IN PICTURE. In 1946 it was a white Christmas in Antwerp (Antwerp)
The Sugar Rui in Antwerp. In the background we see an almost ghostly cathedral. In the foreground an American-made car, a Chevrolet Master that rolled off the line in 1938. Flanked by beautiful street lamps, which then still worked on gas and are unfortunately no longer there.
Mischa Bludts
But the snow is the main focus in the photo. When Bing Crosby in 1941 for the first time I dream of a white Christmas sang, he expresses no vain hope. Eighty years later, that prospect is no longer realistic.
At the end of the 1980s, when I was ten years old, there was a snow carpet in the streets of Antwerp for the last time. I remember that mainly because I lost a bag of sweets that was snowed under. Only after the doo did the sweetness reappear on the windowsill of our house. And yes: they were not yet perfectly edible.
In the end, there were real winters, as you can regularly see. For example, those of 1946-1947 and 1962-1963 broke all records in terms of temperature and snowfall.
That has caused the necessary problems – it seems to me quite a job to talk this Chevrolet into such harsh weather conditions – although it was mainly done for the necessary atmosphere. Do you want to: strolling past a Christmas market is the best thing to do while you walk through the creaking snow, wrapped up warmly?
Maybe you recognize the photo? He is also on the cover of Want toa novel by Jeroen Olyslaegers from 2016.