Feite Posthumus and the Dutch Street Organ
By Wybe van der Wal
In the note "In Memoriam", in Digest 961129, Philip Jamison wrote:
> Some sad news came for pierement enthusiasts with the death this
> November of Feite Posthumous. Mr. Posthumous was a noted decorator and
> designer of pierement (Dutch street organ) facades, and a frequent
> contributor to HET PIEREMENT, the magazine of the K.D.V. (Kring Van
> Draaiorgelvrienden). I often admired his artistic talents and vast
> knowledge and love of street organs. Perhaps some subscriber to our
> list could give us some biographical information.
Feite Posthumus was born in Rotterdam on the 18th of March, 1917. Already as a youngster he was interested in the Dutch street organs ("Pierementen"). His professional career was in the Rijkswaterstaat (the Water Management Administration), a typical Dutch organisation, but in a country that is in large part reclaimed from the sea, it's an administration at least as powerful as the military.
From 1959 on Feite was a member of the KDV ("Kring van Draaiorgel- vrienden"), the Dutch association of friends of the street-, fairground- and dance-organs. From 1960 through 1974 he volunteered as documentalist on the board of the KDV, and wrote more than 60 contributions for "Het Pierement," the quarterly bulletin of the KDV. For years Feite was a member of the board of "Het Nationale Museum van Speelklok tot Pierement" (the National Museum from Musical Clock to Street Organ) in Utrecht. He was one of the 3 honorary-members of the KDV.
Feite had a special feeling for music and especially for the "draa- iorgels." After the World War II the draaiorgel was often seen as a piece of "non-musical" entertaining-stuff that started to disappear. Feite defended her interests and often compared the value of the draaiorgels to the church-organs. This resulted in concerts in churches ("confrontations") of a draaiorgel and a church organ. For a lot of people this was like using bad language in the church.
Although he was a self-taught man in the field of the arts, Feite began decorating the facades of draaiorgels. His first masterpiece was the well-known organ called "De Turk", in 1959. No one would ever had thought that this passion would result in more than 50 new draaiorgel facades. He wanted to make them unique pieces that force the public to admire the organs. Also thanks to his contributions, the draaiorgels now form part of the Dutch national heritage.
Feite passed away in the evening of the 10th of November 1996.
In the January 1997 issue of "Het Pierement", a personal "In Memoriam" to Feite Posthumus will be published by the President of the KDV, Wim Snoerwang.
Thanks to Messrs Beek and Schenk of the KDV for the information for this article.
Wybe van der Wal
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| Mathieu vd Wal | E-mail: Mathieu <wvdwal@caiw.nl> |
| Wybe vd Wal | E-mail: Wybe <wvdwal@caiw.nl> |
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| fax: + 31 70 319 10 61 | The Netherlands |
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[ Editors Note:
[
[ That's a good biography you compiled, Wybe. Thanks very much.
[ I hope that more "Friends of the Street Organ" will join us at MMD.
[
[ Robbie |
(Message sent Mon 9 Dec 1996, 18:19:15 GMT, from time zone GMT+0100.) |
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