First female chauffeur and her Femina

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Meet Miss M.B. Houffelaar, today’s Friday Lady. She surely must have been a woman who wanted to stand her ground in the typically male profession of being a chauffeur.

The photograph dates to 1917 and this is what the original caption mentions: “Yet another new task for a lady in The Netherlands! Miss M.B. Houffelaar, the first female chauffeur, who worked as such before the War in Antwerp, completed her skill test successfully for the police in Amsterdam. Together with her own pretty ‘Femina’ car she now has her own place at the stock exchange on the Damrak.”

We wonder if the name Femina was one she gave to the mighty motorcar herself as we don’t think an official marque with such a name ever existed. But then you lot will identify this car instantly, won’t you?

Words by Jeroen Booij. Picture Koninklijke Bibliotheek / National Library of the Netherlands.

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