Florensis 75 years | 1. The early years

Florensis 75 years 1. THE EARLY YEARS Period 1941-1970

The war years Filling packets Pioneering activities Serious business

March 2016

CONTENT 1

Introduction

2

3

Grandfather Jan Hamer Sr poached

Entrepreneur to be

11

4

Filling packets

12

13

The war years The dreaded blue envelope

Catalogues

18

17 17

Logos

Pioneering activities

19

21 24 28

Defaulters

Catalogues

Family matters

22

From bedroom to business premises

The very first employees

25

Serious business

Order forms

1. THE EARLY YEARS March 2016

Dear colleagues, It is with much pride and with great pleasure that we present the first of four special jubilee publications. Florensis marks its 75th anniversary in 2016, an achievement we wish to celebrate in several ways throughout the year. The first of these is In the way of a beautifully presented and colourful magazine, full of memorable stories and funny anecdotes, pictures and Interesting facts, all centered around Florensis’ 75-year existence.

Jan Hamer Sr at Gebroeders Sluis in Enkhuizen

Memorable stories, funny anecdotes The first edition covers the very beginning of the company: how, in 1941, it all began in Jan Hamer Jr’s bedroom and how his budding company - J. Hamer Jr. Bloemzaden flourished in spite of the circumstances of war.

Family ups and downs, as well as those of the very first employees, are described and we tell you about the various company locations and statistics involved. The magazine also contains plenty of illustrations, so we can literally ‘illustrate’ Florensis’ formative years for you.

Part one comes to a close in the early 1970s, with the first stock exchange notation. Our second instalment will tell you more.

We will celebrate the 75th anniversary in several ways through­out the year

For now, we hope you enjoy reading this first special publication!

Herman Hamer

Wim-Arie Hamer

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Grandfather Jan Hamer poached At the end of the 1930s, grandfather Jan Hamer was working for Gebroeders Sluis seed traders in Enkhuizen, the birthplace of the Dutch seed trade and the town where the Hamer family has its roots. He was only fourteen when he started working for Gebroeders Sluis in 1908, but in the end he worked there for nearly 30 years and celebrated 25 years of service in 1933.

As head of the garden seeds department, Jan Sr clearly did a very good job and became noticed, because in 1938 he was invited to work for the company D. van der Ploeg, then based in Zwijndrecht.

Re ference of Abraham Slu

is

As head of the garden seeds department , Jan clearly did a very good job and became noticed

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On 7 October 1935, Jan Hamer Jr started working for Abraham Sluis, also in Enkhuizen, and similarly at the age of fourteen. When his father left Enkhuizen for Zwijndrecht at the end of 1938, he automatically moved with him, but not before Abraham Sluis had written him a glowing reference.

Entrepreneur to be

Entrepreneur to be

Jan Hamer Jr knew exactly what he wanted at a very early stage: his own business selling packets of flower seeds. Trading nationally was what appealed to him, not the vegetable seed trade which was usually organised locally in those days. His father, grandfather Jan Hamer, thought he was barking up the wrong tree, but Junior took the first steps towards setting up his own business even before the Second World War began.

First of all, in March 1940, he filled in the application form for membership of the Dutch Vegetable and Fruit Centre as a garden seed merchant. In the course of the year, while the war raged in its full fury, Jan regularly sent trial packets of seed to potential customers. In 1941 he decided that he would definitely start operating as a seed merchant selling packets of flower seeds. On 27 October 1941 he sent a completed questionnaire to the Committee for the Organisation of Business in The Hague.

J. Hamer Jr. Bloemzaden, which appeared as the company name on his letterhead, was now a reality.

Questionnaire for the Com mitt ee for the Organ Business in Th isation of e Hague

Lathyrus Florensis 75 years

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The war years The war years

Jan’s first client was a very well-known company called Galeries Modernes

Starting your own business is never a sinecure, let alone during the war years and with ­another job on the side – Jan Hamer continued to work for Van der Ploeg until early 1946, alongside his flower seed packet business. But Jan fortunately didn’t have to face this challenge alone.

Prior to the war, he had met his future wife Enny Rozendaal and -shoulder to shoulderthey built up J. Hamer Jr. Bloemzaden during the war years.

Galeries Modernes Jan’s first client wasn’t the most insignificant: a very well-known company called Galeries Modernes which was taken over by the De Bijenkorf retail organisation at the end of the 1960s. In the 1940s Galeries Modernes was a large warehouse chain with sites in The Hague, Rotterdam, Groningen, Arnhem and Utrecht, and they responded to a letter from Jan.

The exchange of letters reveals they would be happy to receive a sample collection and to hold a personal meeting with Jan

The 4

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The war years The exchange of letters reveals they would be happy to receive a sample collection and to hold a personal meeting with Jan on 12 March 1941. Unabashed, entrepreneur Jan told them that he could not meet them on that date because of seasonal pressures, but the Galeries Modernes buyer and Jan did meet on 18 March at Jan’s private and business address, or

’Young man, I’ll give you the order’ rather at his parents’ house at Juliana van Stolbergstraat 19 in Zwijndrecht. The buyer arrived early and Jan’s mother told him that ‘Mr Hamer from the flower seeds’ – who he was asking for – would not be there until 12 o’clock. When Jan arrived at 12 o’clock in his old, patched-up overalls, there followed an animated discussion during which Jan’s passion earned the admiration of the buyer. The visit ended with the words: ’Young man, I’ll give you the order.’ On 21 March 1941 Galeries Modernes placed an initial order for 5,000 packets of flower seeds.

Correspondence between J. Hamer and Galeries Modernes

The war

war years Initial order from Galeries Modernes for 5,000 packets of flower seeds Florensis 75 years

5

For real Jan bought his seeds from Sluis en Groot in Enkhuizen. When he placed his first order, he probably did not realise how serious his business was becoming or how seriously it was taken by others. He therefore placed his first order on 13 March 1941 in the name of his future father-in-law, J. Rozendaal, who was a dairy farmer and knew nothing about the seed business. Five days later Jan placed another order and told Sluis en Groot who he was. On 25 March he thanked Sluis en Groot for the speedy delivery and told them that the order made by J. Rozendaal was no longer valid because he had taken him over. Jan was now doing business ‘for real’.

Jan signs with the name J. Rozendaal

The war years

Jan tells Sluis en Groot who he is

6

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The war years From first customer to growth J. Hamer Jr. Bloemzaden achieved a ­turnover of Dutch fl. 1,703.86 in 1941, its first financial year. Its clients were Galerie Modernes ­Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht and Kofa Gebr. Linders fashion warehouses from ­Dordrecht.

Jan bought a directory

In order to grow further, Jan bought a directory containing 3,500 addresses for fl. 46.50 from the Climax address bureau, so that he could approach those on the list. He also regularly trawled the national daily newspapers on the hunt for potential clients, then wrote to them offering a free sample collection.

Jan offers a free

sample collectio n

Petunia nana Compacta max”

Jan buys a directory from Bureau “Cli

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Reizen wordt in de oorlog ook steeds moeilijker

100 percent independent It wasn’t easy for Jan and Enny to build up a business during the war years, not least because Jan was, among other things, filling the seed packets with seeds in his bedroom at home. The situation became easier once he was able to use a work space above the dairy shop owned by Enny’s parents. However, travel became more and more difficult as the war went on.

Begonia

The war years e by bike

Permit to cross the bridg

The war years 8

Florensis 75 years

Dianthus

Ageratum

The war years Jan was rejected for military service and was not sent to work in Germany because he was employed in the food industry. Jan did not have a car so he sometimes travelled by train, but usually by bicycle. Luckily, he had extra freedom of movement thanks to his job with Van der Ploeg in the food industry so he regularly cycled from Zwijndrecht to Enkhuizen and back to replenish his stock of flower seeds.

Jan regularly cycled from Zwijndrecht to Enkhuizen and back On the right Jan Hamer with a friend

The war years Cer tificate that shows the bicycle of Mr. Hamer can not be seiz ed Florensis 75 years

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Wedding Jan and Enny June 6th 1945

The war years Jan Hamer and Enny Rozendaal were married on 6 June 1945 and afterwards lived briefly at Julianastraat 1 in Zwijndrecht, above the Van Pelt draper’s shop. Early in 1946 they moved to a dike house at Ringdijk 143 in Zwijndrecht and Jan gave up his job at Van der Ploeg so that he could pursue his career as a fully independent entrepreneur, together with Enny.

The war years 10 Florensis 75 years

Dike house at Ringdijk 143 in Zwijndrecht

Filling packets

Filling packets

In the early years of his business, Jan Hamer filled the packets with seed by hand in his bedroom. For this, he had assembled a set of spoons, each with a number. The size of spoon he used was determined by the size of the seeds.

Very fine seed, such as Begonia, was divided out manually and packed into parchment inner sachets, whereas he put Tagetes into the packets by hand. Before doing this, he stamped the packets and usually added the client’s name. The packets were then sealed manually and Jan sent them by post or Enny delivered the order by bicycle. An order from Meerkerk meant a two-day roundtrip by bicycle for Enny, with an overnight stop staying with family in the countryside.

A set of spoons, each with a number

Filling packets Florensis 75 years

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dreaded blue envelope Normal life had returned

The dreaded blue envelope

At the end of the war, Jan and Enny took stock of their earnings in 1941-1945. Normal life had returned which also meant a return of sales tax payments. They owed fl. 66.65, half a percent on sales of fl. 13,330.47.

dreaded blue envelope

12 Florensis 75 years

CATALOGUES J. Hamer Jr. Bloemzaden, a company with a ‘history’. The first ‘Prijscourant voor Bloemisten en Beroeps­ kwekers’ (Price list for florists and professional growers), which was actually the company’s first ­catalogue, appeared at the end of 1946. As a confidence-building measure, Jan Hamer wrote in the accompanying letter that his business was once again in a position to publish a flower seed catalogue after a break of several years.

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CATALOGUES

14 Florensis 75 years

The background is knitted by Mrs. Rozendaal

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CATALOGUES

The style with the knitted background was very satisfying so they made multiple catalogues with it

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Catalogues

Defaulters

Defaulters

Over the years, it seems that not all customers were equally creditworthy. In 1946, for instance, two big new customers were unable to make the payments due. This meant a loss of fl. 1,000, an enormous sum for an entrepreneur who was just starting out. Jan Hamer didn’t let it drop. In October 1946 he bought a motorbike and from then onwards he travelled

foot in the door

all over the country during the summer and autumn looking for new customers, but also to literally get his foot in the door here and there and collect late payments.

Example of a payment reminder

LOGOS

In the early years Jan Hamer Jr was clearly still searching for his own style

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Pioneering activities Pioneering activities

J. Hamer Jr. Bloemzaden started its first export activities in the middle of 1948. Jan Hamer entered into a collaboration with Okkerse in Belgium which would eventually last for 50 years.

The collaboration with Okkerse started with the sale of flower seeds and quickly expanded when Okkerse also published the Hamer catalogue in Belgium under its own name.

Representation in Germany Hamer further expanded his export activities in the middle of 1956. He appointed Martin Vis as the Hamer representative in Germany and also published a special catalogue. This initiative bore fruit because Hamer was already sending out the first orders in the second half of 1956.

Swiss interest One of the international firms which had previously placed an order was Schweitzer & Co. from Thun. In October 1950 they had, as a trial, ordered a stand for displaying the flower seed packets in shops. The cost of a stand was fl.

12.50. In addition to Schweitzer & Co, more individual customers from a number of countries placed small orders. Eventually, the customers came from all over the world.

Pioneering activitie

18 Florensis 75 years

Pioneering

Eventually, the customers came from all over the world

CATALOGUES

es

First catalogues from Okkerse in Belgium Florensis 75 years

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Pioneering activities Overseas customers ‘Impossible does not exist’ seems to have been Jan Hamer’s motto when you look back at the company history. With the help of English-language adverts in Dutch trade journals, he was already attracting customers from far overseas during the 1960s.

‘Impossible does not exist’ One of these was James Brand & Co from Vancouver, Canada, which ordered a rotating display rack. And there was also a customer from Bogota, Colombia, which ordered no less than 51,800 packets of flower seeds from Zwijndrecht – Jan invoiced these in USD. A good friend from Enkhuizen, Jac. Bruijn, translated all the English correspondence into Dutch and also regularly gave business advice.

Invoice for a customer in Colombia

20 Florensis 75 years

Promotional gift

Family matters

Family matters

Jan Hamer and Enny Rozendaal married on 6 June 1945 and Thea, the first of six children, was born on 17 August 1946. Shortly after her birth, the family took on its first member of staff, Maatje Sandee, who worked as a domestic help. This meant that Jan and Enny had their hands free to expand their business.

The years that followed saw the births of Jan (1947), Piet (1950), Klaas (1955), Herman (1956) and Wim-Arie (1959). During the 1950s the couple also took on Annie Vliegenthart, partly as a domestic help and partly to help with packing.

Jan with children Thea and Jan

During the summer there was time for administration

Annie Vliegenthart at the packing machine

Order form

Annie Vliegenthart as domestic help

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Burg. de Bruinelaan 100

From bedroom to business premises

bedroom At a glance:

Juliana van Stolbergstraat 19 - Zwijndrecht: this is where Jan Hamer started his flower seed business in the bedroom of his parents’ house.

Burg. de Bruïnelaan 100 – Zwijndrecht: the home and shop premises of Jan’s parents-in-law where he was able to use a room above the dairy shop to fill flower seed packets and handle orders.

Julianastraat 1 – Zwijndrecht: in 1945, after their marriage, Jan and Enny lived for a short time in an apartment above the Van Pelt draper’s shop. They still carried on their business from the Bruïnelaan.

22 Florensis 75 years

Building plan business premises Ringdijk 143 – Zwijndrecht: early in 1946 Jan and Enny moved to the dike house on the Ringdijk, where they lived in the rooms above the dike and carried out their business from the rooms below.

Rotterdamseweg 86 – Zwijndrecht: the business was doing well and early in 1956 Jan decided to buy a plot of land on the Rotterdamseweg to build proper business premises.

business premis

From bedroom

He submitted the application for a building permit to the municipality of Zwijndrecht on 11 April 1956 and the building was ready by mid1959. All the activities moved from the Ringdijk to the Rotterdamseweg, where a second-hand drawer system from the yarn and haberdashery department of customer De Bijenkorf was used to store the stock of seeds.

Second-hand drawer system from customer De Bijenkorf Jan, Enny and their children continued to live on the Ringdijk for several years, then moved to number 10 Dr. Plesmanstraat in Zwijndrecht. In the end, they only lived there for a few years because they soon decided to build a house in front of the new business premises on the Rotterdamseweg. It was ready by 1967 and the Hamer family moved house.

Jan Hamer weighs seed

Business premises at the Rotterdamseweg

ses

business pre

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e very first employees The very first employees

After the birth of daughter Thea in 1946, the Hamer family first took on Maatje Sandee as a domestic help. The next member of staff, appointed in the 1950s, was Annie Vliegenthart in the dual role of assistant in the packing department and regular domestic help. One of the first office staff members was Ciska Dekker and later Ali de Jong also joined the Hamer team.

Domestic help In 1966 son Jan, who attended horticultural college in Aalsmeer, followed his parents into the business. After completing his training, Jan had to do military service but father Jan was able to get him an early discharge because he was indispensable to the family business.

Ciska Dekker

In 1967 Janny Lagendijk, aged 16, started work in the packet department where she filled and packed the seed packets. She then moved to the seed department where she had to weigh seed orders and at the same time worked in the seed box department. Eventually, Janny spent the longest period working in a department that Hamer had never heard of when the company started: the Customer Service department.

Janny took early retirement in 2014 after no less than 47 years of service.

y first employees Ciska Dekker, Ali de Jong en Annie Vliegenthart at the packing department

24 Florensis 75 years

Janny Lagendijk at the age of eighteen

Serious business The public limited company J. Hamer Jr. Bloemzaden, Zaadteelt en Zaadhandel was established on 4 December 1969. The company gradually became more and more serious.

Around 1970 it also attended a trade fair for the first time in Hilversum.

Serious business

Meanwhile, sales of packets of flower seeds had declined and Hamer was focusing more and more on sales to professional growers and the professional trade. In an attempt to boost sales, over the years Hamer entered into collaborations with a number of independent agents. The most important of these were: Koppe from Ermelo, Evers from Lent, Bestebreurtje from Huissen and the Nederlandse Zaadcentrale in ’s-Gravenzande.

Ceritificate of incorporation

Correspondence with an agent

Serious bus Independent agent Koppe

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Serious bu With a heavy heart, Jan Hamer decided in the seventies to stop the flower seed packet business completely. This was a difficult decision as his business was born out of the trade in packets of flower seed, but an understandable one. The margins were under pressure, seed storage took up around 60% of the available business space which meant that new, fast-growing activities could not expand

The margins were under pressure quickly enough, and finally, this part of the business only accounted for a tiny 5% of total sales. In short: a wise decision.

Serious business

26 Florensis 75 years

With a heavy heart, Jan Hamer decided in the seventies to stop the flower seed packet business completely

usiness

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ORDER FORMS

Order form for the professional grower from 1950

Accompanying letter from 1950

28 Florensis 75 years

Order form for the flower seed packet business from 1956

Novelty list from 1950

Curious what happens next?

This year, we will publish four magazines, describing Florensis’ 75 years of history.

The next edition will appear at the end of June and will cover the period from 1970 to 1990.

Two further editions will follow in September and December.

Curious what happens next?

EDITORS Regina Dinkla (managing editor) Herman Hamer (editor in chief) Wim-Arie Hamer Anne Nootenboom (design)

Carola Aardenhout (Beebuzz)

www.florensis.com