On the night of Easter Monday 1951, lightning struck the Van Bommel shoe factory. The building which served as a shoemaker's workshop from 1835 and was converted into a shoe factory in 1911 burned to the ground. The life's work of the Van Bommel family was destroyed. After several days of mourning, about a week after the fire, preparations for the construction of a new factory began. A new plot of land was bought, just outside the centre of Moergestel. The old factory used to be next to the church, right in the centre of Moergestel. This wasn’t a very good location for a factory. In record time, permits were obtained, drawings were made, and construction started. Jan van Bommel overcame his fear of flying and travelled to the machine factory in England to buy new machines. At the new building, factory employees were put to work as groundworkers and construction workers. Meanwhile, management organised an emergency site where limited-scale production could resume. Eight months after the fire, the new factory opened on Oisterwijkseweg.

(Image above: Villagers gather around the fire-proof safe. The cash and order books seem to have withstood the fire reasonably well.)

(Image below: A letter sent to all shoe retailers selling Van Bommel shoes to inform them about the fire. Due to the fire, the official letterhead was missing.)

(Image above: To announce the opening of the new factory, all business associates were notified. This little leaflet contains a lovely poem.)