[from a press release]
Issue: Typically Dutch – Hockey
Date of issue: 21 March 2022
Appearance: sheet of six stamps in six identical designs
Item number: 420361
Design: Claire Bedon and Edwin van Praet (Total Design), Amsterdam
This issue is the second in the Typically Dutch series this year. In 2022, the multi-annual series is dedicated to five sports in which the Dutch excel. Other stamps in the series are Skating (3 January), Cycling (4 April), Sailing (9 May) and Football (15 August).
Pim Mulier introduced hockey to the Netherlands in 1891. The first hockey clubs were soon established in Amsterdam, Haarlem and The Hague, followed in 1898 by the Nederlandsche Hockey & Bandy Bond, now called Koninklijke Nederlandse Hockey Bond (KNHB, ‘Royal Dutch Hockey Association’). On 23 January 1926, the Dutch men’s hockey team played its very first international match. In Antwerp, they defeated the national team of Belgium, scoring 1-2.
Hockey is a major sport in the Netherlands, with over 250,000 active hockey players based at more than 300 clubs across the country. They play field hockey (September-December and March-June) and indoor hockey (December-February). The Dutch women’s and men’s teams have been competing at the highest level for many years. Both teams won many awards, including Olympic titles (women’s team in 1984, 2008, 2012 and 2020, men’s team in 1996 and 2000). The women’s team has won the world title eleven times, while the men’s team has won it three times.
Hockey matches last 4 x 17.5 minutes and are played by two teams of eleven players. Each team may use up to five substitutes. Indoor hockey matches are played by two teams of six players each. An indoor team may have up to six substitutes on the bench. Unlike football, players may be substituted an unlimited number of times in hockey.
The stamps show an illustration of a hockey player in action. She has the ball on her stick and is about to make a passing move. In the background are the 23m line and the shooting circle, representing the typical layout of a hockey pitch. At the bottom of each stamp is a white strip with the sorting hook, the year 2022, the country (Netherlands) and the denomination 1. The ball and the hockey player’s right shoe run through this strip. The same is happening with the ponytail in the white strip at the top. The logo for the Typically Dutch series is printed above each stamp, with a folded Dutch banner on the left and right. The picture is repeated in enlarged form on the edge of the sheet.
The 2022 stamps for the multi-annual Typically Dutch series were once again designed by Total Design from Amsterdam.
‘We explored two types of sports,’ explains Edwin van Praet, creative director at Total Design. ‘On the one hand, there were the Old Dutch sports often tied in with a particular region. Like klootschieten, beugelen, kaatsen and fierljeppen. On the other hand, we had the sports loved by everyone in the Netherlands. Sports linked to our culture, with water and with large numbers taking part in them: football, hockey, horse riding, swimming, korfball, sailing, golf, et cetera. Often, these are the sports the Dutch excel in, where we’re at the top internationally. Based on that initial selection, we created mood boards, a collection of photographs and images to establish the tone. Then we started sketching.’
A striking feature of the design is that both the ball and the right shoe protrude out of the picture and continue onto the strip at the bottom of the stamp. The same is happening with the ponytail in the white strip at the top. ‘They’re very small details,’ explains Van Praet, ‘but it reinforces the impression that the hockey player is coming towards you.’ You’re involved in the action, you’re the fan sitting in the stadium, watching a sportsperson coming towards you.’
The stamps are available while stocks last at the post office counter in Bruna shops and at www.postnl.nl/bijzondere-postzegels [in Dutch]. The stamps can also be ordered by phone from the Collect Club customer service on telephone number +31 (0)88 868 99 00. The validity period is indefinite.
Technical Details:
Postage stamp dimensions: 30 x 40 mm:
Sheet size: 170 x 122 mm
Paper: normal with phosphor print
Gum: gummed
Printing technique: offset
Printing colours: cyan, magenta, yellow, black and orange
Print run: 75,000 sheets
Appearance: sheet of 6 stamps in 6 identical designs
Design: Edwin van Praet and Claire Bedon, Total Design, Amsterdam
Printing company: Cartor Security Printers, Meaucé-La Loupe, France
Item number: 420361
