=54. Life in New Netherland.= The Dutch colonists brought with them the
quaint and simple ways of their old home in Holland--the land of dikes
and windmills. Even long years after the colony had passed into the
hands of the English, many places in New York remained Dutch in customs
and appearance.
[Sidenote: =The colonists built houses like those in Holland=]
New Amsterdam looked for all the world like a city back in Holland. The
houses were built solidly. They stood close to the street and had high,
steep roofs with gable ends that were like series of steps. On the
front of each house large iron numerals told the year in which it was
built. On the roof were curious weathervanes.
About the fireplace the family gathered in the evening. The burgher
would tell jovial stories to the children as he smoked his long pipe.
The good wife, resting from her day's work, found some needlework to
busy her fingers.
The Dutch wives were famous housekeepers and prided themselves on
their spotless homes. They scoured and scrubbed from morning to night.
But they also knew how to make doughnuts and crullers and to cook
good dishes that made their husbands round and good-natured and their
children rosy and plump.
[Sidenote: =The Dutch liked merrymaking=]
The Dutch liked merrymaking and good times far better than did their
Puritan neighbors. The big brass knocker on the door--shaped generally
like the head of some animal--was kept busy in the afternoon by people
coming to drink tea or coffee. A great copper kettle, hung in the
fireplace, furnished enough to drink for every one, and sweet cookies
were always on hand. They celebrated many holidays. At Christmas we
still look for old Santa Claus, whom the Dutch first brought to this
country.
In Holland the burghers had been good farmers and shrewd merchants.
When they came to this country they continued to make their living
chiefly in these two ways. On Long Island and along the Hudson River
were fine farms with well-kept fields and large gardens. The merchants
mostly lived at New Amsterdam, which soon became a busy seaport. Here
many sailing vessels lay at anchor and exchanged their cargoes for the
products of the Dutch farms and of the Indian trade. From the small
beginnings made by these Dutch merchants has grown the largest city of
the western world.