The romance of technology in the Netherlands during the first phase of the Cold war, 1945 - 1965: Leonard de Vries 'Hobby Clubs'
Dick van Lente · EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) · 2010
Intro This paper is about a series of novels for boys by the Dutch writer Leonard de Vries, which describes a group of high school students who start a club in order to pursue their technical hobbies; they build radio sets, do chemical experiments, make a film and go on excursions to companies like electronics firm Philips. The first book in the series, which came out in 1947, ended with a call to readers to found such clubs, and soon this happened. During the fifties and early sixties, some 80 hobby clubs throughout the country (some in Belgium as well), varying in size between about six and forty members, attempted to make Leonard de Vries’ dream come true. Most of these clubs did not last long (though some kept going into the 60s), but their appearance shows that De Vries had struck a responsive chord among many young people.