Back to Amsterdam-2 Bag and Purse Museum and Alkmaar

Bag and Purse Museum This was really interesting and not just for the ladies. Lots of history was presented along with the bags and purses. In addition, the museum is the former home of an Amsterdam mayor and was built in 1666. A really cool house!

The oldest "bag" in the museum dated from the 16th C. It was goat leather. It was organized with the oldest bags on the 4th floor. As you worked your way down, the bags got more and more modern.

To name just a few interesting bags:  one was the size and shape of a dachshund, one looked like an chocolate sundae, one looked like a cupcake.

I appreciated the older items much more than the most modern items which fell into a category called street couture.

For me, the most interesting displays discussed something called a "work bag." There was a time when every respectable woman was expected to spend her free time on fine needlework. The lady's "work bag" was indispensable. She kept her needlework and sewing materials in it. The "work bag" was often taken on visits and it was not uncommon for the ladies to work on their items from their bags while taking tea together.

From the 1770s onwards, the most popular "work bag" was a flat rectangular bag that closed at the top with a drawstring. They were mostly made of satin and were embroidered or decorated with ribbons, foil and sequins. The bags could be purchased already decorated or decorated by hand by the owner.

The ladies in my group, Needle Nomads, continue this tradition. We all have some sort of "work bag." This is mine:

My friends do have little thread cutters on a ribbon, a small pair of scissors, a needle book or case, etc., but I haven't seen anyone I know wearing one of these:

On the left is a chatelaine dating to about 1740 (from Amsterdam). Made of silver. On it's right is a chatelaine made of polished steel and gold decoration and dates to the early 19th C ( from England).

These must have been heavy!

Alkmaar
There are certain traditions that have been going on for a long time in The Netherlands. One of those traditions is a cheese market. These have been going on for centuries and continue today (but perhaps only for tourists).

Our group decided to take the train from Amsterdam to Alkmaar to observed the Friday morning Cheese Market in the quaint village of Alkmaar about 40 minutes north of Amsterdam. After the train was a walk to the center square for the festivities. The Cheese Market here has been running since at least 1634, possibly earlier. I don't know what the schedule was back then, but today it's held on Friday mornings. This is where cheese sellers would bring their goods and buyers could sample the cheese and make purchases. I would say by the size of the cheeses, buyers would mostly be wholesalers today.

Did we enjoy the Cheese Market? The short answer is no. The layout makes it impossible for anyone to see much of anything despite the fact that there was a giant video screen showing the proceedings. Part of the problem was the number of tourists all trying to watch the events. The other issue was that the square wasn't built for an audience. The area surrounding the center square actually slopes away from the square itself making it especially difficult for folks to see.  The photo above was copied from the Internet. We could not see anything like this. Maybe we picked an extremely busy time of year due to the Keukenhof event, but I don't think I would recommend this activity. There are other towns that also hold a Cheese Market, so maybe a different one would have been better.

Did we enjoy Alkmaar? Yes, definitely. It was quaint. We had cold drinks in the sun at a nice cafe, we shopped in some shops. D introduced me to a brand of shoe called Romika. I bought a pair! We enjoyed browsing in a store that was a blend of a hardware store and a kitchen store.One of us who had been craving ice cream enjoyed a cold treat.