MODERN “MISS HOOK OF HOLLAND”

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23316, 27 September 1945, Page 2

MODERN “MISS HOOK OF HOLLAND”

In Sorry Plight When the modern Miss Hook of Holland goes to the hairdresser she takes a little piece of soap, a ragged towel, and a few sticks of firewood. The soap is to wash her hair, the towel to dry it, and the firewood is to heat the water. To get to the hairdresser she either has to walk or go on her cycle, which has no tyres. Buses and trams are not running yet. She has had no stockings for at least three years. The dress she wears is the only one she has—made up out ot worn-out clothing. She has no hat—they disappeared a long time ago -so she wears an old scarf round her head. She is a shorthand-typist and gets about £5 a week, which at present prices is a drop in the bucket. She can't spend her money in the shops. There is not a thing in them to buy. and by the time she has bought a few necessities on the black market her salary has gone. Dad's suit on the black market costs about £75 A cheap suit for the 14-vear-old brother comes to £25. On Sundays the whole family join thousands of other people chopping wood in the forests. Last winter the family had to use some of the furniture for fuel. All cooking and water heating are done on a tiny smoking stove as the electric supply has been cut off.