Our History in Miniature by John Knight
(1) American Airmail
W
hen our family immigrated in 1950, I carried two treasures: a sketchbook to use on board the SS Volendam as we crossed the Atlantic; and a stamp collection. My second-hand album of Nederland en Kolonien only showed pictures of stamps from 1852 to 1938. Every few weeks I would spend dubbeltjes en stuivers [dimes and nickels] at a stamp store in Delft to fill in gaps. In the years after the war, I became the envy of friends when I showed off American airmail stamps (1) received from family who had emigrated in the 1930’s. For me, one US stamp brought five or six Dutch ones in trades.
Left (2) 2020 Mayflower, (3) 1920 Mayflower, (4-5) Nieuw Nederland Stamps, (6) Stamp with monument near the St. Johns River in the Jacksonville area (7) 1985 Huguenot Cross
Winter 2021
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