Wartime Utrecht

[David Dunlop]

At the end of World War II, while my Dad was waiting for his return back home from The Netherlands, he took his battledress into a shop in Utrecht for either cleaning or repairs. I still have the wooden coat hanger that came with his battledress when it was returned from the shop.

On one side of the hanger is stamped:

D. L. Dias U / h. GEBR, DIAS Voorstraat 41. Biltstraat 6. Telef. 4213 UTRECHT

The Biltstraat 6. portion has been blacked out.

On the other side of the hanger is stamped:

Heeren - en Jongenh. - Kleeding & Modemagazijnen

Can anyone provide any information as to what kind of shop this might have been in 1945? I believe the Voorstraat 41 building is still there, not certain about the other location.


David

[Marc van Aalderen]

Hi David,

The U / h should be v/h, short for "voorheen" which means "formerly".
Gebr. means "Brothers" and since one address is blacked out I guess two brothers split up the old company and went their own way, each one at a seperate shop that used to make up the old company.

Heeren en Jongeheeren, Kleeding en Modemagazijnen translates in Gentlemans and Masters Clothing and Fashion Stores.

There is a building at Biltstraat 6 but I have no idea if it is the same as then.

Hope this answers part of your questions.

Cheers,

[David Dunlop]

Thanks for the translation, Marc. On closer inspection, it was indeed a lower case 'v' in the abbreviation for "voorheen".

I recall my Grandparents commenting that Dad had put on some weight when he returned home. Maybe he had to have his battledress refitted after all the fine Dutch dining he was enjoying! I know for as long as could remember, he hated canned stew or corned beef. Said he'd seen enough of it during the war to last four lifetimes, so being in Holland for a while and visiting in people's homes must have been a delight for him.

David