Five Brothers and a War

van Pelt Football

Another game of high-stress that also fed into a cut-throat mentality was Monopoly, a game that had been developing in the United States for about three decades prior to its discovery by the van Pelts. One of the advantages of the game was the ability to include many players simultaneously. Another advantage was that apparently the Dutch Reformed Church frowned more on physical competition than on mental or emotional competition, so playing for endless hours after church on Sundays was a great way to pass the time. The “playing field” was not entirely level though, as by 1938 Leen was already 18 years old, while Bertus was only 10. But it certainly taught many lessons relating to both competition and business (and the relationship between the two). As players cut the throat of an opposing brother, hard feelings inevitably followed and sometimes carried past the end of the game.

As Leen and Piet became interested in girls, specifically the two Bender sisters, Henny and Rita, Monopoly became less important on Sunday afternoons. The combination of competition, football, cut-throat play sometimes manifested itself in another arena: the tabletop game of “foosball”. The game was invented in England by a Tottenham Hotspur fan, but was still in its infancy when the van Pelts became aware of it. Leendert had started his professional life as a carpenter, then morphed into a hardwood dealer. Kees had taken a keen interest in both wood and woodworking and helped his father on numerous projects, but few were as captivating as building a tabletop foosball game. When finished, it would be placed on the dining table, where two players per side would compete. One player would handle the forwards and midfielders and the other would take care of the defenders and the goalkeeper. Often, the two best football players, Kees and Bertus would split up to play against each other. Then Jan would join Kees and Wim van Rossum, Jan’s best friend, would join Bertus. While it may seem a better idea to have had Jan and Wim on the same team, the fact is that the younger Kees and Bertus would have won almost all games. As it was, the games turned somewhat aggressive, with bragging, ribbing and taunting when a great play occurred. As it happened, the dining room Persian rug began showing significant wear courtesy of the shuffling of feet the game demanded.

van Pelt

Five Brothers and a War

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