Dutch Shoes - Delft Pottery

Today’s fridge magnet comes from Holland. I purchased this fridge magnet at the gift shop in Delft, a city in the western Netherlands. Delft is known as the manufacturing base for Delftware which is hand-painted blue-and-white pottery.

The production of Delft Blue started in the 17th century and was used to make ornaments, plates, and tiles. It is still being made today and while on the European Handbell Festival trip, we enjoyed a tour of the Delft factory.

Delftware is usually decorated with metal oxides that can withstand high firing temperatures. A white tin-glaze is applied over the decorated earthenware and the cobalt oxide gives the finished product its blue coloring,

I chose these Dutch shoes as my souvenir because wooden shoes or clogs are a Dutch icon. In Holland, wooden shoes are worn by farmers, fishermen, factory workers, artisans and others to protect their feet. On boats and docks and in muddy fields, wooden shoes also keep feet dry.

This magnet also shows another symbol of Dutch culture. The Netherlands used to have 10,000 windmills. Nowadays over 1000 are still standing and most of them still work. Most of these are gristmills or polder mills. Polder is a Dutch word originally meaning silted-up land or earthen wall. It is generally used to designate a piece of reclaimed land from the sea or from inland water.

Historically, windmills in Holland served many purposes, but probably the most important was pumping water out of the lowlands and back into the rivers away from the dikes so the land could be farmed.

Lots of tidbits of information represented by my fridge magnet today! I trust you learned something new. I know I did! Enjoy.