In 1878, the postman’s uniform consisted of coat, trousers and cap. This is what they looked like in the early days of the company called “Administratie der Posterijen en Telegrafie”. The rather grand outfit suited the government in the 19th century. Postal design, typography, architecture and decorative elements all derived from successive periods of history: classicism, baroque and renaissance.

Many years later, in 1964, the grey uniform was made up of coat, trousers, cap, shirt, tie, scarf and gloves. For the first time, the postie’s clothes were made of synthetic fibres. Despite the compulsory cap, postmen were increasingly seen without them and the obligation to wear one was scrapped in 1973. Those who liked their caps and wanted to keep wearing them were able to request and wear one

In 2011, we devoted a lot of attention to the clothes worn by our post and parcel delivery men and women. Their orange clothes are water-proof and the lining is removable, while they have lots of clever pockets. All designed to make it comfortable for them to deliver our post and parcels, no matter the weather. Rain, snow or sweltering heat. Our signature colours spark instant recognition – this is a PostNL deliverer!

This majestic postbox graced the country’s streets for no less than 110 years. By the end of 1850, the first dark-green letterboxes were placed in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. By 1869 they were given a second slot to put mail in, after stamps for printed matter were introduced.

In 1960, PTT trialled twelve new postboxes in The Hague. A state-of-the-art postbox in the company’s red and white signature colours. After two years, the first twin letterbox was launched in 1962, separating local mail from post going further afield elsewhere in the country or abroad. Easier for sorting.

By 2011, streets across the Netherlands sported over 19,000 postboxes – easy to spot thanks to our bright orange signature colour today. A great deal of thought and time went into the design of our new livery in 2011. And of course our postboxes join in the fun at special events: at the Gay Pride festivities in Amsterdam our postboxes in the nation’s capital went temporarily pink!

This mail car with closed boot was protected by bars on the inside. Both the back and the sides of the car said “posterijen” (postal services) in white lettering. The typography was very modern for the times and is considered PTT’s “second house style”.

A means of conveyance and a post office in one, weighing in at 19 tonnes! Yes, you read that correctly. This post office was first used at the road racing circuit in the Dutch town of Assen, locally known as the “TT Assen”, on 28 June 1952. The post office had three window-counters, a postbox, three stamp vending machines, a telex machine and no less than three phone booths. The vehicle was sold to Circus Toni Boltini in 1970, which went on to use it for their tills. Why was it sold? It was too expensive to run and not very practical in use.

In 2001 we introduced the so-called “roodrunner” (“rood” being Dutch for “red”). Its name says it all: it was fast! These e-bikes allowed our people to cover long distances while expending less energy. Sustainable! This cargo bike has a metal frame and a plastic pannier (capacity 125 kg). The deliverer won’t hurt their back when ferrying this around, as it’s an ergonomic model with only the wheels turning to change direction, not the entire container.