Taptoe
Taptoe no. 1, 1 oktober 1953
From Catholic youth magazine to cross-media concept: generations of children grew up with the magazine Taptoe between 1953 and 2016.
The youth magazine Taptoe was first published on 1 October 1953. It is the continuation of the Catholic children's magazine Weekblaadje voor de Roomse Jeugd (1916-1941) and Roomse Jeugd (1946-1953). Perhaps that is why the first edition of Taptoe is listed as ‘volume 35’.
Title
A taptoe (tattoo) is a military parade with music. The Dutch term is derived from the trumpet signal 'tap toe' ('tap closed'), which used to be used in barracks to end the day. It was a signal to shut cask faucets. Regarding the choice of the name of the children's magazine, the editor says: 'When you think of Taptoe, you think of cheerful music and that is what our magazine is like.' On the cover of the first issue, there is a boy blowing a trumpet.
Catholic signature
The Taptoe is a product of the pillarized society. It has been approved by the 'Keurraad voor Katholieke Jeugdliteruur' (Certificate for Catholic Youth Literature) and in the oldest issues we find an edifying word from the episcopal censor, first P. J. M. Heskens and from 1958 drs. Th. Zwartkruis. Each issue contains a children's sermon and missionaries talk in the magazine about their missionary work among 'primitive peoples'. Words such as 'penance' and 'sin' are used regularly.
In October 1958, the magazine De Engelbewaarder is included in Taptoe. This happens without much ado. The readers of De Engelbewaarder are informed: 'De Engelbewaarder was a fine magazine. A warm welcome to the Taptoe family.'
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Crafts tip for Beatles fans in Taptoe 1, 3 October 1964
Nature, technology and history
From the beginning, Taptoe has paid a lot of attention to scientific subjects: nature, technology and history. Pictures of animals are already in the first years. Articles appear about old Roman cities and Michiel de Ruyter (‘Skipper next to God’). In November 1964, a lunar exploration is explained using American illustrations. And there is, for example, attention for pygmies: the ‘dwarves of the wilderness’.
No education without entertainment
The stories in Taptoe are often a mixture of education and entertainment: they often deal with historical or contemporary themes. For example, in the sixties there is a long sequel about a poor black family in the US (‘Van slaven naar vrijheid’) and one about an East German family trying to flee to the West. A quote from it illustrates the didactic tone: 'You can't expect anything from a system that makes slaves of people. The communists never seem to understand that.'
Comics and illustrations
There is never a shortage of illustrations in Taptoe. Over the years, several big names have contributed to Taptoe: Jan van der Voo, Ben Verhagen, Diet van Beek, Henk Evertzen, Carol Voges and The Tjong Khing. Each episode also contains a photo of a film star or pop artist.
From the very first issue, Taptoe has contained comics, starting with 'The adventures of Teddy and Tipo'. In later years, comics such as Clio and Pluk (Jan Steeman), Yogi Beer, Tommy (Jan Kruis), Plumoo (Michel Douay), De boze grootvizier (Iznogoedh; by Tabary and Goscinny), Robinson (Fred Julsing), Joachim and Iris (Theo Steeman), Lancelot (Gerrit Stapel), Sulle Hooms and Bert J. Prulleman (Gerrit de Jager and Wim Stevenhagen) appear. In the nineties, Taptoe scores with comics such as Cor Daad (Hanco Kolk) and Oktoknopie (Gerard Leever).
If you look at the comics over the years, you will see society change. In old comics, all the tough guys smoke and the mothers wear an apron. The children are white without exception. In the seventies, the first 'immigrants' make their entrance.
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Taptoe 6, 7 November 1964
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Taptoe 30, 23 April 1966
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Taptoe 6/7, 19 October 1974
Modernisation
At the beginning of the eighties, Malmberg's youth magazines became less popular. In October 1983, the publisher announced that he wanted to stop publishing Taptoe. Eventually, the magazine went from a weekly to a biweekly frequency. With a small editorial team and some purchased copy from abroad, Taptoe managed to survive for decades.
Thematic issues and multimedia
Malmberg's youth magazines moved to Blink publishers in 2009 and were thoroughly modernised. Taptoe was 'conceptually based on an adventure game', in which the website Taptoe.nl played a major role. Each issue dealt with a theme, which was repeated in all the jokes, stories, comics and quizzes in the magazine. Almost immediately, Taptoe won the Mercur Prize for ‘cross-media concept of the year’.
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Taptoe 31, 24 April 1982
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Taptoe 3, 25 October 2002
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De last Taptoe, August 2016
Taptoe becomes Wild van Freek
But the circulation figures continue to decline (120,000 in 1995 versus 25,000 in 2015) and the publisher decides to take radical action: Taptoe will come to an end in August 2016. The last issue announces that 'something new' is coming. A month later it turns out that the publisher is using the timeless popularity of the animal and nature stories from Taptoe for a new concept: the monthly magazine Wild van Freek about the well-known Dutch biologist Freek Vonk. That magazine is still published.
Taptoe in the KB
Not all issues of Taptoe have been preserved in the KB collection. Only from 1973, when the voluntary national depository of Dutch publications was established, did the KB receive the magazine every week from the publisher. The necessary issues of the twenty previous volumes are missing. In the KB catalogue you can see which volumes and issues are present, they are divided over several series of request numbers. Additions of complete volumes from the period 1953-1973 are very welcome.
You can request old issues of the Taptoe via the KB catalogue to view in the KB reading room. In Delpher you will find 109 issues of the magazine, published between 1953 and 1959. Unfortunately, the website has not been archived in the Web Archive.
