Jelle Dam was born in a sod or turf hut, in 1857.The family was very poor. In 1885 he married and he and his wife got 6 children, three of them died young.
At first Jelle Dam worked as day labourer, lateron he became a carpenter. In 1892 he
set up his own carpenter business. He was very active in the Socialist Party. Jelle was appointed to investigate the housing conditions of the labourers. His report was as plain as day; eventually his advice was taken on and the small dwellings and sod huts were broken down and replaced by bigger stone houses.
Jelle Dam created a better, though not an easy life, for the labourers. They still were poor but the new houses were palaces compared to the sod and straw huts they used to live in.
Sod or turf hut for 13 persons.See also the 13 pair of wooden shoes or clogs. The parents had been married for 35 years!
This house is one of the better houses, thanks to Jelle Dam. It is situated at the Open Air Museum "It Damshûs"( the Dam's house).
Click to enlarge.
If a boat was in such a bad condition that it couldn't be used for transport of peat, the village carpenter built a small house on it.
Click to enlarge.
ABC is created by Denise Nesbitt and a team of experienced bloggers.For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with D.
43 comments:
Good on him.
Love the houseboat on dry land.
Nicely illustrated true story, Wil. Thanks for it.
What a great place. I love the shoes.
I really like your cat pictures too.
Ik ben de enige die t bordje kan lezen of die helemaal begrijpt wat er staat geschreven ;)
Echte oud-hollandse tekst
geweldig :)
Leuk blogje !!
Suddenly the history came very close to me. I "recognized" many things and issues both from Norway and from other places in Scandinavia.
Thank you for a splendid post!Q
When scrolling through your blog I found This
LET NO ONE SAY THE PAST IS DEAD
THE PAST IS ALL ABOUT US
AND WITHIN
Thanks
Great post!!
(and thank you for your kind comment!!!)
I like the photo of all the shoes!
Great idea to build a land houseboat so the sea boats won't go to waste.
Look at the boat-house!
What an iteresting post; the grass house of Polynesia was comfortable by comparrison with a cold sod house.
Aloha, Wil-
Comfort Spiral
Like your illustrations and the interesting story :)
That sure is an interesting place. Cozy, too! I love the use made of the broken boat. That's thinking.
Runee's comments about the connection to himself interesting as was your post again. So much history in one little place and such a clever idea.
Fascinating photos.
Great story with so much information. That's what I love about blogging. There is so much to learn. the "houseboat" is amazing. I would love to see it in person.
The best improvements are taken one step at a time. Another very informative post, and some great pics there.
What a fascinating post, Wil! I loved it! And your photos are marvelous! Love the houseboat and all the shots of the houses, inside and out! So interesting! And, yes, I love your cat pictures, too! Gave me a big smile!
Enjoy your day1
Sylvia
Interesting history and pics, Wil.
Wil.....that was really interesting! Thank you! Bless thier hearts, they had a ruff time and bless Jelle for caring!
So the boat wasn't sturdy enough for the water but strong enough for the foundation of a house? Interesting.
Love all of the photos, this sounds like a fascinating place to visit. The photos were very nice, a little bit of a history lesson, I love photos of that type. Thank you for sharing! I also enjoyed the cat photos. Cats can be such funny critters!
The poverty and simplicity remind me of some of the older home in my part of Appalachia. Thank you, Reader Wil!
Am excellent series of photos and a fine narrative - it's a pleasure to see the inside of those houses and to catch a glimpse of a baker's dozen of shoes...wonderful!
Love those cats! And thankful for Jelle Dam and all like him.
Interesting post of letter D..:)
enjoy learning something new.
Have a nice day.
that was so interesting
love the history
I love those kind of museums that let you look into life from the past.
Nice photos and story
Wonderful and very interesting post Wil. Somehow, now, I feel quite wealthy and very fortunate.
Looking at these photos, I am always amazed that people could actually live in such a small place. A good reminder to all of us who think we need so many "necessities" today.
I didn't have time to post today, but wanted to read some of my favorites. I really enjoyed the information on Friesland, since it's near the part of Germany where my ancestors came from.
Poverty, simplicity, earthiness. Only those who spent a hard life will ever realise truly what it was like for the labourers.
The newer houses look a big improvement on the older ones. Nice illustrations.
Good man! Those sod huts! They may have been warm, but they must have been so damp and smoky. You can see that once people had the stone houses to keep their stuff dry, then they made nicer furniture!
The boat looks like he made it into a cozy little home. You have some nice photos. Thanks for your visit to my place.
This is FASCINATING! I love history like this and enjoy wandering around this type of museum. Well done!
Wow! What great photos...I love the houses and the shoes, as well. What a great insight to Jelle Dam....Thank you for the information that you share..I missed coming to your blog..Will try to come more often...
What history and character... I really enjoyed the pics!
You tell a story how one man can make a difference of so many people. Thanks to this knowledge to us.
Great post Reader Wil! What a fascinating insight into past days!
Love you pictures, but I know my wife who is also a teacher would really love them. So I am forwarding your link as I type.
Great blog
David
This is a fabulous post, Wil. It shows me and others a kind of life way beyond our imagination. I knew about sod homes as our west was filled with people who built homes out of the prairie sod. A job to dig up sod for a house. It could not be plowed until the steel shod plow was invented. I would have to stop and think about what I was seeing if I were there looking at this display. What a different life that must have been.
I also left you a reply to your comment about safe photos on the Brookville blog you commented on this morning.
I am still enjoying my time off from blogging. I stop and look to see who has been buy and left a comment and when it is something I can say something about, I do say it if I have time. Otherwise I am off doing something else.
I dug up some grass, (of all things) that bothered me for a number of years. And while it is on Abe Lincoln Blogs you can read that and look at the couple of pictures I posted there. It is one of the jobs I have done on vacation.
What a fascinating post this is. I loved reading about Jelle Dam and the work he did to help the ordinary people, illustrated by your lovely photographs. Thank you.
Janice.
Beautiful photos!
Ah, some memories here. Not mine but the ones my grandparents told me.
They lived in one of those houses in Drente (turf) and brought up ten children there, one of them my father.
En they slept in those beddestees, sometimes four children in one. No bedrooms in those days. And when I was little I used to wear those klompen. Horrible in the snow because the snow would build up underneath and in the end you were about ten centimeters taller.
simply beautifully captured shots....lovely place!
I see people like this post! We took our kids to the Open Air museum when we visited, because there is so much history of Holland to see there. In one of the pics I saw "petroleum stellen" I have 2 of them, brought by a Dutch friend and use them as a plant stand:) (but I would use it to cook in times of emergencies)
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