When my friend Brian and I are on our early morning walks, we are never short of things to talk about. One topic which we always enjoy sharing stories about is our separate experiences in the merchant navy, many years ago, when we were both still young. However, while we both remember that period of our lives very positively, we each made our own decision to give that life up in favour of finding jobs ashore.
In my own case, with my work experience being limited to the positions I held while working on ships and in army intelligence, I was concerned that it might take a long time to find a suitable position when I finally settled back in Holland. I was therefore very relieved when I noticed an advertisement in the “vacant positions” page of the Saturday paper that looked like a possible opportunity for me. It was from the Amstel Brewery in Amsterdam, which was seeking to appoint an “Assistant Excursion Leader”.
The job involved looking after the people who visited the brewery, explaining the various brewing processes and promoting the company’s products. A requirement for the position was that applicants could demonstrate fluency in several European languages. I applied and, to my surprise, was accepted almost immediately. I started work on 1 May, 1959.
The Amstel Brewery, which was founded in 1870, was located next to the Amstel, a river in the centre of Amsterdam. This was a good location for a brewery because, in the 19th century, winter ice from the river (stored in double-walled cellars) was used to keep the beer cool. Initially, Amstel beer was mostly sold only in Amsterdam. Later, however, it became popular throughout the country and elsewhere. By the time I began my employment there it was being exported in very large quantities all over the world (in 1968 the company was taken over by Heineken).
The brewery’s underground reception hall (a large, beautiful and decorative old beer cellar) was famous in Amsterdam and beyond. Many visitors from all over the world came to visit it and it was in this cellar where I spent most of my time. The daily program began by first showing all visitors a film and then guiding them around the vast brewery complex. This was done by university students who, unsurprisingly, loved this part-time work opportunity. After the students had shown the visitors the basics of malting the barley, mixing it with water, adding the hops, boiling it in large kettles as well as all the other processes involved, including the bottling and canning plants, they would take the groups back to the reception cellar.
In the cellar, long heavy wooden tables were arranged in rows, where the visitors were served glasses or “steins” (earthenware mugs) of beer. Bowls filled with cheese cubes and cut sausages were placed on all the tables and the visitors were encouraged to sit down and enjoy the hospitality. After an hour or so, the visitors were then guided out of the cellar to make room for more guests. The whole process was facilitated by a permanent staff of two barmen, several part-time university students, the “Excursion Leader”, and myself, as his assistant.
Groups of important clients, such as pub owners and managers, received special attention. They would be served lunch in the cellar. My job was to be present in the cellar, to act as a host and to provide commentary in several languages, if required. I had memorised the various phrases used to explain the workings of the brewery and I found that most of the questions from visitors were similar and easy to answer. Each day followed the same pattern, with the first visitors arriving at 10 a.m. and my first beer being enjoyed soon thereafter. This went on all day, until late afternoon.
The student guides certainly enjoyed their casual part-time jobs in the brewery. They were allowed to drink with the visitors and that was a bonus for them. As the day progressed and the students became more “relaxed”, they entertained the visitors by playing the piano, leading the singing and, on many occasions, by starting the polonaise (originally a dignified ceremonial dance of Polish origin but more popular among the Dutch as a single file “follow-the-leader” conga line) and leading the guests around the cellar and, at times, even over the tops of the long tables. All of this was very new to me, but it didn’t take very long before I was able to join in and enjoy the party atmosphere.
To avoid having to travel to and from Amsterdam from my parents’ home each day, I had rented a room (with board) in the south of Amsterdam, where I stayed from Monday night to Friday morning. The couple who lived in the house were old-style Amsterdam people and probably quite happy to have me as a lodger. Every night I came home too tired to do anything other than eat and sleep.
Whilst I very much enjoyed my time at the Amstel Brewery, I knew that this job could never last very long. Too much fun and too much beer! After exactly six months I resigned (on 31 October 1959). Not long thereafter, I moved permanently to Australia.
Although this story covers only 6 months (of 88 years) of my life, I fondly remember it and the fun I had more than sixty years ago, enjoying the ambience, the great company and the singing and dancing. It makes me smile when I think back on it. I hope it makes you smile as well.
O.P.
P.S. Next Sunday we’ll be back on the Shorncliffe Pier again, where we meet Dick and Viv, who show us how to care for “all the creatures great and small”.