Welkom Nederlandse Man! (Welcome Netherland Man!)

I'm always excited to acquire any new Grecon but it's especially exciting to welcome a character we've never seen in Grecondale before, such as this little chap:

He might not be wearing clogs and a flat cap, but his outfit does seem to say 'Dutch'.

The first clue is his smart orange tunic top. Orange is very much associated with the Netherlands since it's the colour of their Royal Family which hails front the House of Orange. A quick 'Google' tells me that the colour has been adopted by the Dutch to symbolise national pride and in fact, they even have a couple of words for their obsession with it: Oranjegekte (Orange craze) and Oranjekoorts (Orange fever)!

The next clue is his hat. He seems to be sporting a Dutch whalers' hat which I understand is a traditional part of the national costume in the north of the country.

Then we have the jaunty neckerchief - what self-respecting Dutch man would be seen without one?!

And finally, there are the shoes (they're the ones I call 'small Oxfords' and date him to the mid- to late-1940s) which are painted yellow, as are many of the clogs sold in the shops in the Netherlands today - albeit the touristy ones....

Yep, Dutch is my guess and I'm sticking with it until someone convinces me otherwise!

Here we see him proudly displaying his Grecon credentials - as if he needs them.

I wonder if he was made for this little lady who was already resident in Grecondale?  Her cotton cap is pointed at the top and has the turned-out flaps or wings often seen in Dutch traditional costume.

They do look good and seem very happy together, so I'd like to think they've been reunited after a long separation and I wish them 'veel succes' (good luck)!

Until next time,
Zoe