3392 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / North Holland) - The Bulldog Coffeeshop in Amsterdam

The story of The Bulldog starts in 1975, when Henk de Vries, who had started selling marijuana in 1970 at the Kralingen Music Festival, converted his father's sex shop in Amsterdam's red-light district into a coffeeshop, the first in the way we know nowadays. Henk asked ex-pat Australian artist Harold Thornton to paint some signage on the front of the 1st Bulldog Coffeeshop Nr. 90 but Harold turned this exercise into a mural that goes across the front of the whole shop. The mural helped the coffeeshop become a magnet for backpackers and tourists and its reputation grew. The company logo was inspired by Henk's dog at that time, a bulldog named Joris.

3230 UNITED STATES (New York) - Ellis Island Portraits by Augustus Frederick Sherman

3230 Ellis Island Portraits
by Augustus Frederick Sherman
- Dutch Siblings from the Island of Marken

The first big wave of immigrants arrived in America between 1847 and 1860. A larger wave of immigrants from a larger range of countries sailed to America between the late 1800s and 1920. Most of them passed through the immigration station at Ellis Island in New York Harbor, which processed more than 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954. In other words, more than 100 million of today's Americans - a third of the population - can trace their ancestry back to an individual who immigrated through Ellis Island.

0865, 2903 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / North Holland) - Traditional costume of Volendam

0865 Two little girls from Volendam
in traditional costumes

Posted on 17.11.2013, 17.12.2016
In a song is said that "anyone who wants to see the real beauty of Holland, goes to Volendam". As a result of its insulated location, but also because of the fishermen's vitality, this village preserved its character for six centuries. The characteristic small houses, which together with the canals and the drawbridges form the most picturesque spots, present the visitor an atmosphere of geniality and romance. No wonder that in the early part of the 20th century it became something of an artists' retreat, with Picasso and Renoir spending time here. Volendam is also well known for its traditional clothing, still worn by some residents.

2903 People from Volendam in traditional costumes

The women's costume of Volendam is one of the most recognizable of the Dutch traditional costumes, and is often featured on tourist postcards (although now there aren't more than 50 women wearing the costume in their daily lives). There are three variants of the costume: the everyday costume, the Sunday go to Market costume, and the costume for special occasions, called the Bruiloftsgast (wedding guest), which is the most common these days. The foundation is a  sleeveless chemise, which don't seen when the costume is completed, and a striped petticoat, long to the ankles.

2218 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / Zeeland) - Children from Walcheren in traditional costume

Located in the south-west of the country, the province of Zeeland consists of a number of islands and peninsulas (hence its name, meaning "sea-land") and a strip bordering Belgium. It is famous for the mussels and oysters from Yerseke, the dikes, dunes and the Delta Plan to prevent flooding (it lies below sea level), but also for the traditional costumes. Because the people were separated by water, each island developed its own typical costume. Especially the women's costumes could be easily distinguished from one another because they often wore completely different caps.

1923 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / Utrecht) - Women from Spakenburg in traditional garb

Spakenburg, formally called Bunschoten-Spakenburg since its fusion with Bunschoten, was for centuries a fishermen village located on the coast of what was then the Zuiderzee (a shallow bay on the North Sea). In the early 1900's the prosperous fishing harbor boasted over 200 ships, but the closing of the Zuiderzee and reclaiming of land brought an end to that. No commercial fishing is now done, but heritage wooden vessels are still being built and repaired here. It is also one of the few places left in the Netherlands where some women still wear local traditional garb.

1131 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / North Holland) - An orange Amsterdam

I searched long time on the Internet this postcard, but I couldn't find it, so I don't know why gathered all these people on this canal in Amsterdam. Anyway, it must be something with national spirit, because so many wears orange shirts. For those who don't know, orange is the color of the Dutch Royal Family, but today it symbolizes a broader pride in the country and in being Dutch. The lineage of the current dynasty - the House of Oranje-Nassau - dates back to Willem van Oranje (William of Orange). It is possible that the photograph to have been done with the ocasion of Koningsdag (King's Day), celebrated on 27 April (26 April if the 27th falls on a Sunday) to mark the birth of King Willem-Alexander. This day is an opportunity for "orange madness" or oranjegekte, for the national colour, when the normally strait-laced Dutch let down their hair, often dyed orange for the occasion.

1003 NETHERLANDS - Tulip fields & cheese girl

As wrote Wilma, this is, obviously, a touristic postcard, following three clichés about Netherlands: the tulips, the cheese and the Dutch bonnet. But it fully attains its purpose, because the image is catchy, and the bright colors and the pleasant smile, added for diversity, on the house, successfully contribute to the overall impression. From the first glance, you say, dreamy or enthusiastic, "I want to see this country." Am I wrong?

0795 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / Friesland) - Woman in traditional costume

Friesland (Frisia) is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea (from the northwestern Netherlands across northwestern Germany to the border of Denmark), i.e. the German Bight, the traditional homeland of the Frisians, a Germanic people who speak Frisian, a language group closely related to the English language, and very distinct from Dutch, German, and Danish. The Frisians are divided into three groups, the West Frisians, the East Frisians and the North Frisians. There are currently about 500,000 speakers of Frisian, the vast majority speaking West Frisian, recognized as a language in the Netherlands.

0628 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / North Holland) - The stolen bikes in Amsterdam

This postcard is one of the unusual that I've received so far regarding the subject. Besides canals, architecture, museums and liberal atmosphere, Amsterdam is also known as one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world. The earliest well-known community bicycle programme, so-called White Bicycle Plan, was started in 1965 in this city. Now, bike racks are ubiquitous, because 60% of all journeys in the inner city are made by bicycle. On the other hand, each year about 100,000 bicycle (between the existing 100,000,000) are stolen and 25,000 of them end up in the canals, which therefore must be constantly cleaned. It's what do the people from the image.

0468 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / Overijssel) - Staphorst traditional clothes and the crocheted wheel protectors

Located in the province Overijssel (that means "Lands across the river Issel"), the villages Staphorst and Rouveen were founded in the 13th century, when monks started to bring the swamps into culture. All the farms were built (in the traditional Low Saxon style, with green doors and window shutters) along the long road through the bog area, forming the 10 kilometres long village of Staphorst-Rouveen, phenomenon called in Dutch lintbebouwing (ribbon urbanization).

0370 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / North Holland) - Marken, a place that time forgot

Marken Peninsula, until 1957 an island in what nowdays is called the IJsselmeer (Lake IJssel), a shallow artificial lake in the central Netherlands, is famous for its characteristic wooden houses, but also for the distinctive folk practices it developed over the centuries, isolated from the Dutch mainland. Since more than a hundred years, Marken and its inhabitants (now about 2,000) are the focus of interest for folklorists and ethnographers, who regard the small fishing town as a relic of the traditional native culture.