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A truly strong woman. 1887.

The abbreviation in the name Schoenfabriek wed. J.P. van Bommel stands for: ‘Widow Johannes Peter’. At the end of the 19th century, when a woman became a widow, it was customary for her to take the name of her deceased husband as her official name. Therefore, when director Johannes Peter van Bommel died at a young age in 1887, his wife Johanna van Dinther adopted the name ‘Widow Johannes Peter van Bommel’.

(Image above: Johannes Peter van Bommel died in 1887 at a young age. His wife Johanna van Dinther, alias the Widow J.P., takes charge of the business in his stead.)

With the death of her husband, the widow became single-handedly responsible for the shoemaking business at the age of 45. As a mother of seven young children, she carried on the business. Her oldest son Janus, aged 11 at the time, helped her. A few years later, his brother Gust, who was two years younger, followed suit. It was not unheard of, but special nonetheless, for a woman to run a business in the late 19th century. Hanneke, as Johanna was called in Moergestel, was illiterate like most women in those days. The widow ran the shoe factory at a time when Aletta Jacobs was the first woman in the Netherlands to fight for her rights to a university education. At that time, women did not yet have the right to vote, and married women were legally incapacitated.

(Image below: The family of widow J.P. in 1890. Left and right behind the widow are her sons Janus and Gust who started working in the business at the age of 11 and 9.)

The widow ran the business successfully. When her sons were old enough, she gradually handed it over to them. Under the inspiring leadership of Janus and Gust, the artisanal business from before the turn of the century developed into a high-quality machine shoe factory. In 1921, five years after the widow's death, the Trade Register Act was introduced in the Netherlands. Companies now had to officially register. As a tribute to their mother, Janus and Gust gave their shoe factory the official name: Schoenfabriek Weduwe J.P. van Bommel bv.

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(Image above: Widow J.P. van Bommel ran the business at a time when women's independence was by no means a given.)

The abbreviation in the name Schoenfabriek wed. J.P. van Bommel stands for: ‘Widow Johannes Peter’. At the end of the 19th century, when a woman became a widow, it was customary for her to take the name of her deceased husband as her official name. Therefore, when director Johannes Peter van Bommel died at a young age in 1887, his wife Johanna van Dinther adopted the name ‘Widow Johannes Peter van Bommel’.

(Image above: Johannes Peter van Bommel died in 1887 at a young age. His wife Johanna van Dinther, alias the Widow J.P., takes charge of the business in his stead.)

With the death of her husband, the widow became single-handedly responsible for the shoemaking business at the age of 45. As a mother of seven young children, she carried on the business. Her oldest son Janus, aged 11 at the time, helped her. A few years later, his brother Gust, who was two years younger, followed suit. It was not unheard of, but special nonetheless, for a woman to run a business in the late 19th century. Hanneke, as Johanna was called in Moergestel, was illiterate like most women in those days. The widow ran the shoe factory at a time when Aletta Jacobs was the first woman in the Netherlands to fight for her rights to a university education. At that time, women did not yet have the right to vote, and married women were legally incapacitated.

(Image below: The family of widow J.P. in 1890. Left and right behind the widow are her sons Janus and Gust who started working in the business at the age of 11 and 9.)

The widow ran the business successfully. When her sons were old enough, she gradually handed it over to them. Under the inspiring leadership of Janus and Gust, the artisanal business from before the turn of the century developed into a high-quality machine shoe factory. In 1921, five years after the widow's death, the Trade Register Act was introduced in the Netherlands. Companies now had to officially register. As a tribute to their mother, Janus and Gust gave their shoe factory the official name: Schoenfabriek Weduwe J.P. van Bommel bv.

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(Image above: Widow J.P. van Bommel ran the business at a time when women's independence was by no means a given.)