Page:Things Seen In Holland (1912).djvu/48

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Things Seen in Holland

five years old; twenty-five years ago it was a canal still. Although this world-famed thoroughfare has been compared to Regent Street, or Broadway, or to the Parisian Rue de la Paix, it has an individuality peculiarly its own, and that is its narrowness; there is very little walking and driving space between its shop-fronts. Seldom is so bright and tempting a display of wares to be met with, and a lady needs to be a superwoman to resist the impulse to purchase the diamonds, jewellery, silverware, curios, and more or less “old” pottery exposed in the shop-windows. It must, however, be said, to the credit of the Kalverstraat vendor, that he is thoroughly frank in his transactions with you. He will not sell as “old” Friesland silver-ware that which is not nearly as old as the youngest purchaser; he will admit that it is “new”; but he will be equally candid in

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