Onderscheid moet er zijn : pleziervaren in Nederland, een cultuurgeschiedenis

Abstract

Two questions set the course for my research into the Dutch pleasure boating. 1. How could an elite pastime like water sport develop into mass recreation?2. How do the economical, cultural andnautical elite with their historical claim to "good taste", manage to make themselves distinguishable from ordinarypleasure boaters?The history of pleasureboating can be devided in four eras.Part 1: 1622-1846. This period commenced with the establishment of the first marina in Amsterdam and ended with the foundation of the country's first water sport club.Part II: 1846-1900. In 1846 a new era began. In that year, at the instigation of Prince Hendrik, the second son of King Willem II, the Royal Dutch Yacht Club was founded in Rotterdam.Part III: 1900-1945. This was a phase of development characterised by the building of manageable and relatively cheap boats such as the wherry, the canoe, the open sailing boat and the cabin sailing boat. The growing enthusiasm for affordable self-built vessels went hand in hand with this.After 1900 the first boats with a petrol engine appeared on the water. The "fast machine" was a shining symbol of the technical developments and it attracted new groups to the water sport.Part IV: 1945-2011. This period, encompassing the baby boom generation, saw the last phase of the popularisation of pleasure boating. In 1950 there were roughly 20,000 cabin boats in the Netherlands, by 1975 the number had grown to 140,000. The number of water sport clubs also increased dramatically.Water sport has a good pedigree. For a long time owning a pleasure yacht was in particular the ultimate distinguishing symbol of nobility and good taste. But water sport popularised and expanded and lower social class appeared on the water and the water sport clubs.The question arose to what extent "good taste" still plays a role as a means of distinction on the water?