Today I was investigating a file drawer marked 'Display'. I opened a file marked 'International' and a folder labelled 'Netherlands'. The first item was this colourful postcard commemorating Thinking Day celebrations in the Netherlands in 1951.
How might a kite be a good symbol for Thinking Day? Which countries' flags are on the kite string? What is Thinking Day called in the languages spoken in those countries? What do they call Guides?
Who would you like to send a Thinking Day postcard to?
Next came printed cards with the Guiding Promise and Law in Dutch, and beautiful illustrated borders.
Do you know someone who speaks Dutch? Can you work out what the Promise and Law say? How might you try to translate them? Are the Dutch Promise and Law still the same? How do they compare with the Canadian Promise and Law?
Then, a sheet of items relating to Dutch Guiding. Do you think that's a pair of Brownie wings at top left? I think the three round badges embroidered in blue are programme or interest badges. What activities or interests do you think they might represent?
So far we don't have, or haven't found, much more information about these display items. But let's take a closer look at some of these things.
The photo is labelled in English 'Woodpigeon Patrol 1951'.
Are these Dutch Guides? How do their uniforms compare with the second picture on this page?
What are the Woodpigeons doing? Click on the photo for a larger version.
I think they are working on their First Aid badge - they are carrying one Guide on a stretcher in the background, and the Guide sitting near the front of the picture is having her head and arm bandaged.
What was life like for girls in the Netherlands in the early 1950s?
Let's zoom in on the colourful bird badges - they are Patrol badges, measuring a couple of inches across. They are stitched by hand! Can you see what they are made of? How can you tell?
Can you work out which birds they represent? What are those birds called in Dutch?
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