Drinking in history

Cafés in de Antwerpse Polder

Every year, the Koninklijke Heemkundige Kring van de Antwerpse Polder, or Royal History Circle of the Antwerp Polders, stages an exhibition at the Polder Museum in the tiny village of Lillo. A visit to the remains of what once was Lillo-Fort, the museum and a free ferry ride across the River Scheldt to the threatened village of Doel make for a whole day out.

The History Circle was founded in 1959 with the task of safeguarding the heritage of the polder region. The annual exhibitions cover a variety of elements of the history of the northern Antwerp polders, its people and its culture.

And pubs certainly have a long history in Flanders. After making the decision to cover the history of the regions drinking holes, curator Hugo Vermeiren admits to a “luxury problem”, with a wealth of material to choose from. They limited themselves to the period from the turn of the last century to 1965, “the year in which the last remains of villages like Wilmarsdonk, Oorderen and Oosterweel were destroyed to make way for the port expansion.”

Pictures, postcards, newspaper cuttings and anecdotes on cafes of the region’s tiny villages fill the Polder Museum. Most of the old café’s (or staminees) were part of other activities, like a farm, a barbershop, a bicycle repair shop or a blacksmith or cobbler, who served drinks for an extra dime.

“What struck us most was the evolution of the social role of the café,” says Vermeiren. “The café was the social centre of the village community where people came to play cards or vogelpik (darts). …There was no TV, and only few people had a radio.

Cafés were also an important meeting place for associations like football teams and cycle clubs, “and the forum to discuss local politics,” continues Vermeiren. “Today, café’s have become more consumption oriented.”

The Polder Museum hosts a detailed reconstruction of a typical polder café of the period. “The Leuvense stove was the centre of the café,” explains Vermeiren, pointing to the design that was so popular in the earlier part of the 20th century. You’ll also find a 1939 version of the Wet Vandervelde (law on the abuse of alcohol) and an authentic Ariosa organette, an early version of a record player, with a disk filled with holes that, when placed on a turntable with a special needle, played accordion music. Then there are the constateurs, or pigeon clocks, to register the results of pigeon competitions.

Alida De Bie, mayor of Stabroek, remembers that her grandparents’ farm, the Groene Swaen – still in the village centre today – used to be a tavern where the local council held its meetings. “One of the most beautiful places in the polder was Het Havenhuis, with Jeanne Quick as the landlady. That café was in Berendrecht at De Frederik,” she says, referring to the fortification built by Dutch prince Frederik of Orange in 1628.

Public broadcaster VRT re-ran the TV series Terug naar Oosterdonk (Back to Oosterdonk) last month, a bit of luck for the History Circle, who profited from the attention for long-gone polder villages and traditions. “The series depicts the life in the polders just before the port and industry took possession of the area,” says Vermeiren. “The first episode was broadcast the week the exhibition opened – a very nice coincidence.”