Notes
All in a Name
Variant Surname Spellings
Until relatively recently, surname spellings could be quite variable. In Hennie's family, this is particularly apparent in the case of her mother, whose surname appears as "Bruins," Bruijns," and Bruyns" in various official documents and personal writings. In Dutch, the letters "ij" and "y" were considered interchangeable.
Language Differences
In many of Hennie's writings, she refers to members of her family using Dutch forms of address. Note that it was common at the time for children to address all adults with whom they were acquainted as Aunt or Uncle, even if they were not a member of the family. A list of English equivalents is given below:
Vader = Father
Moeder = Mother
Tante = Aunt
Oom = Uncle
Broer = Brother
Zus = Sister
Neef = Cousin (male)
Nicht = Cousin (female)
Vriend = Friend
Nicknames
Nicknames in Hennie's family were very common, and nearly every relative was known by a different name than their given name at birth. Many of these nicknames are common Dutch abbreviations of the given name and few are Anglicized forms of Dutch names (e.g., Jan --> John). In some cases, the spelling changed over time in accordance with fashion. A list of Hennie's relatives and their known nicknames are given below:
Hermine Agatha van Senden (Hennie's paternal aunt): Mientje
Jan Louis Cornelis II van Senden (Hennie's father): Jan
Herminus Johann van Senden (Hennie's paternal uncle): Jo, Joe
Aartje Bruins (Hennie's maternal grandmother): Aartje
Geertruida Paulina Bruins (Hennie's mother): Truis
Given name unknown (Hennie's oldest half-sister): Mientje
Given name unknown (Hennie's second half-sister): Aartje or Antje
Jan Louis Cornelis III van Senden (Hennie's brother): Jan, John, Johnny, Uncle Johnny
Hendrina Geertruida Johanna van Senden: Hennie, Henny
Johanna Paulina van Senden (Hennie's youngest half-sister): Jopie
Hermine Theodora Appels (Hennie's cousin): Mientje
Theodor Lodewyk Jan Appels (Hennie's cousin): Theo
Maurius Theodor Lodewyk Appels (Hennie's cousin): Maurius
Johanna Margaretha Appels (Hennie's cousin): Hannie
Given name probably Antonia (Hennie's maternal half-aunt): To
Given name probably Willem (Hennie's maternal uncle): Wim
Languages
Hennie spoke several languages over the course of her lifetime. Her first language was Dutch, and she spoke Dutch almost exclusively until the age of 11. When her father returned for her and Jan in 1934, she was told she would have to learn a new language, English, because this the common language of foreigners in Shanghai and because her new stepmother, Vera, could not understand Dutch. On the boat to Shanghai, Hennie befriended a German stewardess, Hurthy Peters, who taught her German. Once Hennie arrived in Shanghai, she rarely spoke Dutch again. Vera would beat her and Jan for speaking anything other than English. While in Shanghai, Hennie would come to learn some Chinese characters and phrases, but she never learned to speak Chinese. All of Hennie's writings dating after 1934 are written in English exclusively, although Dutch forms of address, such as Vader (Father), Tante (Aunt), and Oom (Uncle) continue to be used. Additionally, Hennie appears to have written most of her dates using European conventions (day/month/year) until the 1940s, when she switched to the American style (month/day/year).
Slang
A variety of 1930s and 1940s English language slang appears on the backs of photographs given to Hennie by her friends. A list of these terms and presumed meanings is given below:
... call me a "son of a gun" - Hans, 1938
It is I, me, myself again - Hennie, 1938, possibly a reference to the 1937 Billie Holiday song "Me, myself, and I" (this is how Hennie signed several of her photographs)
Don't they look "duckey"! - Hennie, 1938, in reference to Jan and Gloria Pritchard. At the time, "ducky" was used to mean darling or cute in British English.
The old gang - Hennie used this phrase to refer to her friends
Bums - appears several times and seems to be equivalent to today's "guys"
To a lug from a mug - written to Jan from Girlie, c. 1946. In British English, lug was used to mean fool or blockhead; mug meant fool or dupe. The phrase essentially means "from one fool to another."
Holland in the 1920-1930s
Shanghai 1930s Jazz
A number of jazz songs were written about Shanghai during the 1920s and 1930s, including Shanghai Blues (1923), Sing Song Girl of Old Shanghai (1928), Night Time in Old Shanghai (1929), Shanghai Night, Shanghai Lil (1933), and Shanghai Shuffle (1934).
Photography Studios
Netherlands:
J.G.H. Beelenkampf Photography Studio locatd in Dordrecht, Netherlands. Hennie's maternal grandmother commissioned photographs of herself and her daughter (Hennie's mother) at this studio c. 1898. According to an online post made by J.G.H. Beelenkampf’s grandson, this studio was in operation from c. 1890-1914.
Other Notes
A deed dated September 30, 1913 that affirms Aartje as the mother of Geertruida was appended to the Geertruida’s birth certificate. This was likely done in connection to a passport application for travel.
Weltevreden, a Dutch word, means literally “entirely content” or “well satisfied.”