Secondhand peeps into the past

On fine weather days, the secondhand stalls of Rotterdam’s Blaak open market are particularly delightful. The sunlight gently falls on the worn objects lying in rows on the red cloth spread out on the ground, as your eyes wander from one object to another – old toys, wooden furniture, clothes, shoes, little tin boxes, jars and bottles, sockets, kitchen goods…. If you’re lucky, you may even find odd or romantic or hard to find items, such as a dusty violin tucked away in a corner or a box of magazines which ceased publishing years ago.

The secondhand stalls in Holland basically sell everything, from antiques to practical goods. Secondhand buying and selling seems to be part of Dutch life and are integrated in Dutch culture. There seem to be secondhand stores and markets everywhere, springing up and closing down, as well the more established stores, such as the Kringloop winkels in Delft and the Emmaus in Den Haag.

Traditionally, the Dutch are known as a people who generally try to avoid excess and waste, and today’s secondhand stalls are perfect for recycling and re-using objects: the utility of practical goods is extended and other objects and crafts are allowed to accumulate history and value. This comprehensiveness satisfies many different interests: people who are looking for really cheap secondhand utility goods, people who collect old objects or antiques, and people who are trying to recapture the past and relive memories through these old material goods.

It’s no wonder foreign students are often fascinated by these secondhand stalls, not only because of the richness these stalls offer, but also because in many of the foreign students’ home countries, secondhand selling and buying isn’t common practice or isn’t as comprehensive as it is in Holland. In China, for instance, many provinces do have secondhand markets, but the stalls mainly sell collectable objects, such as stamps, coins and antiques . stuff that one would not be able to find in regular shops. Moreover, the general attitude is that practical or domestic goods are to be used until they can be used anymore, so therefore there are very few goods of this type to re-sell secondhand.

Sometimes the social attitude also determines the nature or status of secondhand object business. In South America buying secondhand commodities often indicates one’s social status. In Colombia, for example, different social attitudes co-exist: some people regard secondhand buying and selling as a matter of interest, while others regard it as socially embarrassing: secondhand goods of a practical nature, such as clothes, are only bought by the poor. Even in Belgium, a country bordering the Netherlands, most people prefer to buy brand new stuff and, again, the buying of secondhand goods is left largely to the lower class.

What a ‘Dutch Special’ are the secondhand stalls in the Netherlands. Here, a different social attitude prevails and for us foreigners, these secondhand objects are like cultural artifacts; they allow us a peep into the country’s history and culture. One gains a fragment of history and then our imaginations are free to construct the rest of the story for the objects. In Holland, secondhand stalls are wonderful places of discovery and delight.

(Photo: Chittiappa)

On fine weather days, the secondhand stalls of Rotterdam’s Blaak open market are particularly delightful. The sunlight gently falls on the worn objects lying in rows on the red cloth spread out on the ground, as your eyes wander from one object to another – old toys, wooden furniture, clothes, shoes, little tin boxes, jars and bottles, sockets, kitchen goods…. If you’re lucky, you may even find odd or romantic or hard to find items, such as a dusty violin tucked away in a corner or a box of magazines which ceased publishing years ago.

The secondhand stalls in Holland basically sell everything, from antiques to practical goods. Secondhand buying and selling seems to be part of Dutch life and are integrated in Dutch culture. There seem to be secondhand stores and markets everywhere, springing up and closing down, as well the more established stores, such as the Kringloop winkels in Delft and the Emmaus in Den Haag.

Traditionally, the Dutch are known as a people who generally try to avoid excess and waste, and today’s secondhand stalls are perfect for recycling and re-using objects: the utility of practical goods is extended and other objects and crafts are allowed to accumulate history and value. This comprehensiveness satisfies many different interests: people who are looking for really cheap secondhand utility goods, people who collect old objects or antiques, and people who are trying to recapture the past and relive memories through these old material goods.

It’s no wonder foreign students are often fascinated by these secondhand stalls, not only because of the richness these stalls offer, but also because in many of the foreign students’ home countries, secondhand selling and buying isn’t common practice or isn’t as comprehensive as it is in Holland. In China, for instance, many provinces do have secondhand markets, but the stalls mainly sell collectable objects, such as stamps, coins and antiques . stuff that one would not be able to find in regular shops. Moreover, the general attitude is that practical or domestic goods are to be used until they can be used anymore, so therefore there are very few goods of this type to re-sell secondhand.

Sometimes the social attitude also determines the nature or status of secondhand object business. In South America buying secondhand commodities often indicates one’s social status. In Colombia, for example, different social attitudes co-exist: some people regard secondhand buying and selling as a matter of interest, while others regard it as socially embarrassing: secondhand goods of a practical nature, such as clothes, are only bought by the poor. Even in Belgium, a country bordering the Netherlands, most people prefer to buy brand new stuff and, again, the buying of secondhand goods is left largely to the lower class.

What a ‘Dutch Special’ are the secondhand stalls in the Netherlands. Here, a different social attitude prevails and for us foreigners, these secondhand objects are like cultural artifacts; they allow us a peep into the country’s history and culture. One gains a fragment of history and then our imaginations are free to construct the rest of the story for the objects. In Holland, secondhand stalls are wonderful places of discovery and delight.

(Photo: Chittiappa)