door Geldersch-Overijselsche Maatschappij van Landbouw (Gelderland-Overijssel Agricultural Society), Winterswijk branch, organised an agricultural exhibition in 1903. For this event, specially printed envelopes were even commissioned.
The exhibition was originally scheduled to take place from the 16th to the 18th of September. However, as shown on the illustrated example, the dates were changed to the 9th to the 11th of September. What happened here?
The newspaper Het Utrechts Nieuwsblad of Friday, 13 March 1903, reported:
‘LANDBOUWTENTOONSTELLING TE WINTERSWIJK Deze tentoonstelling zou, zooals vroeger gemeld is, gehouden worden op 16,17 en 18 September 1903. Ingevolge een ingekomen verzoek van de vereeniging tot bevordering der paardenfokkerij in Nederland, die op dien datum een tentoonstelling houdt in Den Haag, zal de expositie te Winterswijk gehouden worden op 9,10 en 11 September. Door de H.IJ.S.M. en de Staatsspoor worden faciliteiten toegestaan voor het vervoer van vee, wagens,enz. De eerste geeft gratis vervoer voor heen en terug, de laatste voor terugreis. Extra treinen zullen waarschijnlijk loopen. Van den heer H.C.J.Willink is een zilveren medaille ontvangen. Vermoedelijk zal dispensatie van invoerrechten verleend worden voor buitenlandsche zendingen van vee,enz. en vanwege H.M.de Koningin en de Koningin-Moeder zijn zilveren medailles toegezegd.’
(‘AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITION IN WINTERSWIJK This exhibition, as previously announced, was to be held on 16, 17, and 18 September 1903. Following a request from the Association for the Promotion of Horse Breeding in the Netherlands, which is holding an exhibition on those dates in The Hague, the exhibition in Winterswijk will now be held on 9, 10, and 11 September. Both the H.IJ.S.M. and the State Railway are offering transport facilities for livestock, carts, etc. The former provides free transport for the journey to and from the exhibition, while the latter offers free return travel. Extra trains are likely to be scheduled.
A silver medal has been received from Mr H.C.J. Willink. It is expected that an exemption from import duties will be granted for foreign shipments of livestock, etc., and silver medals have been pledged by H.M. the Queen and the Queen Mother.’)
Consideration for others was evidently given!
The Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg Maatschappij (H.IJ.S.M.) deemed the event so important that transport to the exhibition was offered free of charge for both livestock and carts. The Staatsspoorwegen (State Railway) only provided free transport for the return journey.
The Gelderland Agricultural Society was founded in 1845. The Overijssel Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, Horticulture, and Animal Husbandry followed in 1851. In 1854, the two societies merged. The Winterswijk branch existed from 1869 to 1909.
The envelope was sent to the Royal Veterinary School in Utrecht, the first Dutch institution for training veterinarians. Founded in 1821, it became the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at in 1925.
