Dutch canteen and corporate restaurants tokens

[jezuss]

i can't find nr 457 in your list...

here is the picture.
25.6 mm
nickel plated iron
5.9 gram

[Figleaf]

Kooij throws coffee and canteen tokens together. I tried to split them. Sometimes, that was a difficult call to make. Not in this case, though. The denomination "1 consumption" sounds more like a canteen token, but what clinches it is the diameter: 25.5 mm wouldn't fit in a coffee machine money slot. Since at some time, I hope we'll have more canteen tokens, this is a valuable contribution, so I have split it off from the coffee tokens thread. Hope you are OK with this.

Peter

[jezuss]

canteen token from a school.
26 mm

[Figleaf]

Kooij lists this one as a deposit token (ST007 1), explaining that the deposit was for a mug. On the return of the mug and the token, the deposit was returned. I would agree that this token can be classified as a canteen token, but other deposit tokens clearly are not canteen tokens. Remarkably, all the school deposit tokens have a diameter of either 26 or 30mm, so I suspect the token was used in a machine that returned the deposit.

Peter

[jezuss]

these tokens have been used as a deposit token in the canteen of the school.
they stopped using the token many years ago.
i don't know how it was used...

[Figleaf]

In my coffee machine tokens quest, I picked up some restaurant tokens also. Kooij puts the coffee machine and restaurant tokens together, but I tried to separate out the coffee machine tokens.

Just in case someone will one day be motivated to do a section on the canteen and restaurant tokens on WoT, I will present what I got in this thread with pictures ready to be inserted on WoT. Please feel free to add what you got.

Peter

[Figleaf]

My first two were issued by the Albatros superphosphate factory (link in Dutch) in Pernis. Superphosphate (SSP) is a chemical fertiliser. The town of Pernis is the site of a large petro-chemical complex, most of it Royal Dutch Shell.

I think the square token (1.3 grams 18mm Al) served as 5 cents, as it is reminiscent of the pre-war coin of that denomination. The round one (6.2 grams 26mm bronze) was likely to stand in for a guilder coin (28 mm pre-war, 25 mm post war). The coffee token may have been sold for 25 cent. Alternatively, or at the same time, the square token may have bought a sandwich, the round one a hot meal. The round token looks fit to be used in a machine and would have been important to late and overnight shifts, while the square one would be better used over the counter at lunch time.

Peter

[Figleaf]

This is only sort of a Dutch token. The issuer is Dutch. Ballast Nedam is a big name in Dutch economic history. As the logo indicates, it works above and below water, constructing dams, polders, bridges, tunnels, aqueducts, canals, roads, offshore wind farms and the occasional airport. The tokens were ordered from the Utrecht mint in 1978.

However, almost unsurprisingly, the token was not for use in the Netherlands. They were made to be used in Saudi Arabia, presumably between 1981 and 1986, when the company constructed the King Fahd causeway. The Saudi coins apparently gave vending machines a bad case of hiccups. The series has denominations 10 (brass, 3.7 gram, 20 mm), 25 (brass, 22.5 mm), 50 (copper-nickel, 22.5 mm) and 100 (copper-nickel, 25 mm). They were probably denominated in halala, as the diameters are not too far off from those of the coins and the Dutch monetary system did not have a 50 cents. I will treat them as Saudi tokens.

Peter

[Figleaf]

From the grandiose to the mundane. Van Boekhoven - Bosch, had a large buiding on Wijde Begijnestraat (link in Dutch) and Begijnhof in Utrecht. Jacobus van Boekhoven started the company there in 1884. He succeeded in getting and keeping two major clients: Utrecht university and the forerunner of NS, the national railroad company. Van Boekhoven died in 1897, leaving the second largest printing house in Utrecht in the hands of his son in law. The company flourished, so when the neighbouring church of the beguines became available he had it demolished and built an extension of his premises. The design was made by Johannes Berghoef, a leading architect of the Delft school. The building is one of very few examples of an industrial building in that style. Another extension, in 1951, was done by the same architect, at the cost of the old orphanage. The building resembled an odd sort of Italian castle.

When European integration opened borders, printing fast became a losing proposition in the Netherlands, due to competition from low-wage countries, primarily Italy. Dutch printers fought back with mergers, to achieve a larger scale. Van Boekhoven merged with Bosch, another Utrecht printing house, in 1968. It moved out of the city in 1970, was bought by Dutch printer Roto Smeets in the 1990's and was finally closed in 2010. However, the old building was not demolished. It became the first example of an industrial monument that was converted to an apartment building with shops. I doubt the beguines would have understood.

Kooij says the token (brass, 6 gram, 22.5 mm) was used in a machine that exchanged them for coffee tokens. That seems pretty inefficient to me.

Peter

[Figleaf]

At independence, the "Raadspensionaris" was responsible for internal affairs, while the "Stadhouder" (the Prince of Orange) covered external affairs. In that sense, the Prince's staff was the forerunner of the ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of war (now the ministry of defence.)

CaDi stands for Cantine Dienst (mess service). Judging by the size of the token (brass, 2.9 gram, 18 mm), it had a value of 10 cent. It may have been used to buy lunch sandwiches.

Peter

[Figleaf]

"Den Hoebert" on Westsingel in Venray started out as a school. It was closed by ROC Gilde opleidingen (link in Dutch), an education conglomerate. The building housed municipal services, but it was sold to project developer Jan Lucassen. As the city refused a license to turn it into a home for migrated labour, it is now vacant.

The token (aluminium, 1.9 gram, 25 mm) is most likely to date from the period the building was a school. It looks like a token for 1 gulden.

Peter

[Figleaf]

See here for the coffee machine tokens and what little is known about the company.

This token (copper-nickel, 6.4 gram, 26 mm) is for vending machines.

Peter

[Figleaf]

A building in Utrecht and an organisation with the name Jaarbeurs (annual trade fair) that has year round activities is not a contradictio in terminis in the Netherlands; it is an icon of the country's society.

Business was bad in the first world war. Export and import (Netherlands Indies) markets were closed. The military took away employees. There was constant fear that the country would be invaded. In that climate, Utrecht alderman W.A. van Zijst and journalist Willem Graadt van Roggen organised in 1917 an event of a collection of wooden stalls to show the fruits of Dutch production. There was interest from the royal house, so that not only the target group of industrialists and merchants came, but also the wealthy and the influential.

The idea was a smashing and, from 1918, profitable success. In 1920, a permanent building on Vredenburg is constructed, which is almost permanently expanded. Jaarbeurs developed a tradition to present innovative articles, such as radio in 1919 and television in 1938. (photo: Prince Bernard of the Netherlands gets a car radio demo from Frits Philips). Activities ended in 1942. The Nazis used the complex as a Soldatenheim (rest and recreation for soldiers). The building was lightly damaged by allied bombing, but in 1946, it was open for business again.

As Marshal Aid kicked in, the reconstruction of the economy took flight and Jaarbeurs expanded explosively. More and more, the events were aimed at consumers. At last, there was no more room for expansion in the late sixties. A new building, adjacent to the Utrecht Central Railway station was opened in 1970.

The tide finally turned in 2008, as the Lehman crisis caused deep cuts in marketing budgets. Jaarbeurs at last realised they had to be internet savvy. Now, the idea is to organise events where a physical presence is a large advantage: a papal visit, a pop music event or the start of the Tour de France. Too late?

The token (copper-nickel, 6.2 gram, 26 mm) looks like it was worth 1 gulden.

Peter

[malj1]

Very interesting topic. Keep it going! 

In that last picture a sign of the times with a large ashtray almost as big as the loudspeaker. 

[Figleaf]

The first law on the poor dates from 1854, which created civic organisations for the benefit of the poor. It needed further, more detailed rules, which were laid down in 1861. In 1921, the civic organisations were converted to municipal agencies, often called something like Gemeentelijke Instelling voor Maatschappelijk Hulpbetoon - Municipal institution for social assistance. After the second world war, the name Gemeentelijke Sociale Dienst became fashionable. In the case of Rotterdam, the last name change took place during the nazi occupation, so it is clear that the token was not used in vending machines, but rather as payment for a meal or part of a meal. Tokens are known with the numbers 1, 4 and 10. They might have served as payment for bread, milk and a hot meal respectively.

The earlier name versions dealt more in bread, fuel, clothing, shoes, bed linen and medical assistance. This was because earlier on, there was a conviction that all monetary support would be spent on alcoholic drinks. As there was more and more evidence that this presumption is false, the attitude towards help for the poor changed. The latest permutation, Municipal Social Service, gives monetary support only.

Peter