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KLM Delft Blue Miniature Houses, pretty darn neat!

My dad passed not too long ago, and out of his estate I got his little collection of KLM Delft Blue Houses. They are little miniatures that hold Bols liquor that are awarded to first/business class passengers on KLM overseas flights.

Nowadays a new house is issued annually on October 7th. There are 104 total at the moment.

My pop had 21 of them, none from a flight, all picked up in thrift shops.

There is an interesting official collectors App that catalogs all of the houses.

My broad observation is that they are really neat little collectibles. Basically all of them represent a real house/building in the Netherlands that has some sort of interesting history.

A handful of them are worth a lot of money, but most are $15 to $30 in the aftermarket (or two bucks in a thrift store).

Not much else to say, except if you're traveling to the Netherlands, keep your eyes peeled in flea markets and second hand stores. They are fun little collectible souvenirs, decoratively good looking when you get a little row of them going (they're all scaled so that they nicely align as row houses next to one another), limited enough that they lightly appreciate and value over time, fun, accessible history tied to each one.

Pretty neat - I'm glad I inherited a little horde of them. Not worth a lot, but cute, interesting, and tied to a country that I really like visiting :)

Posted by
218 posts

Hank,

Those are really cute. What a nice remembrance. I'll bet your Pop had fun searching for them. I appreciate the fact that they represent a real building. Thanks for sharing the history and link to pics.

Traveler Girl

Posted by
1951 posts

Thanks Traveler Girl, such a nice note :)

I like the little mini Delft Dutch shoes and such as well. I know they're cheap little souvenir knick knacks, but they're so cute, and have a little bit of class to them above most other souvenirs in the price range.

Posted by
4854 posts

Well, I would probably enjoy these all on their own, if I had 21. But the fact that they were your dad’s AND that the Netherlands is special for you makes them a true collector’s set. I bet you will have fun on future trips keeping your eye out for additions, plus teaching your daughter how to spot them. A family legacy for sure.

Posted by
1951 posts

I bet you will have fun on future trips keeping your eye out for
additions, plus teaching your daughter how to spot them. A family
legacy for sure.

Right on both accounts I think! I'm definitely looking forward to hunting up more for the collection on future trips - always nice to have a little project on vacation :)

Posted by
3499 posts

How nice to have a whole “village” of them!
Are they all empty now?🙂

I have one, from the only Business Class flight I’m ever likely to take.

Posted by
1596 posts

If you want to expand your collection you really don’t need to hunt for them. These KLM houses can very easily be found at the antique/knick knack shops near the Rijksmuseum on the Spiegelgracht. One of these shops has a window display with hundreds of KLM houses.
I really like these houses too and I have several of them, but I would never buy them. For me the special thing about them is that they remind me of the flights when I was fortunate enough to fly business class, who I was with, where we flew to etc. For me they are a souvenir in the true sense of the word.

Posted by
1013 posts

What a lovely thread about an inherited treasure & something small and beautiful to buy! And you've just explained my friend's long line up of these houses in a window sill, BUSINESS class memories....
@Dutch_Traveler, appreciated the tip about where to buy them near Rijksmuseum.

Posted by
322 posts

Thanks so much for making me aware of this website. I have a number of these houses from my brother who used to fly for work to Europe frequently. Now I might go see the houses in Delft and Haarlem that some of mine were based on. How fun!!

Posted by
2655 posts

What a beautiful story, and I am so glad that you have them.

My mom passed recently and she loved anything blue, especially Delft. So when we were in Amsterdam last week, we did a day trip over there. I had to stop myself from sobbing a few times as I knew how much she would have enjoyed that. When we cleaned out her belongings, I kept a small Delft spoon rest that her parents send her back around 1970. I know how much she loved that, so it is extra special to me. Just like your houses.

I never thought to look at the second hand stores for this stuff when we were there. We have a lot of antique stores in my little town, so I will have to go hunting there.

Posted by
1951 posts

It's nice that little things can be made meaningful, isn't it? Glad to hear more nice stories :)