Postcard from Walcheren

Postcard from Holland is a regular feature on this blog. On Wednesdays I post a card from my collection of vintage postcards. Today: Walcheren.

Ladies in the traditional costume of Walcheren, an island in the province Zeeland, doing their traditional folk dance. This card ran in 1932, so I assume the photo is from the 1920s.

Postcard from Holland

Postcard from Holland is a regular feature on this blog. On Wednesdays I post a card from my collection of vintage postcards. Today: Traditional dresses.

The caption on this card is Een laatst vaarwel, a final goodbye. The ladies in traditional dress are probably bidding farewell to their fisherman husbands who just set sail to their fishing haunts at sea. The fishing boats were often at sea for several weeks at a time.

It should be possible to tell from their dress in which region the ladies lived, but I don't know much about traditional dresses, so I can't tell you anything about the location.

Oliebollen

2009 is the Dutch Jaar van de Tradities (Year of the Traditions). At the end of the year of the traditions I will show you how we traditionally end our year: With oliebollen, the number four tradition in the top 100 of Dutch traditions.

Oliebollen (singular: oliebol) are basically deep-fried balls of dough, sometimes with raisins - think donuts without the holes. They are eaten with powdered sugar. Many people make their own (and if they did you can often still smell the oliebollen days later in their kitchen), but in the last few days of the year they are also widely available from bakeries, supermarkets and market stalls.

Around November, stalls like the one on the photo, selling mostly oliebollen, pop up everywhere, and in the first days of January they disappear again. The photo was taken on a quiet morning in mid December. There were no customers at that time, but probably quite a few later in the day. If you visit in the afternoon of 31 December, you will have to wait in line for a long time, even though there are several people serving.

If you want to try to bake your own oliebollen I'll share the recipe with you.

You will need:

• 3dl. (10.14 fl oz) milk
• 20g (0.7 oz) yeast
• 400g (14 oz / 0.9 lb) flower
• 2 eggs
• salt
• optionally: 200g raisins
• oil for deep-frying
• powdered sugar

Mix yeast and lukewarm milk. Add flower, eggs and salt and mix well to make a smooth dough. Optionally add the raisins and stir through the dough. Put the dough in a bowl and fully cover the bowl. Let it rise for at least an hour on a warm place - don't take off the cover while it's rising! Using two wet dining spoons, let small amounts of dough - a spoonful per oliebol - slide into the hot oil. Keep the spoons wet (or slightly greasy) to prevent the dough sticking to the spoons. Deep-fry for about six minutes. For best results use a fork to turn them half-way through.

Serve hot or cold, with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Dutch traditions: 4 and 5 May

As I told you before, 2009 is the Year of the Traditions here in The Netherlands. Number 13 in the top 100 of Dutch traditions is: 4 & 5 mei vieren, celebrating 4 and 5 May.

So what are we celebrating on 4 and 5 May? Actually, "celebrating" is a misnomer: 4 May is for commemoration, and only 5 May is for celebrations.

4 May is dodenherdenking, remembrance of the dead. Traditionally, it was the day we commemorated those who perished in World War II - soldiers, resistance members and civilians. Nowadays, for most people it is still the remembrance of World War II victims, but officially we commemorate "all, civilians and members of the armed forces, who have died in the Kingdom of the Netherlands or anywhere in the world, since the outbreak of World War II, in war situations or peace keeping missions". That includes, for example, Dutch soldiers who recently lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The flags hang half-staff on 4 May. Around 8 p.m., many towns have some kind of commemoration, often at a local monument. The main commemoration event is at the National Monument in Amsterdam. A few minutes before 8 p.m., the Queen will lay down a wreath at the National Monument. This is followed at 8 p.m. sharp by two minutes of silence in honour of those we commemorate. After the two minutes silence and the national anthem, members of the cabinet, representatives of the military, veterans, resistance movements and other groups will lay wreaths or flowers. Later, members of the public can do the same.

The two minutes silence at 8 p.m. is observed nationwide. Public transport stops, television and radio stations are silent, shops are closed this evening, many restaurants and bars are either closed or don't serve for two minutes.

4 May is followed by 5 May, Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day). On this day we celebrate the liberation from the occupation by Nazi Germany (1940-1945). It is celebrated every year, but a national holiday only once every five years. As Bevrijdingsdag is not a holiday, but is a school holiday, there are many events aimed at children on this day. Another popular bevrijdingsdag outing is a visit to one of the many music festivals that are held this day.

For more information, see the official website 4 en 5 mei (4 and 5 May, website is in Dutch).

Sinterklaas, the number one Dutch tradition

Yesterday I showed you four of our five most popular traditions, based on the top 100 of most the important Dutch traditions. I still owe you the number one from that list.

Our number one tradition is Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas is a nickname for St. Nicholas, and we celebrate his feast every year on St. Nicholas eve (5 December).

Sinterklaas arrives about three weeks before his birthday (6 December), on a steamship, with his assistants, the Zwarte Pieten (sing. Zwarte Piet, Black Pete), his grey horse, and plenty of presents for all Dutch children. Each year, he arrives in a different town. This year, the arrival was in Almere, on 15 November. This arrival is broadcast live on Dutch television (it has been broadcast every year for decades). In the three weeks he is in The Netherlands, he visits every school, every shopping mall, and many homes and companies. If you are in The Netherlands this week, there is a good chance you will meet him - just visit the nearest mall. He will be sitting on a central spot, while his Zwarte Pieten are walking around the mall, handing out pepernoten (ginger bread cookies) to young children.

Traditionally, on 5 December, children would put a shoe near the chimney. They would then find a present in it on the morning of 6 December, St. Nicholas day. Nowadays, children leave their shoes several times between the arrival of the steamship and St. Nicholas eve. In modern houses or apartments without a chimney they leave their shoes near a small window. The children put a carrot or some sugar cubes in their shoe and a cup of water next to it (for the grey horse), and sing a traditional St. Nicholas song (loudly in case one of the Zwarte Pieten is on the roof, so that he can hear their songs). At night, Sinterklaas will ride over the roofs (on his grey horse), or send one of his Zwarte Pieten, to throw presents through the chimney into the shoes. If the children left something for the horse, or for Sinterklaas (some children make a drawing and put it in their shoes, as a gift for Sinterklaas), a Zwarte Piet comes down the chimney (however small the chimney may be) to collect it.

St. Nicholas eve is now pakjesavond, present eve. If there are small children, the family will get together and sing traditional Sinterklaas songs. After a while, there is a loud knock on the door, the door opens slightly, and the hand of a Zwarte Piet is seen. Zwarte Piet throws a handful of pepernoten into the room. The children first crawl around to collect the pepernoten, and then open the door to see if Zwarte Piet is still there. He never is, but they do find a basket full of presents that he left behind. (For some reason, Zwarte Piet always chooses a time when one of the adults has gone to the toilet, or gone out to get some fresh air. The adult is then disappointed that he missed all the fun...)

If there are no small children in the family, people will give each other gifts, usually anonymously. They will draw names to decide who gives to whom, and then put their gifts in a basket, and everyone will open their gift on St. Nicholas eve.

Gifts are usually accompanied by a short, simple poem about the receiver, often of a teasing nature (at least for adults and older children). The receiver must read this poem aloud before he is allowed to open the present. Also popular are the surprises (pronounced surpreeses): Either ingeniously wrapped gifts or little practical jokes.

According to our tradition, only sweet children get presents, while naughty children get a rod. Many Zwarte Pieten hold a rod, that they use to wave menacingly. Extremely naughty children go into the empty sacks that were used for transporting the presents, and they are taken away by Sinterklaas on his steamship. I've never heard of any children actually receiving a rod, let alone being taken away in sacks, so I assume there are only sweet children in The Netherlands.

Sinterklaas is an ancient tradition. Jan Steen, a famous painter from the Dutch golden age, painted The feast of St. Nicholas around 1665. Let's have a closer look at this painting (click to enlarge). We see the family gathered around the chimney. In the centre we see a happy little girl, she probably just received the doll she is holding. The boy on the left has probably been naughty, his sisters (gleefully) hold his shoe with a rod. But grandma beckons him in the background, maybe she has a little surprise for him hidden behind the bed-curtain. Notice the boy in the background, holding the baby. He is pointing to the chimney and seems to be explaining to his younger siblings how Zwarte Piet came down through it to leave the presents.

If you have Dutch roots, I would like to hear from you. Do you still celebrate Sinterklaas? Do you know something about your ancestors celebrating Sinterklaas? Places with strong Dutch roots often have a Sinterklaas celebration. Is Sinterklaas celebrated in your area? Please leave your stories in the comments below this post.

Further reading:

• Traditions!, the first of this two-part series, posted yesterday.
• Arrival of Sinterklaas in Almere. The website is in Dutch, click Foto's Intocht (navigation menu at the top of the page) to see photos of Sinterklaas' arrival.
• Sinterklaas on Wikipedia.
• Top 100 traditions (in Dutch).
• 2009 Year of the Traditions (in Dutch).

Traditions!

2009 is proclaimed Jaar van de Tradities (Year of the Traditions) in The Netherlands. After polling a large number of people, the organization of the Jaar van de Tradities compiled a top 100 of the most important Dutch traditions, which they published earlier this month.

Not all of the top 100 traditions are typical Dutch traditions. Some are international (decorating the Christmas tree at number 2), some are recently imported by immigrants (Ramadan at number 14), but many others I've never seen outside The Netherlands.

So, what are our most popular traditions? Let's have a look at the top five. If you have Dutch roots, I would love to hear in the comments section below if you recognize any of the Dutch traditions. Do you still celebrate these (or other) Dutch traditions?

The number five tradition is decorating eggs at easter. I think this is done in most western countries, it is certainly not a Dutch tradition.

Number four is a real Dutch tradition: Eating oliebollen on new year's eve. Oliebollen are basically deep-fried balls of dough, sometimes with raisins. They are eaten with powdered sugar. Many people make their own (and if they did you can often still smell the oliebollen days later in their kitchen), but in the last few days of the year they are also widely available from bakeries, supermarkets and market stalls.

At number three is the Vrijmarkt (free market) on Koninginnedag (Queen's Day). Koninginnedag is the celebration of the queen's birthday, traditionally a holiday in The Netherlands. In many towns, anyone is allowed to sell things on the streets, turning town centres into giant flea markets. On this day, you do not need a license to operate a market stall, or pay taxes over your sales. People just lay down a blanket on the sidewalk or on the street, and spread out their cast-offs. Many of the vendors are children. The largest and most famous Vrijmarkt is the one in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam.

The second-most popular tradition is placing and decorating a Christmas tree before Christmas. An international tradition, obviously: You probably do that as well every year.

Can you guess our number one tradition? It will be the topic of the next post, tomorrow.