Messages from Canada

Daily newspaper Tubantia, 1955

Four years ago, Marinus Rhebergen from Aalten left for Canada and he is currently on holiday in his hometown for a few months.

“Canada is, it is said, the land of unlimited opportunities, but don’t think that every immigrant in Canada will become rich in a few years. Don’t even think that everyone who emigrates to Canada will have acquired a position there within a few years, as it would never have been possible in the Netherlands. There are exceptions, there are people who are extremely lucky and have acquired a strong position within a few years, but…. They remain exceptional cases.”

This is according to Marinus Rhebergen from the Richterinkstraat in Aalten, who emigrated to Canada four years ago and returned yesterday for a holiday stay in Aalten, where his parents and other relatives live. Four years ago, Marinus left, together with his friend Constant de Jong, also from Aalten. It was actually a bit of an adventure for Marinus and Constant. Both had jobs and both were single. They did not have many worries. The unknown attracted them and they did not lack entrepreneurial spirit. One day we left, just like that, hoping for a blessing.

“When we arrived in Canada,” Marinus told us, “we had to get some money in our pockets. After we came ashore, we decided to step into the first factory we saw. It was a textile factory. Beforehand we had “tossed”, where it turned out in such a way that, if only one man was needed, it would be my turn first. I was lucky in that first factory. The director – an Englishman – could use people. He spoke highly of the good relations that had always existed between the English and the Dutch people. Of course I was wise enough not to talk about the wars with England. After a few days, the director came to tell me that he also had work for my friend. That’s how we both started working in the same company.”

In the office

However, Marinus did not want to stay in the textile factory. He looked for a job in an office and finally succeeded in a place in the north of Ontario. “I had a good job there,” Marinus said. “There was one objection to it; I was the only Dutchman in that place and that was not pleasant. The mentality of the Canadians is very different from that of the Dutch and when push comes to shove, you will always remain Dutch there. Whether you like it or not, you always keep your Dutch sense of sociability and community practice.”

Marinus has now gone to Aalten. For how long? Oh, he doesn’t know that yet. He is not tied to anything. He has quit the job in Canada. His boss there gave him a beautiful certificate and said that the office chair is ready for him at all times. However, Marinus does not want to be isolated among the Canadians again as a Dutchman. Somewhere else in Canada, he will soon try his luck again.

Getting ahead

Marinus has spoken to numerous Dutch people in Canada in the past four years, including several former Aalten residents. They are doing pretty well, of course some better than others. “In general,” says Marinus, “someone who has a small business or a small farm in the Netherlands should not think that he will be able to work in Canada within a few years. Many who were so-called small self-employed in the Netherlands, are also self-employed in Canada. If one wants to take giant steps on the road to fortune, one must fully adapt to the Canadians. That means, adopting their good qualities, but also the bad ones. Then one gets a lot of relationships and that is of enormous importance, but not moral.

Constant de Jong, who left at the same time as Marinus, still works in the same factory. He was less able than Marinus to change, because he married there a few years after arriving in Canada. And Constant is a man with Dutch responsibility; A married man should not go on adventures. Marinus has remained loyal to the bachelor life.

Voortman family

Marinus Rhebergen often visited the Voortman family in Canada. This was not only caused by the fact that there are four boys in this family, with whom it is pleasant to talk, the wife of Voortman Sr. comes from Aalten. Mr. Voortman, who was a widower, remarried in Hamilton to Ms. Cato te Brake, who left for Canada a few years ago. The Voortman family, says Marinus Rhebergen, first lived in Picton for a number of years. After several years of hard work and considerable savings, Mr. Voortman decided to buy his own house.

He succeeded in Hamilton, where there was a large house for sale in the center of the city. Mr. Voortman became the owner of this building and decided to furnish it partly as a guest house. Business went very well almost from the start. According to Marinus Rhebergen, this was mainly due to the good reputation that the boarding house received. They were mainly unmarried Dutch immigrants, who boarded with the Voortman family.

They had a good time there. Not only was good food and drink provided, but a lot of attention was also paid to creating a cozy atmosphere. In general, the Canadian boarding houses do not excel in conviviality. The Canadians are less fond of domestic traffic than the Dutch and this is also evident from the design of their homes.

Boarding houses

Especially the unmarried Dutch immigrant does not have an easy time in Canada. Financially, if he knows how to get things done, he can get by, but earning money alone does not make the emigration successful, one must also feel at home in the new environment.

Unmarried people in Canada are dependent on boarding houses. “That’s not all,” says Marinus. “There is almost no domestic traffic and you miss the cozy atmosphere of the Dutch families. The Dutch immigrants also often have boarders, but one drawback is that a Dutch family sometimes has eight to ten boarders. That sometimes makes the flush thin.”

The young people, who have their boarding house with the Voortman family, all feel at ease in Canada and that is also the case with the young men, who spend a few pleasant hours here in the evening after work.

Other immigrants from Aalten

Marinus Rhebergen also met many other immigrants in Canada. Of course, he mainly visited Dutch people from Aalten. Mr . J. Bierman from Lintelo initially worked on a farm in southern Ontario for a few years. A few years ago, he bought a farm in Cochrane, in northern Ontario. The land was cheap and is good. A disadvantage is that people live quite lonely in the north and that the winter is long there. Mr. Bierman mainly grows a lot of potatoes. The farm is about 500 hectares in size.

Mr . G.C. Stronks, formerly living on the Hogestraat in Aalten, works in Burlington on a market garden. He is currently building a house himself.

Mr . Ant. Lammers, who had a bookstore in Aalten on the Landstraat, lives with his family in Hamilton. Mr. Lammers was first a pioneer for a few years, but now has permanent work in a printing house and bookstore. So he has ended up back in his own industry.

Mr . J. Wiggers, one of the directors of the furniture factory Luimes and Wiggers in Aalten, has been living in Smithfield near Trenton for several years. Mr. Wiggers is a craftsman who is also greatly appreciated for his work in Canada. He has mainly focused on taking care of interiors of homes. He has built a beautiful house for his own family. Mr. Wiggers takes on the finishing of homes in Canada.

Mr . H. Winkelhorst, who lived in Aalten on the Koopmanstraat, now owns a farm in Smithfield. He has now bought the company, which he had rented for several years.

Mr. Bertus Prinzen, who ran a grocery store on the Hogestraat in Aalten, and was one of the first emigrants from Aalten, has a large farm in Jarvis – a cattle farm. Mr. Prinsen has numerous positions in public life in Jarvis. He is a source of information for many immigrants.

Mr. Bernard Prinsen from IJzerlo, has a good farm in Bloomfield near Picton. It is a mixed farm. His son also works on the farm, after he had first worked for the General Motors for a few years.

Mr. Willem Prinzen, who lived in Aalten on the Willemstraat, works for a construction company, together with one of his sons. His other sons also have good work. The W. Prinsen family lives in Bloomfield, where they have bought a house. In Aalten, Mr. Prinsen was a wholesaler in textiles.

The brothers Geert, Arie and Wim Lammers from Aalten have found well-paid work in Canadian factories.

Do you have interesting stories about family members who emigrated from Aalten to Canada? Send us a message!