An early birthday present

17 September 2019

For those who have been in the pipe business for a long time, the name Piet Tengnagel is known. In the seventies and eighties he actively collected pipes. Soil finds as well as complete pipes, and additionally a beautiful library. In the 1990s he said goodbye to his hobby and sold his collection in parts. Today he unexpectedly honoured us with a visit. Very thoughtfully he brought a gift for our upcoming anniversary. A beautiful freehand pipe by Larsen, still in the original packaging and complete with the bill of the time and some documentation. Piet, nice to see you after so long and thank you again!

Cigarettes still in the packaging

16 September 2019

The driving force behind the Stichting Rokersbelangen (Foundation pro-Smokers), Ton Wurtz, who fought for the rights of smokers for years, recently decided to donate his collection of cigarette packs to our museum, an exceptionally sympathetic gesture. The more than 150 still closed and sealed cigarette packs that Wurtz collected in course of two decades provide a wonderful overview of designs over these years. Different times and different countries are represented in the collection, including China and Russia. They are good proof of the care that was given to the packaging before the so-called dirty pictures finally messed up the design. These packages complement our documentation of tobacco packaging nicely with material from more recent times.

Goedewaagen unsurpassed

15 September 2019

This year exactly twenty years ago, the monograph Koninklijke Goedewaagen, a versatile ceramic company by Don Duco, was published. Twenty years later, this well illustrated book is still the standard work on the history of this important factory for pipes and later ceramics. The edition is now only available as antiquarian copy or - one of the very last copies - new in our museum shop.

Historical evidence

12 September 2019

As a member of the cultural network, Benedict Goes was invited to attend the recordings of the TV program ‘Historisch Bewijs’ (Historical Evidence) in the auditorium of the Rijksmuseum. It examines in various ways whether historical objects from museums are as real as is always claimed. Critical researchers, for example, are looking at the famous Hugo de Groot bookcase, of which there are three. Which is the real one? And the phalanges of the De Wit brothers, the silver of Piet Hein's treasure fleet. Is it all real? During this recording, the outcome will be announced, but since the broadcasts are early next year, we should not reveal anything yet! As a matter of fact, an inspiring working method to look at our own museum objects in the same way.