launch an air raid on Nazi Germany with a bomber. It is probably the most comfortable and casual piece of clothing ever worn by a world leader as commander of an army at war. It does not mean that Churchill only wore clothes with zippers.
The originally Japanese company YKK opened its first European factory in Sneek, the Netherlands and with it the first Japanese company in the Netherlands in 1964. Today in 2021 the company dominates production. The company has a market share of around fifty percent. Put it to the test and look at the pendant of your own zipper. There is a good chance that the logo can be found there.
The carillon of the Sneker Martini Church had to be restored and expanded in 1968. One of the clocks was generously donated by the Japanese zipper company. The name of YKK has been poured into the clock.
Neill Armstrong's spacesuit, the first human on the moon, had special zippers in 1969.
Yankee Stadium
± 1923
Yankee Stadium has been the site of many moments in baseball history. At Yankee Stadium, Don Larson pitched the first perfect World Series game. It is where Babe Ruth hit home run #60 and where Roger Maris passed Ruth with home run #61. Where Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in game 6 of the 1977 World Series. And where Mickey Mantle hit his 500th home run on May 14, 1987.
The stadium's nickname "The House That Ruth Built" is derived from babe Ruth, the baseball superstar whose peak years coincided with the stadium's opening and the beginning of the Yankees' winning history. It is also often referred to as “The Cathedral of Baseball.”
First known as the NY Highlanders, the Yankees played in their own hastily built park on Broadway, between 165th & 168th Streets, from 1903 to 1913. The team, now known as the Yankees, was invited to share the Polo Grounds with the Giants. However, in 1921 they were asked to leave. Construction on a new stadium began, paid for in full by Yankees owner Jacob Rupert. Yankee Stadium opened to a packed house on April 18, 1923.
In addition to historic baseball-related moments, boxing matches, college football, concerts, conventions, and papal masses were also held at the stadium. Over the years, the stadium has undergone many changes and configurations of the playing surface. The situation deteriorated in the 1960s and 1970s. At the end of the 1973 season, the Yankees moved to Shea Stadium for two seasons while a $100 million renovation was underway at Yankee Stadium. The renovation significantly changed the look. This is an authentic piece of wood from a chair that was removed from Yankee Stadium during that renovation.
In 2006, the Yankees began building a new stadium on a public park adjacent to the stadium. The frieze along the roof of the original building was replicated. A Hall of Fame was moved to the new stadium. Yankee Stadium closed permanently in 2008 and demolished in 2010. It became the public park “Heritage Field.” The new stadium opened in 2009 under the name “Yankee Stadium”.
Original and Authentic. Found: Versailles, France (JN0500)
Mummy Brown
± 1925
The mummies are the remains of pharaohs and other high-ranking persons. They were buried in tombs and pyramids. In ancient Egypt, mummification was a complete industry. You could really do business with it. Perhaps the common people could not afford to build tombs but were buried in caves or under the hot desert sand. Animals such as cats, crocodiles and monkeys were also fully mummified. So, there were many mummies to be found.
Someone came up with the idea of grinding mummies into pigment powder. From the 17th century on, mummies were excavated on a large scale and exported to Europe. There, the human remains were processed in special “mummy mills”. The powder was used not only as a pigment in paint, but also in medicines.
In the 16th century, mummies were crushed for medicinal purposes, believing in the virtues of this substance. In the 17th century mummies were sold as antiques and curiosities. These were not from the royal tombs of the ancient Egyptians; these were too rare. The mummy trade was not doing well at the end of the 19th century. Masses of mummies were processed into fertilizers by the British. Undoubtedly, it was often made from counterfeits containing mainly asphalt or bitumen (= viscous liquid mixture). The reliability of the pigment turned out to be disappointing. Synthetic pigments with better properties were on the rise. There was a growing aversion to the origin and manufacture of the pigment. At the beginning of the 20th century, the demand for the pigment declined. Paint manufacturers could supply supplies for decades with one mummy. In 1960 they were out of stock. The current (2021) mummy brown pigment is nothing more than a fancy color name.
Mummy brown was applied with oil, giving this color different effects of transparency or opacity. From the 16th century, extracts from mummies were used as a pigment. It turned out to be very useful to paint the shadows of flesh. It was believed since the Middle Ages that bitumen was the basis of embalming, but this was not the case until the end of ancient Egypt. The pigment was mainly used in England. It is not possible to detect the composition of mummy powder in old paint. The time of mummification causes too many variables. Color dealers adjusted the shade by mixing different brown pigments.
In 1809, the chemist Field analyzed a sample of a mummy from Egypt and mummy powder. His conclusion is against the use of mummy brown. Despite this negative technical opinion and the abundance of brown pigments available, the obtained pigment compound remained on the market. Gradually it lost followers.
Our copy is an original remnant that was used in paintings for very wealthy people. We want to secure and preserve the human or animal mummy remains out of respect for the deceased.
Gas Pump Nozzle. Found: Hillsborough, New Jersey, US (JN0714)
Gas Pump
± 1926
The Belgian Etienne Lenoir constructed the first explosion engine in 1859. In 1883 Carl Benz developed the first petrol engine in Germany. Gas, petroleum, and gasoline fought for the favor of the car manufacturers for a while. Gasoline eventually won the case. Those who wanted to make road trips took fuel in cans with them. Bertha Benz, Carl's wife, was on the road in 1888 in the car her husband had designed. The planned 120 km ride turned out to be just too far. Fortunately, at the pharmacy of Willi Ockel in Wiesloch, Germany, she was able to buy several bottles of gasoline. Since then, that pharmacy has been regarded as the first “gas station” in the world.
A world without gasoline seems unthinkable. This fuel was seen as a waste product at the beginning of the 19th century. Petroleum was the successful fuel product at the time. It was used for heating, cooking, lighting. The arrival of the car changed that. With the growing popularity of the car, an extensive network of fuel points became a necessity. Anyone who set out with the automobile had to prepare for this. Guides came with the places where fuel could be obtained. In 1905, the Royal Dutch Tourist Association ANWB (= General Dutch Cycling Association) recognized federal petrol depots. There were then 91. Such depots could be bicycle workshops, drugstores, or pharmacies. The fuel was sold in deposit cans of up to ten liters. The oil companies understood that gasoline was no longer worthless as it used to be.
Henri Helding, chairperson of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company, confessed in 1906, that he would find a market for every drop of petrol. Sales went brilliantly. He did not lie. Gasoline was a booming business. Hotel Pabst in Zeist, the Netherlands, was the first petrol pump in the Netherlands in 1920. Street pumps were introduced that allowed gasoline directly into the car tank. Belgium only had its first gas pump in 1922. The customer was used to the petrol cans. How did they know that the pump delivered the amount of gasoline paid? For this purpose, it was fitted with a glass reservoir with a scale. It was filled and then emptied into the gas tank.
The first electronic pumps with counters appeared in the 1930s. A rotor in a sight glass betrayed the flow of petrol to the car. Refueling was done by gas station attendants. Self-refueling was prohibited. The oil company Esso already produced guidelines for color use and advertising. The new gas stations that the oil companies had built were an example of modernity with lines of colors. The associated kiosks were made of glass.
The highway network expanded after 1945 and was equipped with pumps. This meant that many pumps had to be built quickly. The oil companies opted for standard stations. The first self-service pumps were built in the U.S. and placed in 1947. In the Netherlands and Belgium, it was only in the 1960s that motorists could manage the hose themselves and pay at the cash register. There were vending machines where you could refuel after inserting money. The servant was superfluous. Around 1970 there were also pumps that remained open at night and were unmanned. With the sale of all kinds of goods, extra income could be brought in. The gas station attendant became a store clerk and became a convenience store.
Due to the increase in car traffic and environmental requirements, the independent gas station operators ended in 1993. The gas station became a battery of pumps and a 'sales box' under a canopy, with the company colors on it. The architecture of the 1950s was gone. The weekly Elseviers announces the end of the old gas station. Soon there will be only environmentally safe gas stations with awnings along the roads.
In the 21st century, the gas station attendant has all but disappeared. Gas pumps are self-service stations and have become “service stations” where “service workers” sell all kinds of products and services.
Spirit of St. Louis
± 1928
Charles Lindbergh flew many planes with airmail on them. There are many airmail envelopes for every flight, but most of those flights were not with "The Spirit of St. Louis". Only the flights from February 6 to February 8, 1928, between the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba were flown with that aircraft by Charles Lindberg himself. Our envelope piece was one of those envelopes aboard a flight from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, February 6, 1928. This was about 10 months after its historic transatlantic flights just a few weeks before the plane was donated to the Smithsonian Institute.
What does the "Spirit of St. Louis" mean in history now? Pilot Charles Lindbergh flew the “Spirit of St. Louis” across the Atlantic on May 20 and 21, 1927. He took off in Long Island, New York and landed in Paris, France. The flight lasted 33 hours and 30 minutes. It was the first in history to make this non-stop flight. The aircraft was specially designed for this flight. The plane Ryan NYP (= acronym Ney York – Paris by Ryan Aeronautical) was named after Saint-Louis in Missouri. The sponsors were from this city. Raymond Orteig had offered a $25.000 dollar prize in 1919, for the first aviator to make this flight. For this record attempt, the search for a suitable long-haul aircraft began for Lindbergh. Fokker Universal feared reputational damage, Wright Aeronautical interfered too much in the planning and Ryan ultimately proved to be the right partner.
Lindbergh's reputation as an ace pilot was unassailable. He pioneered airmail routes between St. Louis and Chicago. This helped him get the project sponsored for $15.000 and build the plane in 60 days. The highly modified conventional Ryan M-2 monoplane was built only to make this flight. The fuel tanks were in the cockpit for safety. Lindbergh couldn't look ahead as a result. A mounted periscope on the left was supposed to improve his vision.
The successful flight made Charles Lindbergh a celebrity and media star with the "Spirit of St. Louis". Charles Lindbergh flew the "Spirit of St. Louis" on promotional and goodwill tours for the next 10 months. On April 28, 1928, Lindbergh and the “Spirit of St. Louis” flew together for the last time. The trip brought the "Spirit of St. Louis" to the Smithsonian Institution where it hung until 1976. Then it got a new location. The device is regularly renovated and preserved. These are attempts to keep the aircraft in its original condition.
Piggly Wiggly Advertisement. Found: Bridgeport, West Virginia, US (JN0137)
Shopping Cart
± 1929
The very first self-service store opened its doors in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee. This shop had the somewhat strange name "Piggly Wiggly" (the waddling piglet). A novelty: the customer had to find his own groceries. Inappropriate at the time. The first self-service shops made shopping baskets available for this. But a shopping basket limits the size of the purchase and is heavy to carry. In other words, it reduces the desire to buy.
The shopping cart makes its glorious entry into the world of buying in 1937. Thus, the industrial production of household goods and foodstuffs had started. A new way of selling these products had been found with the self-service. A serious alternative to the shopping basket. Inspired by the metal folding chairs that Sylvan Goldman (1898-1984), owner of the number of supermarkets "Humpty-Dumpty", had in his shop and that were used by customers to rest their baskets for a while. He invented a collapsible trolley with four wheels and two platforms on which a basket each could be placed. Nobody used the shopping cart: most of the housewives had pushed enough babies forward - the men were strong enough to carry the basket. It was a complete letdown. Goldman allowed actors to shop in its shopping cart stores as customers. The shopping cart still became a success.
The history of the shopping cart is inextricably linked to that of the supermarket. During the period after WWII Europeans are introduced to the phenomenon.
In 1946, O.E. Watson invented a cart that could be pushed into another cart, which saved a lot of space. The baskets were no longer separate but an integral part of the design. It was complicated. After the top basket at the checkout was emptied, the bottom one was raised to be struck via an ingenious system.
The first self-service grocery store in the Netherlands was introduced in Nijmegen in 1948 by the Woerkom brothers. The motto: "To serve yourself is to earn money". As a commendation: "A piece of America in the Netherlands". The company Prisunic-Uniprix-Pribas was the first in Belgium that same year. The shopping cart as we still use it today (2021) was created in 1949. The cart with one large basket that could be put together via a folding rear.
At first there was still the necessary skepticism. In 1951, the newspaper “De Tijd” (= The Times) wrote that self-service would not be as general and widely practiced as in the United States. It cannot become commonplace. Certainly not in the first decades. The newspaper could not be more wrong.
The first real large supermarket appears in 1953 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The first self-service outlets had been small groceries. The store had five cash registers, 200 baskets and 25 shopping carts.
Albert De Backer, then director of Delhaize, opened in 1957 the first fully self-service supermarket in Europe in Elsene, Belgium. Nobody believed it would work. People had to be convinced to take a cart and take the products from the shelves themselves. Those who customarily said they would "pay tomorrow" were referred to the cash desk. The prepackaged meat was thought to be what they wanted to get rid of quickly. There was a lot of comment in the air.
The shopping cart has not changed over the years. Still a great basket on wheels. Today more often made of plastic. The last link in the food supply chain in an era of mass consumption. The symbol for the uninhibited consumer society. We also make our purchases in the web shop using the shopping cart as a virtual button
Tie Press. Found: Pays De La Loire, France (JN0524)
Tie
± 1930
Wearing a cloth around the neck is an ancient custom. The Roman senators wore a Fascalia, a kind of neckerchief, as a sign of their dignity. The neckerchief also kept the vocal cords warm. It was also worn in the Roman army.
Most historians start the history of the modern tie in the 17th century. Then Croatian mercenaries fought on the French side in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). They, like the Romans, wore a red tie tied with a neat knot. The story goes that these scarves were a parting gift from the women.
The colorful and smooth tie was a favorite of the still young French king, Louis XIV. The Croatian tie quickly became all the craze at the French court in the 17th century. The French name 'cravatte', or the German 'Krawatte' for tie, is said to be a corruption of the word 'Croat'. The cravatte became popular among the nobility in Europe. The tie could be found in all kinds of lengths and knots.
The bloody battle at Steenkerke in Wallonia (just below Brussels and less than 25km from the now much more famous Waterloo), the allied armies led by William III and the troops of Louis XIV faced each other in 1692. An estimated 18.000 men were killed. The story goes that before the encounter, the troops hadn't had time to tie a decent tie and therefore had the tie draped loosely and simply around the neck. A more simple, unbuttoned variant became fashionable around 1700: the Steinkirk, named after the battle of Steenkerke.
The tie took on political significance during the French Revolution in 1789. Color and fabric told where the wearer stood politically. The big breakthrough came in the 19th century. The tie became a fashion-forward sign of status in England. There were dozens of ways to tie a tie. English booklets were published explaining how to do this.
The author of the booklet Necklothitania begins in 1818 to complain about the idea that every person is equal and that there is no difference between a nobleman by birth and a commoner. The "plebeian" tried to be the equal of his "master" in everything. According to him, the tie betrayed the latter group. A well-knotted tie gave the wearer prestige and respect. The well-known writer, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), was equally clear: “A well-tied tie is the first important step in your life”. As fashion became more restrained in the Victorian era, the tie also became less lavish. The often-complicated knots gave way to simpler variants. The basic tie became a straight strip of stiff cloth.
The American Jesse Langsdorf designed the modern tie with its diamond-shaped end in 1922 and patented it in New York. The tie hasn't changed much since then. Sometimes it was longer, shorter, narrower, or wider.
In the 1960s-1970s, colorful patterns were 'hip'. Those were the years when, under the influence of unruly youth culture, the tie was abhorred as the symbol of rigid bourgeoisie and conservative power. Carriers were called “wage slaves”. The badger seemed to have had its day.
In 2003, the Croatian tourist board tries to attract tourists with the tie as a symbol of national pride. October 18 has been declared International Day of the Tie. In honor of this, the largest tie in the world was tied around the Roman arena of Pula. 808m long and 25m wide, including knot.
Tsipras, then prime minister of Greece, vowed during his 2015 swearing-in that he would not wear a tie until the Greek debt issue was resolved. Less obvious is the mathematician's interest in tie. It was calculated with mathematical precision that the tie can be tied in 177.147 ways.
Brighter one is younger. Found: Germany (JN0647-2)
German Nipper Come Along
± 1930
These are several German handcuffs. The dark one is from the 1930s. The newer chain is from between 1940 and 1980, probably from West Germany in the 1960s. Such handcuffs can be divided into three categories. They are called come along or chain nippers.
In fact, they are not handcuffs. It is an additional instrument to arrest persons. The chain was swung around the delinquent's wrist. The smaller T-handle was then inserted into the larger T-handle. The lever was turned until the chain was tight. The prisoner could be taken. If the prisoner showed any resistance, the T-trade was turned a little more. This caused severe pain in the wrist, which allowed the prisoner to be restrained.
It was cruel. Today (2022), the use of those twister devices by the police is prohibited in most democratic countries.
Exterior Limestone. Found: New York, US (JN0771)
Empire State Building
± 1931
The Empire State Building in New York measures 381 meters. In 2016 it was the third tallest building in New York. The name of the building comes from the nickname of the state of New York: The Empire State. The building was the tallest building in the world from 1931 until the construction of the North Tower of the Word Trade Center in 1971. After the destruction of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center as a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Empire State Building was again the tallest building in New York. One World Trade Center from 2012 is taller than the Empire State Building. The skyscraper has meanwhile been declared one of the seven modern wonders of the world.
The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel opened its doors on the site of the building in 1897. In 1928 it was sold for a new project, which fell through. A group of investors bought the plot with hotel. Construction of the Empire State Building was part of a competition in New York to build the tallest building in the world. In the beginning, the battle was between Wall Street and the Chrysler Building. Even before the completion of these buildings, the plans for the Empire State Building were announced. And would be 380 meters high.
The building received little interest from commercial developers. It was unfavorable. The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel had to be demolished first. Demolition began four weeks before the Wall Street stock market crash of 1929. Many construction projects were halted during the Great Depression. Construction of the Empire State Building continued. Due to the high unemployment, many motivated workers could be found for the construction industry. On May 1, 1931, President Herbert Hoover opened the building.
Tin Can
± 1930 to ± 1940
There has always been a search for ways to preserve food. Periods of abundance could absorb times of shortage. Previously, it was dried, brined, smoked, and sugared. Food was especially necessary in shipping. Lack of provisions resulted in deaths on the ships.
On warships of the Dutch Republic in the 18th century, a kind of tin was used. During the campaigns, food could be decisive. In 1800 Napoleon promised 1.200 francs to those who could improve provisions. French confectioner Nicolas Appert receives the prize in 1809. He filled glass bottles with food, closed them with a cork and plunged them into boiling water for a while. The number of bacteria decreased. Food could last for years. The existence of microorganisms was unknown. His method worked, the why not. But glass is fragile. Phillipe de Girard chose metal in 1810 and had it patented by the Londoner Peter Durand. The following year, English industrialist, Bryan Donkin, bought Durand's patent. In 1812, Donkin, Hall & Gamble became the very first cannery in the world. The first orders were delivered to the British Navy in 1814. They were very heavy, tin-lined iron pots, closed with a lid, then soldered shut. The weight varied from 1,8 to over 9 kilos. To open them you had to work with a hammer and chisel. By 1824 several canneries were already in operation in England, France, and the US.
The disastrous polar expedition, led by John Franklin, set out in 1845 with 129 men for the Arctic Ocean in search of a northwestern passage. There was food on board for 3 years, canned. There are indications that the lead with which the cans were sealed had been applied improperly. The metal leaked into the food. Under harsh conditions, creeping lead poisoning undermined resistance. No one survived the journey.
When the tin can took its current form, the manufacturers focused on sales opportunities. A range of preserves was presented for home use in 1851. Aimed at the higher end of the French haute cuisine. Canned foods were too expensive for the average person. He ate potatoes and bread, sometimes sausage and bacon. Vegetables were rarely eaten, they were expensive, and the appreciation was small. The can opener appeared in 1858 when the production of thin sheet steel made lighter cans possible.
The production of preserves was still manual work, from the 1860s this was more mechanical and could be mass produced. The first canned product to find its way to the population was condensed milk. The canning industry got off the ground in the Netherlands and Belgium. Leiden got its first factory in 1860. During the cholera epidemic of 1866 (with 64.000 deaths), the authorities of the Netherlands and Belgium warned against eating vegetables because they would promote the disease.
The tins roll out of the factory halls of Marie Thumas in Wilsele, Belgium in 1886. The company Le Soleil starts production in Mechelen, Belgium, in 1892. The factory was popularly called the pea factory. WWI helped popularize the can that was part of the soldier's ration. The housewife even learned how to "prep" vegetables, which was nothing more than what happened in a cannery factory. After 1945, a new domestic market opened.
Wecken was a recurring ritual for housewives until the 1950s. Meanwhile, the look had become familiar. From the 1980s, tin cans stood for modernity and convenience. Since the 21st century, the tin has faced a lot of competition in Belgium and the Netherlands, such as frozen products and packaging materials. Supermarkets deliver fresh products every day. The tin has lost its necessity. Still, tin can remains easy.
Chunck of Concrete Rock Trapped in Sealed Box. Found: Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, US (JN0346)
Alcatraz Penitentiary
± 1934
The legendary federal prison on Alcatraz Island was where some of the 20th century's most notorious criminals were imprisoned. Intended as a concentration program to guard the most difficult inmates in the federal penal system, the isolated and harsh environment of “The Rock” became a symbol of impersonal justice. Our piece comes from the restoration works carried out at the beginning of the 21th century.
Spanish naval officer Juan Aranza thought the bay would be an ideal port. He stayed there in 1775 to establish first contact with the local population. He gave the name to a sand-stone island densely populated with brown pelicans, "La Isla de los Alcatraces". The name stuck.
When gold was later found nearby, the island became a defensive fortress against foreign interests in 1850. It was ideal for holding military prisoners during and after the Civil War. In 1912, 600 concrete cells were completed and would eventually become the basis for the US federal penitentiary “The Rock”.
A total of 1.545 men were incarcerated in Alcatraz, including famed Chicago mobster Al Capone. Only 36 prisoners ever attempted to flee, officially without success. Until a trio slipped into the bay in 1962. Their bodies were never recovered. Less than a year after the escape, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy ordered the prison to be closed.
Antique Typewriter. Found: Ludwigsburg, Germany (JN0685)
Keyboard
± 1936
England's Henry Mill first patented a "letter-printing machine" in 1714. We do not know what it looked like or if it was ever made. In 1802 the Italian Agostino Fantoni made for his blind sister 'per scrivere ad occhi chiusi', (= to write with eyes closed). Turri, friend of the house, who had a quiet love for this attractive but married Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzono, improved the design. Evil tongues claimed that with the machine, Turri hoped for hidden amorous correspondence with the countess. The device has been lost. A number of typewritten letters from the countess have been preserved, all of them neatly contained. They are the oldest surviving pieces of typed text.
The first commercial typewriter came on the market in 1870. The Danish Rasmus Malling-Hansen was the designer. The spherical keyboard looked like a large fallen pincushion on which the keys were grouped like needles. It became known as the Writing Ball. Three years later, the Sholes and Glidden typewriter, from the American firm Remington, appeared. It was huge and resembled the company's sewing machines. The introduction of the more compact Remington Standard 2 typewriter in 1878 ensures the breakthrough. The typewriter quickly became indispensable, especially in the business field. It conquered the market and became the standard. The keyboard was not spherical, like the Writing Ball, but flat. The keys were qwerty placed, as it still (2022) is. The name comes from the first six letters at the top left. This layout was certainly not the best, the first prototypes had a faster layout. Because of that speed, the mechanism of letter hammers flying back and forth got stuck repeatedly. The most used letters were therefore placed further away from each other, so that the mutual collision became a lot smaller. For the French writing came the Azerty variant. Azerty became standard in Belgium. So, the Qwerty keyboard was the answer to technical limitations of the first machines. When those fell away, Qwerty remained.
Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher, suffered from a disease that quickly deteriorated his health and especially his eyes. It became more difficult for him to manage the pen. Malling-Hansen's new typewriter seemed like a godsend. In 1882, he receives his typewriter and reports this to his sister. His initial enthusiasm quickly turned to disappointment. Damage during transport and the laborious typing made Nietzsche give up after six weeks. An article, in "The Rotarian" of 1923, describes the typewriter as "the machine gun of the trade." And draws a parallel with the revolutionary effects the machine gun had on modern warfare. The Remington company also made machine guns.
August Dvorak's patented keyboard was a serious challenger in 1932. Unlike Qwerty, he placed the keys based on ergonomics and degree of velocity. An experienced person could achieve more strokes per minute with this keyboard. Still, the world continued to use Qwerty because everyone was so familiar with it. The gain to be made did not outweigh the effort to change.
The personal computer started its rise in the 1980s. The hundred-year-old typewriter keyboard was taken over. Attempts were made to modernize it such as roll-up keyboard pads, projected interactive keys, etc. The advent of the tablet and the smartphone brought the touchscreen keyboard, although the Blueberry phone with real keys remained popular for a long time. Speech recognition seriously allows spoken input of words. The keyboard keeps coming up in one form or another. Not the keyboard, but humans remain responsible for errors.
Hindenburg
± 1936 to ± 1937
A zeppelin is a cigar-shaped airship consisting of a duralumin (one of the first alloys of aluminum) skeleton with pockets filled with a light gas. It is named after the great pioneer of the airship Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin.
After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, he became interested in the design of a steerable balloon. Once retired, Zeppelin began working on the project. After obtaining his patent, he started working on the first zeppelin in 1899. The first flight took place in 1900. The first models were not very successful and had a short lifespan. Only in 1908 were successful flights and the army became interested.
During WWI, the German army used zeppelins in bombing London. Due to flammability, their usefulness quickly ceased to be effective. A timetable was developed between 1932 and 1937 to transport passengers across the Atlantic. Helium had to be replaced by hydrogen. Hitler was not allowed to get hold of helium. Helium was to be used only for peaceful purposes.
The disaster with the Hindenburg heralded the end of that aviation era in. Zeppelins fly only for advertising purposes.
On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg burst into flames over Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey. The Hindenburg disaster claimed the lives of 35 people on board and one member of the ground crew. Official reports blamed the combination of St. Elmo's Fire (= a weather phenomenon with an electrical charge, almost no lightning, and certainly no fire) and an unnoticed hydrogen leak. The surviving crew disputed this claim, believing that sabotage was the cause.
Due to the highly flammable nature of hydrogen, the ship went up in flames in less than 30 seconds. With a length of 285 m, the Hindenburg was, together with the Graf Zeppelin II, the largest airship ever flown. Originally it was intended to use helium as a lifting device. Due to a US ban on export of helium, the vessel was filled with hydrogen. There were concerns, but the rigid frame design of duralumin (some of which is included in our museum) was based on engineering principles that led passengers to set a long safety record. Graf Zeppelins had experienced every possible combination of bad weather during the world's circumnavigation.
This specimen has a sample of canvas fabric from the airship hide of the Hindenburg. The cotton canvas is made sleek and durable by doping the skin with a mixture of cellulose acetate butyrate and aluminum powder, which also gave the airship its distinctive metallic look.
The package also contains a piece of an envelope that flew with the Hindenburg between Germany and America during the first flight.