Hírközlési Múzeumi Alapítvány, Évkönyv, 2006

Rövid tartalmi összefoglaló angol nyelven

learned from the article on the 100th anniversary of the start of domestic radio broadcasting. I found myself thinking about the diary portion of the article on anniversaries that focused on the revolution of October 1956. It testified to the fact that history is diverse, whether human or social history. There are many ways of evaluating the events of the time, just as there are many types of human values and interests. It is important to hold onto the facts and to present them. Our museums play a major role in this. Often a journal, a photograph, a newspaper article from the times or a letter can offer a more authentic picture of an era than a history book.

This yearbook really is a history book. First and foremost, it breathes life into the history of technology; technology that affects and shapes society and our lives. To prove this, I recommend reading and thinking about two studies. One was written by Gábor Heckenast Jr. and tells the tale of the birth, golden age and slow demise of the magnetic tape. Tapes, in their day, were a huge help in editing and storing radio and television programmes but by now, we have moved far beyond them. It was easy and quick to edit and store programmes, to make them available to others at will, and to listen to and view finished materials.

The other study worth thinking about is by Ferenc Hernitz and focuses on the history of the postal service in the city of Sopron. Reading it leads one to wonder about how humankind and society were different when mail and information took weeks or even months to arrive instead of days. And what it was like then there were disputes and even lawsuits on the roads, over rights-of-way. Who had the right to go first - people or the mail? And, is there any corner of the earth where the news does not travel quickly? The one thing that has not changed is that there are still letters that contain viruses. Once upon a time, those viruses infected people, while today they bring down computers. The smoking of the mail by the authorities described in the article may have been more effective than current virus protections. As long as I have already mentioned the computer, it follows that I speculate on how many things appear natural today. It is natural for people to have e-mail addresses from which we send and receive mail. Reading Ildikó Makkai-Várkonyi’s article, we learn about what a marvelous invention the letterbox was, which the post office used to collect mail.

In our last yearbook, Ibolya Bartók promised a comprehensive and complete history of the Postal Museum for its 110th anniversary. Now we can read her article, which required a great deal of research, and offers much new information, as a piece of true history. It was the basis for a museum-history anniversary exhibit opened on October 19, 2006.

Stamps are history in pictures. They are a historical gallery of the development of human civilization and its creative aspirations. They tell us about the lives, work, and culture of peoples and nations. They show us the great technical and artistic works, the natural world surrounding us, and they pay homage to the flagships of liberty, science, and the arts. It is said that stamps are the hallmark of a country. That makes it vital for stamp graphics and technique to be top quality, for the message they carry travels the world over, wrote Mrs. Tamás Csegezi, former Stamp Museum director on the Postal Service’s website. Her words are borne out by the high standard, diverse, and fascinating studies on stamp history in the yearbook.

Finally, I recommend László Jakab’s article on the coming events of museum history. And I thank everyone for their work, wishing the reader much enjoyment.

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