This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the postal areas Netherlands Antilles as well as its predecessor Curaçao. The area consisted of the islands Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius (now part of the Netherlands as postal area "Caribbean Netherlands") as well as Sint Maarten, Curaçao and Aruba (which each are separate postal areas). Early mail service in the islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean consisted of carriage by casual ship, and a number of letters are recorded from this period. A British post office operated during the occupation of 1807 to 1815. In 1825, the Dutch government established a post office at Willemstad; from then until 1834 a packet operated between there and Hellevoetsluis. From 1842 to 1854, mail was carried by British packets, and after 1854 by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, until 1885. Curaçao (1873-1950) The first postage stamps of Curaçao (the name was used for the six islands collectively when the areas was named Curaçao and Dependencies and Territory of Curaçao) were issued 23 May 1873; they depicted William III in profile, and were inscribed "CURAÇAO", as were all issues for the next 77 years. The six original values (2c to 50c) were joined by a 2.50-gulden value in 1879, a 12c in 1886, and four more values in 1889. All of these were issued without gum (due to the heat and humidity) until 1890. In 1889 a longstanding tradition began with the issuance of low-value (1c to 5c) stamps showing only a large numeral. In 1891 the 30c value was surcharged 25c. Meanwhile, the passing of William left his daughter Wilhelmina to be among the youngest persons depicted on a stamp to that date, with five values appearing between 1892 and 1896. Only the vignette actually changed. Additional surcharges were needed periodically; 2c in 1895, and in 1901/1902 they were applied to stamps of the Netherlands. A new definitive series came out in 1904, with numeral in a horizontal layout for low values, and Wilhelmina in a circular frame for the higher values. Additional values were added in 1906 and 1908. In 1915 a new series reused designs from the Netherlands Indies stamps of a few years previously. The low-value numbers were changed to have a white instead of a hatched background, for readability, while medium values showed the Queen and a ship at sea, with