Drawings by Koert
In the second part of the history notebook, there are a number of drawings by Koert. To understand what he drew here, it is important to write something about Sio. After its founding in 1938, the company experienced rapid growth. The models produced largely came from Koert's parents, Ernst and Käthe Sigmund. Within a short time, the collection expanded enormously (see the SIO page on this site). One of the models produced in large numbers and variations is the horse and carriage with Jantje van Alles.
Fine Painting
In the Sio factory in Vroomshoop, the many parts of the toy were sawn, painted, and assembled. Letters and spokes of wheels could be applied in the factory using a paintspray and stencils. However, the wooden figure Jantje van Alles (which sat loosely on the stand) could not be produced in the factory because it had to be painted by hand, a process called fine painting. From end-1940, the Sigmund family lived with the de Nooij family at Hooftlaan 13 in Bussum. Mr. de Nooij was a fine painter. He had a workshop in the garden behind the house, where he painted the Jantjes. The Jantjes were sawn in a factory in Bussum and brought in basketfuls. They were painted in the workshop and transported weekly to Vroomshoop.
Koert draws Jantje van Alles
Koert's parents were in Vroomshoop every week, where they also regularly stayed overnight in a house next to the factory. This meant that Mr. and Mrs. de Nooij often acted as stand-in parents for Lotte and Koert at their home in Bussum. With Mr. de Nooij at work in his workshop behind the house, it is easy to imagine that Koert was often present there among the wooden Jantjes.
In the notebook, there are several drawings by Koert in which he has traced a wooden Jantje with a pencil. He colored in a number of them with colors he saw being painted there.
65
The wooden Jantje (right) is a replica from the late 1970s.
Besides outlining and coloring the little Jantjes, they were also used for a bit of Dutch lessons. These words were written by Koert.
Words
It was a very creative idea from one of the parents (or stand-in parents) to have Koert draw the different parts of Jantje separately and write the words next to them.
Koert was about 6 years old when he drew in the notebook and wrote these words next to the parts of the Jantjes. He most likely spoke fluent Dutch since he had come to the Netherlands as a baby. These words were therefor for learning to write, not for learning Dutch.
These drawings also appear to have been made by tracing existing (wooden?) shapes and coloring them in.
Greengrocer, 1940s
This Greengrocer with a horse and cart was a variation on the Jantje van Alles. Just like Jantje, the Greengrocer was painted separately by fine painter de Nooij.
The word 'Groenteboer', the spokes of the wheels, as well as the markings of the horse were spray-painted in Vroomshoop using stencils.
Replica Jantje van Alles
In the late 1970s, directors Mertens, Bronckhorst, and Uilenreef said goodbye to the factory. On the occasion of this farewell and as a tribute to the Sigmund couple, a small number of new Jantje van Alles wagons were produced.
