Tag: Dijkema

I know, I keep getting later and later on these, but I’m still here!  It’s been a difficult week, so I think my lateness is acceptable under the circumstances.  We have a new theme for Sepia Saturday for the month of October, “From Here to There.”  Our prompt image features a bunch of ladies on bicycles, and with my husband’s Dutch ancestry, we have LOTS of photos of people on bicycles, so here’s my first submission!  On the left is Ellechien Dijkema and on the right, her sister and my husband’s grandmother, Hilje Dijkema.  This was probably taken in Holland, somewhere around Uithuizen in the late 1920s or early 1930s.  The girls were born only 2 years apart in 1912 and 1914 respectively, so there are a lot of photos of these two girls together.  Here, they’re posed on their bicycles, balanced together while being supported by a fence, wearing matching dresses.

This is a bit of an odd photo and I have the hardest time visually making sense of it – it almost looks like part of the photo is a negative, but the girls’ clothes and faces are positive.  It doesn’t look like the photo has degraded, but it’s possible there might be a bit of a double exposure going on, juding by the line towards the right side of the image.  Regardless, it’s a sweet photo of the two of them out on their bikes and I’m glad someone paused them to take this!

Another Sepia Saturday and another chance to use one of the MANY baby photos from the family photo collection.  That giggly little baby is Elizabeth “Betsy” Dijkema, daughter of Albert Dijkema, brother to my husband’s grandmother, and Jantje Oosting.  She’s sitting in a buggy, holding on to what looks like a teddy bear hanging over the side while laundry dries on a line behind her.  This was likely taken in Holland in about the 1930s.  Pretty short and sweet this week!  I’ve actually been in contact with a daughter of Betsy’s, so it’s pretty neat to be able to connect this to a living relative in Holland.

Another theme for Sepia Saturday that feels like it was made for me!  While my boats carry the flag of Holland and aren’t being rowed  under a bridge, this was just TOO good of an opportunity to pass up.  In the photo above, we see an “aakschip” or quite literally, a “barge boat” in a canal in Holland, with the photo likely taken in the mid 1930s.  Hilje Dijkema, my husband’s grandmother, is the person in the checkered print dress on the left, the person at center is likely her sister Ellechien and the man in the dark clothes to the right is probably Hendrik.  The barge’s name is the “Vertrouwen” or “Trust” and was built in 1926 for Hendrik Dijkema, my husband’s great-grandfather.  Hendrik is one in a long line of “turfschippers” or “peat boatman” but the translation doesn’t accurately explain what that is – the Dutch is just SO much more efficient here!  Basically, Hendrik ran boats up and down the canal that carried peat logs used for heating fuel.  The boat was primarily based out of Uithuizen, but likely went all over Groningen on deliveries.  The family was based out of Uithuizen and I know from paper  records that they had various homes there over time.  Before the Vertrouwen, Hendrik had another ship, the tjalkschip  Ebenhaezer.  There is a short series of photos taken around the same time, so I’m going to go ahead and post them all!

Likely taken on the same day as the photo at top, here we can see the barge’s name, “Vertrouwen,” painted on the back.  On the boat we have, left to right, Hendrik Dijkema, Elizabeth van Eerden, Hilje Dijkema, and Ellechien Dijkema.  Again, probably about mid 1930, maybe a little before 1935 – Hilje was born in 1914, so if I guess she’s in her late teens, it puts the window between 1931-1934 if we guess she’s between 17 and 20.  They’re all standing or sitting on the area of the boat that would’ve been the living quarters.  Further to the left of the photo is the cargo area where the peat logs would’ve been stored with covers to keep them out of the elements.  Based on the leaves on the trees, this looks like it was probably taken in the summer.

One last one!  again, same time period, and from left to right we have Hendrik Dijkema, Elizabeth van Eerden, Jantje Oosting, and Hilje Dijkema.  Jantje Oosting married Hilje’s brother Albert Dijkema in 1934, which further helps solidify the timeline.  Together, the three photos give us a little glimpse into their life aboard these barges.  During the winter, the canals mostly close down due to ice, so while they spent their winters in Uithuizen, the rest of the time was spent on these barges going all over the northeast of Holland.  They’re really precious photos and I’m so glad they survived and are here to tell their story.

On time this week for Sepia Saturday!  The prompt post featured two French boys, and here I have two Dutch girls.  On the left is Ellechien Dijkema (1912-1974) and on the right is Hilje Dijkema (1914-1997), my husband’s grandmother.  It’s the oldest photo we have of her where her face is clearly visible and it’s quite a treasure!  The girls are the youngest of 8  children, only 6 of whom made it past their 18th birthday.  While the image doesn’t show it, the girls spent the majority of their early lives on the canals around Groningen, Netherlands with their father who ran a barge loaded with deliveries of peat logs for fuel, so the girls were no strangers to life on a boat.  Hilje later married and even took a transatlantic voyage  to the USA where she lived till her death.  The back of the photo has a mark for the photo studio, Foto Steenmeijer (Heerestr. 421, Groningen) and is stamped in purple ink with the date  18 July 1927, so Hilje would’ve been 13 here.  I absolutely love the details in the photo from the necklaces on the girls to their shoes, the bracelet on Ellechien, both of them with rings on, and the almost unseeable print on Hilje’s dress.  As for the photo studio location, we probably walked past it while we were in Groningen this past Fall!  There’s a bunch of great information about the photographer here (unfortunately in Dutch, but Google Translate handles it pretty well!)

Sometimes the propmt image for Sepia Saturday isn’t quite an exact match to the subject, but more matches the feeling and composition of the photo like we have here.  The prompt image featured a group of kids playing some sort of game, standing in a circle.  The girls in the photo above aren’t standing or playing any sort of apparent game, but they’re sitting in a circle just the same.  At the center of the circle is presumably the teacher or leader and dthe girls all look to be in their early to mid teens.    Hilje Dijkema, my husband’s grandmother, is at the very far left of the photo, leaning on her elbow.  The photo was likely taken in or around Uithuizen, Groningen, Netherlands and the back of the photo says, “Meisjes Vereiniging, 1931,” which translates roughly to, “Girls Club,” and dates the photo to 1931 which makes Hilje 17 years old.  Hilje didn’t go to school beyond about 5th grade, but the family was very religious so this could have been some sort of church club for girls.  I don’t see any bibles or books though, and I don’t know who any of the other girls are.  It’s still a charming photo of the group of them and I rather like how they’re all sitting neatly in a circle.