History of Sorts

In the months following the bombing of Rotterdam in May 1940, the Germans wanted daily life to continue as normal as possible. So entertainment was of great importance. And who better to help with this than the popular twosome of Snip and Snap. For years the comedy reviews of Willy Walden (Snip) and Piet Muyselaar (Snap) had drawn full houses.

This duo, with their joking around and often playing the ladies Snip and Snap in women’s dresses, helped many people forget about the war.

But in order to perform artists had to become members of the Kultuurkamer (Chamber of Culture), the organization established in 1941 to regulate the arts in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands. Even variety acts like Snip and Snap were required to register.

In 1942 Snip and Snap celebrated their fifth anniversary. The two string marionettes – also named Snip and Snap – depicted on the cover of the show booklet (bottom left) were specially made for Willy Walden and Piet Muyselaar for their anniversary revue Tot uw dienst  (At Your Service).

A  musician called Jan van Halen was one of the musicians in the later Snip en Snap shows, and legend has it that one of his sons once performed in the show. The son Eddie later formed the Hard Rock band Van Halen, together with his brother Alex.

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