Hírközlési Múzeumi Alapítvány, Évkönyv, 2003-2004
Rövid tartalmi összefoglaló angol nyelven
how strongly Hungarians have wanted to live, and of their ability to live. And, that antenna is beautiful... Today, when our pockets contain mobile phones that can be used for much more than telephoning, it is worth reading about the painstaking restoration of the telephone receivers of a bygone era, ones good only for telephoning. From this story, we also learn that today’s Hungarian companies have a history of their very own. When reading about the exhibit on postal history at Kőszeg, we find ourselves even farther in the past, in an era when there were no railways, cars, motorways, or mobile phones - when all there were post roads. When reading another of these studies we can imagine actually going on one of those journeys - not something I’d like to try out in real life - and learn how our predecessors sent packages or money through the post. Reliability was important then, just as it is now, and it is unlikely that delivering money was ever more dangerous. Certainly, today it would be impossible to steal money with ham and wine, so having learned the secret of handling money from the study’s author won't help. There are several studies on stamps. I would particularly like to recommend the ones on stamp issuing, on the postal organisation of the times, and on the history of the Stamp Museum, to anyone interested in Hungarian postal history in particular and Hungarian history in general. The study on foreign stamps offers an insight into the Universal Postal Association’s 130 years of operation. We consider the papers recording the sale of the Saxlehner Palace, home to the Postal Museum, also included, as sad documents that are typical of the current era. Many people are aware of the first part of the story from media reports. We are hopeful that the second act, involving our lawsuit, will give the tale a happy ending. The views of visitors to our museums and programmes suggest that we have cause for optimism. I an certain that recognizing the work of our museum curators for doing a job based on knowledge and love will offer benefits that go beyond the joy of a job well done. The piece by Klára Pakati in the yearbook tells me that we are on the right track, and it reinforces my belief that our museum and foundation will be able to keep working in our current home for many years to come. To sum up, I feel quite comfortable in recommending all of the valuable studies in the yearbook to our readers and guarantee that they are worth the reading time! Finally, I want to say thank you to the people who put together this lovely and substantive yearbook, and through the yearbook to everyone who works in all of our museums, as well as to our founders for their support. Instead of trying to do that alone, I would like to present the words of a visitor to our exhibit in Pécs, who, I believe, put it better than I can: Going through this exhibition has been truly refreshing. In the desolate crime-filled world of today, it is a small but shining torch, telling us: This is another way to do things! Or more correctly: This is the only way to do things! The way the postal service pioneers worked devotedly in the beginning and later. The postal service can be proud of the outstanding personalities who served this nationwide company. It is all lovely and it is so good that it exists! Anyone who hasn’t visited our displays can take it from me - though I would be happier if they checked them out in person - that all of our exhibitions are like this. I am so proud of them! 315
