First acquisition 2019

30 January 2019

The first object added to our museum collection this year is a special one. It is a Scottish snuff mull made out of a ram's horn. Especially in the nineteenth century such boxes were a status for every Scotsman who sniffed tobacco and there were many. Remarkable about this specimen is the cut cairngorm, a semi-precious stone found in the eponymous Scottish mountains. Furthermore, the garnish of a scoop, brush and rake is unusual, although due to the short chains it doesn’t seem practical in use. The head of a seal, cut out of the usual curl of the ram's horn, makes this snuff box one of a kind. The box was a travel souvenir from Scotland and was kept for generations in an Amsterdam family.

New record in our online database

15 January 2019

The winter period is quiet in terms of visitors. That is why we are now working on our online database at www.pipemusem.nl, in the meantime renowned and used all over the world. This week we reached a new record: we exceeded the 160,000 unique object photos. Because more and more tacit knowledge is added about the objects and their use, the importance of this database as source of information is still increasing. For many, this bundled knowledge has become the benchmark for the determination of the pipe and that is a compliment to years of dedicated work. However, the job is not yet finished, in our reserves there are still objects waiting to be photographed! For now, we continue the good work.

Citycard renewed

5 January 2019

The famous Amsterdam Citycard has changed its design this year. The number of hours that the card is valid is added, together with an attractive skyline of Amsterdam along the bottom. In our museum the Citycard is often used for free access. No less than forty percent of the visitors carry this card with them. We hope to see a lot of these cards again this year!