Fietsie or Freempie is Foetsie
Collectors specializing in bicycle-themed stamps call themselves “fietslatelisten”. Members of this international group use magnifying glasses and computer screens to be the first to spot a tiny bicycle. As a practical joke among stamp dealers, they’ll lead the bicycle-themed collector to believe that such a bicycle can be seen on a new item. When the fietslatelist then asks “where exactly?”, the dealer replies nonchalantly after a quick glance, “Oh, it’s already around the corner”. This experience serves as inspiration to use meter stamps to illustrate thematic connections to bicycles, without the bicycle itself being visible.
Sound, shape and language
What do a coffee grinder
and a pair of glasses
have to do with a bicycle? First, listen to the screeching sound of a rusty chain and crankset as you struggle to ride a wreck of a bicycle. The only thing missing is the smell of coffee beans. Anyone who wore glasses during military service will remember them: the glasses with round lenses and flexible arms, pulled tight behind the ears. This was to keep them from falling off during maneuvers. What were those glasses called again? Right, a service bike (dienstfiets)!
Perhaps less well-known or specific to certain regions was the tradition among young boys of coming up with funny names for abbreviated car brands. For example, a DKW was a “Deutscher KinderWagen“ (German baby carriage = push uphill, ride downhill), and “our” invention DAF
with the clever little gearshift was mocked as “Duwen, Anders Fietsen“ (Push, Else Cycle).
When you hear “Miele”
you immediately think of a high-quality but pricey washing machine. When it comes to Husqvarna,
the catchy TV jingle for a sewing machine has stuck in our minds for a long time. You know the one: “….from Sweeeeden.” Fietshistorici (Cycling historians) on the other hand, think of bicycles, where a classic Miele bike is much easier to find than one from Husqvarna. In the Husqvarna Museum, a bicycle of that brand stands alone among an abundance of household equipment, including items for the kitchen and garden.
They started as bicycle dealers
It is well known that the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright started as bicycle makers and dealers before becoming famous pioneers in aviation. The first person to give his name to the combined aviation sector - which produced 142 000 aircraft engines for the U.S. Air Force during World War II - was Glenn H. Curtiss, the founder of this branch of the war industry.
He was already a bicycle dealer as a teenager after having been a successful cyclist himself. He first expanded his shop as a motorcycle pioneer and quickly set numerous motorcycle records.
Started as a bicycle factory
Closer to home (in Belgium), another airline also started out as a bicycle factory. We’re talking about Transavia,
now a budget carrier within the Air France-KLM Group. The company stays true to its roots and offers affordable options for shipping a (folding) bicycle (with partially deflated tires!) as cargo. No e-bikes due to their heavier weight.
Even more so than in the aviation industry, many brands in the automotive industry started out making bicycles. Not always from the very beginning. Adam Opel produced sewing machines for twenty-four years before his first bicycle.
The five-person tandem was particularly eye-catching. Thirteen years later, the first car rolled off the assembly line in Rüsselsheim. Well-known and lesser-known brands showcased their bicycles on posters and at exhibitions. In Neckarsulm, this is on display at the German Bicycle and NSU Museum.
As a recent and major sponsor of the Tour de France, Skoda made it obvious that they once manufactured bicycles.
Cycling tourists want to ride along or over them
Cycling has a large peloton of followers and spectators. Cycling tourists relive the classic races by riding them themselves. At the top of De Muur van Geraardsbergen,
they pass the Chapel of Our Lady of Oudenberg. From 1973 to 2011, the wall (cobblestone road) was the second-to-last climb in the Tour of Flanders. The Netherlands also has popular climbs, such as in the Amstel Gold Race. The summit of the artificial VAM (waste) hill (Col du VAM) is located in Wijster. It is the course for various championships and popular among recreational cyclists.
Less well-known is Het Kopje van Bloemendaal.
This dune summit was once the regular training route for Gerrie Knetemann/De Kneet.
What nicknames do some cyclists have?
Many cyclists have been given nicknames, such as “The Cannibal” (Eddy Merckx), “The Pirate” (Marco Pantani), and “Ivan the Terrible” (Fedor den Hertog). But who was “The Badger” or, in his language, “le blaireau”? Indeed, Bernard Hinault - but why? There is a misunderstanding in our country (the Netherlands). As a junior rider for Renault, he wore a headband that made his hair stand on end like a shaving brush made of badger hair. In French, “blaireau” means both a shaving brush and a badger. The first was intended - we made it the second.
A stamp with a shaving brush would therefore have been better.*
The Pontiac watch brand is also associated with a cyclist known as “the Locomotive”, “the Knotty One”, “the Executioner of Heike” and “Iron Willem”.
That cyclist is Wim van Est, who on July 16, 1951, became the first Dutchman to wear the yellow jersey. The next day, during the descent of the Col d’Aubisque, he fell several metres into a ravine. He was pulled up with bicycle tires tied together. Pontiac was a sponsor of the Dutch team. In the advertising campaign, reality was embellished with the advertising text “I fell seventy metres, my heart stopped, but my Pontiac kept running… ”
Sponsorship
Team and individual sponsorship of top athletes has become an integral part of the sport. Fortunately, a sponsor had stamped the address side of a card for fans of the famous climber Louison Bobet with its postmark.
This made it possible to find another stamp from that brand to go with it.
Did he really enjoy it, or did he just write that for the extra income?
A Bicycle Part for a Smooth Chin
As promised, this article doesn’t feature a single bicycle, but it’s all about them. The most interesting connection is probably the last example, from Philips, the company that produced much more than just light bulbs (including those small ones for bicycle lights). Among its products was a bicycle dynamo, the Philidyne. When sales of the dynamo stagnated, something had to be done with the inventory. An employee realized that electricity could not only be generated by the wheel spinning on the bicycle tire, but that the wheel could also spin in the opposite direction when electricity was supplied. This idea led to the first Philishave, “the egg” with a single rotating head.
It became a massive success story. The shaver was further developed, and eventually it featured three heads that smoothly contoured to the shape of the chin.
Written by Encyclophil in Dutch and published in the anniversary book "40 Years of Frankeerstempel.nl" - March 2026
* The author found another shaving brush (scheerkwast) in a different collection, referencing his last name:
