'Dobber en Kliekje', depicting a scene in which an ostrich has been decapitated.
Wim den Hollander was a Dutch advertising artist, performer, photographer, fireman and illustrator, who flourished in the province of Zeeland during the 1940s and 1950s. He made two text comics starring the duo 'Dobber en Kliekje', one for the newspaper De Zeeuwsche Courant (1948), the other one directly for a 1949 comic booklet. Under the pseudonym Jimmy Spake, he also made the text comic 'Strik en Stropdas' (1954-1955), serialized in children's magazine Taptoe.
Life and career
Willem Franciscus den Hollander was born in 1918 in Oostkapelle, a village in the southern coastal province of Zeeland. After studying at the technical school, he went to work as an advertising painter, before finding employment with the Kievit garage company. There, he became friends with Wim Kievit, with whom he served as a volunteer fireman during World War II. When the town of Westkapelle was liberated from the Nazis in 1944, Den Hollander made an entire album full with illustrations to celebrate and commemorate the event. For most of his life, Den Hollander lived in the province's capital Middelburg, where he became a well-known figure in the local social life. During the 1940s and 1950s, he performed with the stage acts Het Overschotje and De Zuidwesters, alongside his best friend Wim de Graaf and brother Jo den Hollander. Den Hollander built sets, but also sang and had an acrobatic unicycle act, which he performed under the stage name Jimmy Spake.
Wim den Hollander as a vaudeville performer (from the collection of the Zeeuws Archief).
Between 1951 until his retirement in 1983, Den Hollander worked as company photographer for the regional electricity company Provinciale Zeeuwse Elektriciteitsmaatschappij. He also illustrated the staff magazine De Brug. In addition to his day job, Den Hollander earned some extra money by illustrating invitations and pamphlets for weddings and jubilees. Through local printing firms like Sparrentak and Weststrate, he also made advertising illustrations for local entrepreneurs and clubs, like bakers, plumbers and football teams. He was sometimes commissioned to do artwork for national organizations, like the Animal Protection Society.
Final episode of 'Dobber en Kliekje in Zuid-Afrika' (30 August 1948).
Comics
On a couple of occasions, Den Hollander tried his hand at comic stories. Between 22 May and 30 August 1948, the provincial newspaper De Zeeuwsche Courant serialized Den Hollander's children's picture story 'Dobber en Kliekje in Zuid-Afrika', about two explorers who travel through the African desert in their Ford car to make a film of the continent. Like most Dutch comics at the time, the feature was presented in the text comic format, with lengthy text captions appearing above and underneath the images. A second adventure of the characters, 'Dobber en Kliekje Op De Sleepvaart' was not serialized in a newspaper, but directly released as a 1949 comic book album by publishing company St. Gregoriushuis as part of its "learning to read" book series intended for elementary school children. However, St. Gregoriushuis was a Catholic company, run by firmly devout men. Since some of the African tribespeople in the book wore nothing but grass skirts, the publisher made Den Hollander redraw them with clothes. Later, when the publisher found out that Den Hollander wasn't Catholic, the artist's contract was instantly terminated. Nevertheless, 'Dobber en Kliekje Op De Sleepvaart' was reprinted nine times, with the last known edition rolling from the presses in 1965. The booklet may go down in history as the first Dutch comic used as an educational tool in schools.
Illustrations for De Engelbewaarder, 1 November 1956.
Interestingly enough, Den Hollander managed to do additional illustration jobs for other Catholic publishers. During the 1950s, he made illustrations and pantomime picture stories for De Engelbewaarder, a magazine circulating in Catholic schools. Between October 1954 and September 1955, he created the text comic serial 'Strik en Stropdas' for Taptoe, a Catholic children's magazine published by De Spaarnestad. This strip was created by Den Hollander under the credit byline "Jimmy Spake's Nonsens Strip Comp.". In 1956, he provided the illustrations for the book '40 Eeuwen Scheepvaart', written by Henri Arnoldus for N.V. Standaard Boekhandel.
Later life and death
Even though his acrobatic years were behind him, in old age, Wim den Hollander remained a daredevil. While with the volunteer firemen, he often performed acrobatic feats on the drying tower, and at age 69, he made his first parachute jump. Den Hollander chronicled many anecdotes of his eventful life in the booklets 'Dagboek van een Brandweerman', 'Is Het Voor Een Zieke?' (1988) and 'Francisca, Mijn Beschermengel' (1993). In his final years, Den Hollander suffered from Parkinson's disease. At the occasion of his 78th birthday in 1996, an exhibition about his life and work was organized in the Jacob Roggeveen-Noordsingel retirement home. Wim den Hollander passed away in 1998.
Picture story for De Engelbewaarder, 1 December 1956.