Bezoek van Wilhelmina, koningin der Nederlanden, aan de wereld jamboree op 31 juli 1937 Possibly 1937

Curator: Oh, this photo makes me think of my childhood, actually! The hopeful atmosphere… it’s palpable even after all this time. Editor: Indeed! Let's orient our listeners. This is a gelatin silver print, most likely from 1937. It documents Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands' visit to the World Scout Jamboree. Note all those similar hats—what can you say about production en masse! Curator: See how her eyes crinkle when she smiles? It seems genuine. There is something sweetly old fashioned about royalty attending scouting jamborees... Do you think she practiced her wave? Editor: A good point, practice is important here. These images rarely arrive fully formed: it is the product of labour! I notice, the uniformity in the sea of hats makes me think about mass culture in the making. But then, look at the textures of the materials— the sheen of the silver print—all this physical material has its origin, as labour, of course! Curator: Agreed! Labor made beautiful and presented as image to even more people. To me the print brings to life that period, the strange innocence just before the darkness. Editor: It’s curious to me, how such images can oscillate so wildly between nostalgic allure and careful orchestration. Gelatin silver prints allowed for a high degree of reproducibility; were meant for distribution! Who benefitted from distribution—and the attendant ideologies spread with them? The silver carries a certain value... Curator: That tension is exactly what makes it resonate, that balance between calculated presentation and that feeling, almost naive, hope! Looking at this image… I wonder what became of some of those young scouts, each with their identical hats... and their future. It certainly tugs at my heartstrings. Editor: Well, thank you for indulging my fascination with hats—the production and consumption of them tells so much about industrial process in the first half of the 20th century.