Fuchs & Rens was probably the most well-known car dealer in colonial Jakarta, however Verwey & Lugard were close behind. In 1927 they occupied this characterful building at number 29 on the road that was then called “Menteng”, but what now is Jalan Menteng Raya. In the 1930s the street was often referred to as “Oud Menteng” (Old Menteng). This showroom was just left of Hotel Schomper which was based on number 31 (and what is now Gedung Joang ’45). Verwey & Lugard were mostly known to sell the popular Studebaker car brand, however also sold Rolls Royce, Minerva, Mathis and Austro-Daimler cars, as well as Clydesdale trucks. They started the business in 1910 along Koningsplein West (Medan Merdeka Barat), then moved to Kebon Sirih, and in 1925 to these larger premises on Jalan Menteng Raya. Beforehand Importmaatschappij Janssen housed in this building which probably dates back to the second half of the 1910s.
Expansion
Verwey & Lugard expanded throughout the archipelago and as we can see from a 1927 advertisement (see in comment section), they also had branches in Medan, Bandung, Jogjakarta and Surabaya. On this picture we see four cars in front of the building, of which one is just being filled with petrol. Verwey & Lugard already moved out in 1928, but this location remained a car dealer and showroom, first by the NV Javasche Automobiel Handel. In 1941 Van Taalingen was based here. After independence, well into the 1950s, the well-known Djakarta business Mascotte Motors, housed on what was then called Djalan Menteng Raja 29. Verwey & Lugard moved in 1928 to the ground floor of Noordwijk 15 (now Jalan Juanda) where insurance company Arnhem was based. Jalan Menteng Raya these days is a school example of how old and new can live together. Around 35% of the original colonial era buildings in this street is still present. However this building has been demolished a while ago and is now the modern 10-storey campus of the Mercu Buana University.
During the 1934 Pasar Gambir a customer bought a diamond necklace and paid the required amount of 140,000 guilders in cash, as required. It was the most expensive purchase ever on the annual fair. During World War II, the jewellery store of Olislaeger was closed, and it was only on 15 April 1948 that it re-opened. Mr. J.L. Kiek, who had already been the general manager of the store since 1907 (!), fortunately survived the Japanese internment camps, and was still in charge when he organised a party in April 1950 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Olislaeger Jewellers. The store had an extensive atelier and workshop at the back where several Indonesian craftsmen processed precious metals like gold and silver (sourced from Bali, Makassar and Jogjakarta) into valuable jewellery pieces. We do not know when Olislaeger Jewellers store closed its doors permanently. It could well be that the building was (partly) sacrificed and demolished for the widening of Jalan Juanda in 1972/1973, and that this picture from 1971 is one of the last of this famous Batavia/Jakarta jewellery which has existed at least for a remarkable 121 years. If any Lost Jakarta followers have more information, please let us know!
The temporary post office at Rijswijk (Jalan Veteran), 1947
Former Batavia/Jakarta residents will immediately recognise this characteristic building as the well-known boutique clothing store of August Savelkoul along Rijswijk 8 (now Jalan Veteran). However in February 1947 it was the temporary ‘main post office’ of Batavia/Djakarta, i.e. the post office run by the Dutch authorities. Interestingly, the original main post office along Postweg (now Jalan Pos) was since 1945 managed by the Indonesian nationalists. While the Dutch regained control over the city throughout 1946, with the assistance of the British army and Nepalese Ghurka militia, the telephone exchange on Koningsplein/Gambir and the post office on Postweg/Jalan Pos were the last two buildings under Indonesian control. Hence there was a situation between the end of 1945 and early 1947 where Indonesian stamps were issued on Postweg/Jalan Pos, and Dutch East Indies stamps on Rijswijk/Jalan Veteran. The situation of dual post offices in Batavia/Djakarta ended in July 1947 when Mr. Catalani, who was the general manager of the Dutch controlled post office and had been the Director of the main post office on Postweg/Jalan Pos since its opening in 1913 (!), moved from the temporary premises on Rijswijk 8 back to the main office on Postweg/Jalan Pos. A newspaper article from 23 July 1947 mentioned that the transition happened peacefully and that “Mr. Catalani received a warm welcome from the Indonesian personnel, of which most of them knew him as they had already worked for him before World War II”. All Indonesian personnel was allowed to stay and keep working in the post office, hence it was a smooth transition.
NV Kledingmagazijn, formerly Savelkoul
Obviously, after the transfer of sovereignty in December 1949, all post offices came again under permanent Indonesian control. Shortly after the temporary post office had closed, the premises on Rijswijk 8 became a clothing store again under the name “N.V. Kledingmagazijn, formerly Savelkoul”. August Savelkoul himself did not return as he had moved to the Netherlands because his wife had become seriously ill. The store was managed by a certain Mr. N. Stoffel, at least until 1954. In 1955 the Indonesian Transport Advisory Bureau was located in the building on what was then no longer known as Rijswijk, but Djalan Segara. Later this street became Jalan Veteran. This lovely building has been demolished, but we do not know in what year.
An original train ticket from Parung Panjang to Tanah Abang, 1940s
We have obtained a rare train ticket for the trip from Pandjang (or Paroeng Pandjang, now Parung Panjang in West Java) to Tanah Abang in Batavia/Jakarta. It is not known from what year exactly but comparing the tariff for this trip with those from before World War II, and the ones in the Indonesian language from the early 1950s, it suggests this train ticket must be from the late 1940s. During the 1930s prices of train tickets were much lower as a result of the financial crisis. Train tickets we have seen from the early 1950s are in exactly the same design but then obviously in the Indonesian language and in Rupiahs rather than Guilders. However if any readers recognise such train tickets from their travel experiences in the past and be able to date this more precisely, we would love to hear that.
Tickets bought via K.P.M.
Parung Panjang was an important train stop on the line between Rangkasbetoeng/Rangkasbitung and Batavia/Jakarta. This ticket, with the option to travel first class for the full rate or second class for half rate, has been issued aboard one of the vessels of the Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij (KPM) and suggests that passengers, who travelled between the islands of the Indies/Indonesia, had the opportunity to purchase train tickets before arrival, which probably would have saved them the hassle of queuing in front of the counters on the train stations, so they could go straight to the train platforms. It is surprising that such ordinary and everyday items like train tickets have become so rare. We can only assume because they were usually disposed of after usage.
This road between Jalan Thamrin and Pasar Tanah Abang in Jakarta is officially part of the subdistrict Tanah Abang and has had many names over the years. Around 1800 it was called “Weg van Weltevreede naar Tanna Abang” (road from Weltevreden to Tanah Abang). It basically was the road that Justinus Vinck had built in 1735 to connect the newly constructed pasars of Tanah Abang and Senen. During the second half of the 19th century the name “Kampoeng Lima” started to appear on maps, a name that has existed until the construction of New Gondangdia during the 1910s. As soon as the Nieuwe Tamarindelaan (now Jalan Dr Sam Ratulangi, or Jalan Asam Baru) was opened, the Kampoeng Lima road was renamed into Oude Tamarindelaan (Old Tamarind road).
Jalan Asam Lama
Even after independence it was still known as Jalan Asam Lama (the Indonesian translation of Old Tamarind) until the second half of the 1950s when it was renamed into Djalan KH Wahid Hasjim (in 1972 after the spelling change it became Jalan KH Wahid Hasyim), named after the minister of religious affairs in a couple of Soekarno’s cabinets. He died tragically in a car accident in 1953, only 38 years old. His son Abdurrahman Wahid (or Gus Dur) became the later President of Indonesia. The street name Jalan KH Hasyim Ashari (formerly Gang Chaulan) is named after the father of KH Wahid Hasyim.
Queen Juliana state visit
It was Dutch photographer Joost Evers (of ANEFO) who -in Jakarta during the state visit of Queen Juliana in August 1971- left his hotel during a break, walked from Jalan Thamrin to Pasar Tanah Abang and took dozens of beautiful and razorsharp colour photos. These lovely pictures show peaceful scenes of a street that apparently looks like it could have been in a small town in Central Java. A striking contrast with the four lane noisy Jalan KH Wahid Hasyim of today. When staying in Hotel Kosenda on this street last year I got told by an old Jakarta man that this street is still known by its nickname Jalan Asam Lama.
