Wooden Shoes on a Corduroy Road: Letters Home From a Dutch Farm Boy Starting a New Life in Canada by Johny Vos is an autobiographical story about the life of Cornelis (Johny) Vos, a Dutch farm boy who immigrated to Canada, seeking new opportunities after World War II, as told through his letters home.
The letters were written by a dutiful son to reassure and share his adventures with his family in his new and exciting home. They were also written to convince other family and friends to join him in his adventure.
The book contains factual details pertaining to Cornelis (Johny) Vos’ life such as:
- Cornelis Vos, (Kees to his Dutch family and Johnny to his Canadian one), immigrated to Canada in 1948 at the age of 22, motivated in part by the pivotal role that Canada played in liberating Holland at the end of WWII.
- He was raised on a farm and had attended agricultural school in Dordrecht. It was difficult to get farm land in Holland and opportunity beckoned in Canada.
- Johnny was the second oldest of six children and over the years was followed to Canada by three younger brothers and several friends.
- Johny, like many who came to Canada from Holland, spoke no English. First, he worked on a dairy farm in Ontario, then a ranch at Claresholm, Alberta.
- He enrolled in the Vermilion School of Agriculture in 1950 (now Lakeland College) to improve his English and learn about Canadian agriculture.
- At the college he met Anne Jackson from Keg River who was studying Home Economics. Anne’s father offered Johnny a job on the farm that summer. Johnny and Anne were married in 1952 and began homesteading in Keg River.
Wooden Shoes on a Corduroy Road: Letters Home From a Dutch Farm Boy Starting a New Life in Canada by Johny Vos took a long time to come to fruition, the letters first had to be compiled and then translated. It has been more than 70 years since Cornelis wrote his first letter in Dutch to his parents aboard the Kota Inten bound for Halifax in 1948.
Excerpt from Wooden Shoes on a Corduroy Road by Johny Vos:
“August 1949
Claresholm, Alberta
THIS IS A PART LETTER THAT FITS IN THIS TIME SEQUENCE
Mother asks how my clothes are. I have way too many. And everything is just fine. If I must, I can walk like a gentleman who has never held a hoe. For a nice suit, you pay $55-60.
I am using bedding from here and Mrs. Sharples also does my laundry. I can buy three pairs of socks for one dollar.
I am not sure how long Gerrit will stay in Ancaster. I think until spring. I will NEVER go back to Ontario. Quick decision! I think of you often.
Here you can get a nice piece of land, a good 320 acres, 640 acres, and 1280 acres all in one piece around the house to grow some oats and some wheat, etc.
If you go outside, you are at your workplace. Everything is made for the ease of the worker. Big tractors and combines. All the heavy work is done with the machine. The grain is taken directly from the combine by truck to the elevator. I wish you could see it.
These things are possible because they have the room to do it. Last week, I spoke to a person who had 700 acres of wheat. He worked this with one tractor and one combine. I like this idea; however risky it may be. There is good money to be made here right now.”
Translated from Dutch to English by Annie Bontrup and Anne Shaw
Edited by Penny Elliot
