Roeland Van Cavel: offers "Glimpses of Holland"

              1939

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2Y11-3rd Ave.  Calif.
ROELAND VAN CAVEL
offers
GLIMPSES OF HOLLAND
(Not a Travelogue)
A Lecture-Demonstration presenting the story of Holland—its history, the people and their customs

Entertaining · Educational · Unique Displays and Costumes




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ROELAND VAN CAVEL
The outline of the program given by Roeland Van Cavel is covered in detail on the following page.  The Bureau desires to emphasize the fact that Van Cavel is not giving a travelogue.  His hour is probably one of the most unusual and unique of any on the school assembly or lyceum platform.  One of the bureaus with whom he has been connected on the Pacific Coast has advertised him as a Dutch humorist and Van Cavel objects to this.  Nevertheless, the Bureau is convinced that the high school boys, who have called him that funny Dutchman are entirely right.  His humor is spontaneous and infectious with his audience.  Therefore, it is suggested that the program outline be read with the understanding that it is one of amusement as well as education.

—The Management.

ROELAND VAN CAVEL was born in the Netherlands and migrated to the United States alone at the age of nineteen.  Since he had completed the graded school in the Netherlands, he was qualified to enroll in the Sacramento High School, California.  He completed the four year course of this school in three years.  After graduation from the Sacramento Junior College, he attended the U. C. L. A. and majored in sociology.  He had no financial support from anyone.  He worked on a farm between thirty-five and forty hours a week while in high school, and in a gas station while in college.  He has lectured before school assemblies and men's and women's organizations for the past five years.  It is Mr. Van Cavel's ambition to obtain a Doctor's degree in sociology.

Mr. Van Cavel is thirty years of age, five feet, eight inches tall.  He speaks with a Holland Dutch accent, but with a clear enunciation.


Stage and Equipment
The stage is fully lighted, including the footlights.  There are no spots.  The house is a little darker than the stage.

In the center of the stage is a stand with sixteen oil paintings, forty-two inches by six feet.  On the left side of the stage is a table with a board fastened to it, a cutting knife to carve wooden shoes, several pairs of wooden shoes and shaped blocks from which wooden shoes are fashioned.  Behind the paintings are imported Dutch costumes, a man's and a woman's, to be shown during the performance.  There are Dutch newspapers showing advertising of American styles of clothing and of American motion pictures.


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Dress
Mr. Van Cavel dresses in an authentic holiday Dutch costume—red coat, baggy trousers, wooden shoes, and a Dutch Cap.



Program
When the curtain rises, Mr. Van Cavel is singing the Dutch national anthem and supposedly making wooden shoes.  When he notices the audience toward the end of the song, he addresses them in Dutch.  He walks over to the charts in the center of the stage and repeats the same greeting in English.

He then briefly states his impression of the United States before he came here and what he really found when he got here.  He gives the opinion Americans have about Holland—the windmills, tulips, Dutch boys sticking their fingers into the dykes, and odd looking people in general.  He shows the location of the country and compares the size with a chart of California.  He tells how Holland came into being.  He tells about how the first dams were built and shows a map of Amsterdam with a dam in the center.  (Some of the present remains of dams are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Vollendam.)

He explains what dykes are, shows graphically on a chart how the dykes are built one inside of the other and how Holland consists of a string of these tiny islands.  He shows on a chart the prospect of the Zuyder Zee's drying up and tells how the heavy Zeedykes are built.  He also shows on a chart a large willow brushwood mattress, which is used to build these dykes.  He tells how the salt is taken out of the reclaimed land by the excessive rains taking the salt into the drainage canals and to the pumping stations where it is pumped out of the water.

He shows a map of Holland 300 years ago and makes a comparison of the land and water area then and now.

He then turns to a picturesque chart of the countryside showing the little plots of land with drainage ditches around them, the main canals, and the dykes along which are the windmills or pumping stations, pumping the water into the outside canals.  He shows a large windmill and explains its workings.  He tells of the Dutch tulip and shows the draining of the bulb fields.  Mr. Van Cavel tells how we could raise tulips in the United States if we knew how to mix the soil.

He explains the democratic government of Holland, universal suffrage, and the right of women to vote.  He shows a large painting of the Queen and speaks briefly of the German Kaiser in Holland.

He shows the water defense system and gives the reasons why Holland has been able to stay out of war for 126 years.

He shows a painting of a modern Dutch High School and tells about the school system and the social stratification and how it effects higher learning in Europe.  He speaks of modern Holland with its American-made automobiles and bicycles.

He tells where picturesque costumes are found, why costumes vary from village to village, and shows two actual samples of clothing and two paintings.  He shows some wooden shoes in several stages of production and tells how they are made, and why they are worn and to what extent.

He tells about the cleanliness of the Dutch homes and home life and how the Hollywood movies are upsetting the old social customs both in Holland and in the world in general.

He talks about modern American songs and dances which are copied directly from American moving pictures.  He shows on a chart Moonlight and Roses in Dutch and the literal English translation.  He sings Moonlight and Roses in Dutch, while the audience follows the words on the chart.

Mr. Van Cavel does a clog dance in wooden shoes.






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It is with considerable pleasure that I recall the happy assembly hour you gave the students of University High last Tuesday.  Your style of presentation is unique, your humor is infectious, and you know how to get over to the audience.

R. D. WADSWORTH, Principal, University High School, West Los Angeles, California.

We wish to take this opportunity to compliment you on the very interesting and pictorial lecture that you delivered in our auditorium on the Social and Physical Aspects of Holland.  We feel sure that our students have a much better comprehension of Holland and its problems, as a result of your talk.

L. J. BEAUFAIT, Student Body Adviser, Metropolitan High School, Los Angeles, California.

Mr. Roeland Van Cavel has addressed our assembly twice during the past two years.  We have an enrollment of approximately 900 pupils and a staff of 35 teachers.  This entire group was highly entertained by the humorous and subtle manner in which Mr. Van Cavel presented his topic.

S. A. PEPPER, Principal, California Junior High School, Sacramento, California.



Roeland Van Cavel
Lecture Demonstration On His Homeland
HOLLAND
Has Received Many Letters and Press Notices

A Few Representative Comments
'The March of Holland' was presented to us like only your good self could do.  We enjoyed every minute of your talk and illustrations, and your song at the end sung in your own language Moonlight and Roses, seemingly without the moonlight, was a 'wow'.

THOS. F. FITZP ATRICK, Secy., Kiwanis Club of Hollywood, Hollywood, California.

May I take this opportunity to thank you in behalf of myself and the institution, for the unique, humorous and instructive lecture you gave us yesterday on the country of Holland.  This morning the boys are saying, 'That Dutchman is sure OK.'  More power to you.

E. J. MILNE, Superintendent Whittier State School, Whittier, California.

We wish to thank you for the program which you gave on this date to the Beverly Hills Lions Club.  It was very interesting and unusual, and we recommend it to any one in the need of entertainment.

VERN CADIEUX, Secy.-Treas., Lions Club, Beverly Hills, California.


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