HOLLAND'S ST. NICHOLAS VISITS NEW YORK
JJ 2) utcli tradition acjain reuiued
Z)f> Out* J*lcippy,
THE spirit of Christmas is once
again upon us and I should like
to wish every one of you the happi
ness and contentment that each of
you hopes forI should also like to
wish you good health and gbod
cheer for the New Year 1953not
only for yourself but for your family
and your friendsMy business asso
ciates all join me in these happy
thoughts
At the risk of being repetitious, I
should like to announce that the
business year 1952 again has brought
us a very substantial increase in sales
of Heineken's. The quotas that we
had set in the twelve different divi
sions into which we had divided the
country have been reached with the
exception of two and although we
are naturally somewhat disappointed
that we were not able to say that all
our territories made it, we are grate
ful indeed for the substantial increase
which came about because of your
help and hard work in making sales
and keeping satisfied customers.
Since the last issue, we participated
in the 37th National Hotel Exposi
tion at Grand Central Palace in New
York where a very large number of
friends and Heineken's admirers called
at our Booths and placed orders with
us. It gave us the opportunity to
introduce our newly imported Hoppe
line from Amsterdam, Holland, their
Genever Gin and their fine liqueurs
beautiful blue Delft gift packages.
We are busily preparing our ad
vertising budget for 1953 as well as
sales quotas and other plans which
will guide us, we hope again, towards
larger sales and greater success. I hope
to visit a number of our distributors
throughout the South and Western
part of the country during the
months of January and February
and look forward with anticipation
to renewed friendships and to meet
as many of you as possible.
Until then, and a very Merry
Christmas to all of you.
Cordially yours
IN the Netherlands the festivities of
Santa Claus, or as he is known
there, St. Nicholas, take place on the
evening of December 5th and/or the
following morning, December 6th.
Since all our readers have an inter
est in Holland, I have been asked to
tell you some more of the history
and background of the generous
Saint who for generations, in his own
way, has glorified generosity and
children.
Some of you know Saint Nicholas
as Sinterklaas, others as Santa Claus,
but whatever his name, we all have,
at one time or another, come in close
contact with him. Saint Nicholas
represents one of the world's oldest
institutions. He has been traced back
to at least the year 300 when as a
Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, he
tossed three nights in a row, bags of
gold into the window of three girls
who did not have the money for a
dowry and, therefore, could not get
married. It is said that the marriages
turned out very successful. This seems
to prove again that money is not
everything, but it helps.
Anyway, the story of the three
girls has started the custom of giving
gifts on December 5th and 6th and
on Christmas. And that is just about
all the historical background I am
going to give you about the beloved
Saint because Saint Nicholas is very
much alive today.
In a recent issue of "Life" Maga
zine, there is a beautiful picture in
colors showing Saint Nicholas and
his Moorish servant, Zwarte Piet as
they rode through the streets of
Nieuw Amsterdam 300 years ago.
The caption reads: "Saint Nicholas,
favorite saint of children in Holland,
was introduced to the new world by
the early Dutch settlers who paraded
him through the streets of New Ams
terdam. "Life" says: In America,
Saint Nicholas, whom the Dutch call
Sinterklaas, was gradually transform
ed into Santa Claus the stately
church figure becoming the portly,
twinkle-eyed little man. Webster
puts it even more succintly: "The
American Santa Claus is a corruption
of the Dutch Sinterklaas." It is per
fectly true and it is the only corrup-
Saint Nicholas and Black Pieter are being escorted to the Nieuw Amsterdam Room of
The Netherlands Club by Mr. Leo van Munching and Mr. Julius Eisendrath of the
Holland Saint Nicholas Committee,
