Written by Simone | 4th June 2018
KLM, or the Royal Dutch Airlines, gives its first class passengers little Delft Blue houses filled with Dutch Bols gin, also known as genever. These cute houses have been given to KLM’s passengers since 1952, making them sought-after collector’s items with a cult following. In this edition of 'The Story Behind', we discuss how and why the airline started giving these little houses away and which ones collectors can’t miss.
Why did KLM start giving away miniature houses?
As this story will demonstrate, sometimes obstacles can spark the most successful products. Before the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) regulated all kinds of aviation-related policies in the United States. Fares, routes and even schedules needed to be approved by the government.
There were standard tariffs for companies so airlines weren’t allowed to compete on price. The CAB also prevented airlines from giving incentives with a monetary value of more than 75 cents to their customers. In other words, it was very hard for airlines to stand out from the competition, as they couldn’t compete on price or offer gifts to reduce the price of an airline ticket.
So in 1952, KLM introduced the Delft Blue houses as a way to curtail these strict regulations, by billing the houses not as gifts, but as “the last drink on the house”. Upsetting the other airlines and regulators of course, KLM’s excuse simply was: “Is there a law that tells us drinks have to be served in a glass?”
Fun facts
At first the houses were only given to its first class passengers, and later to its business class passengers. Each miniature measures at most 5.5 x 10 cm and depicts a real Dutch house, some generic houses, but also some rare or special items, such as the Rembrandt house and the Anne Frank house. Most of the houses are located in the Netherlands, except for no. 85, which is located in Willemstad, Curaçao.
The houses are still offered to KLM’s premium cabin passengers. Not just in the Netherlands, but all around the world, the houses have become iconic must-have collectors’ items. With a new model released every year, there are currently different 97 little houses. There’s even an app available to keep track of your collection.
Most of the houses, about 850,000 a year, come with the nice surprise of Bols Genever inside. Around 150,000 houses remain empty though, for destinations to and from the Middle East, where alcohol is prohibited. Because of these regulations, there are also some Delft Blue house-shaped ash trays on the market. If you put your cigarette in the small cigarette holder, the smoke would come out of the chimney.
Most sought-after KLM miniature houses
Some houses were only given away for special reasons or to passengers who met certain requirements. That means there are a couple little houses that are very rare and highly-prized by collectors. For example: KLM gave passengers flying from Japan to Amsterdam in 1962 a voucher to visit the Frans Hals museum and only upon their visit to the museum would they receive the coveted Frans Hals Museum miniature.
Some pieces were only given to bridal couples traveling with KLM such as the cheese weighing house (De Waag) in Gouda and what many consider to be the most sought-after piece: the palace on Dam Square.
Other special, rare editions include Huis ter Kleef in Haarlem, Ridderzaal in The Hague, Royal Theatre Carré in Amsterdam, Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn, and a Chinese pagoda. If you want to add these to your collection, you’ll need to be at least one of these things: a head of state, an ambassador or high-level diplomat, a member of the Dutch royal family, a managing director of a partner airline, a million-miler or “Platinum for Life” level member of the FlyingBlue program. Because these are so hard to obtain, the value of these houses have skyrocketed and some are worth more than €2,000 euros.
The most sought-after KLM miniature house is the palace on Dam Square
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