Jip and Janneke by Fiep Westendorp

Postcard ID: NL-2745039, NL-3139825
Country: Netherlands

Here is one more postcard painted by talented Dutch illustrator Fiep Westendorp. But the most interesting information for me was in the message. Do you know the reason why citizens of Zwolle are called like Bluefingers?)

Citizens of Zwolle are colloquially known as Blauwvingers (Bluefingers). This dates back to 1682, when the St.Michael's church tower collapsed. The authorities were strapped for cash and saw no option but to sell the church bells to neighbouring city Kampen. To make sure that Kampen would not make too much profit from the deal, the local authorities asked a high price for the church bells. Kampen accepted, yet after the arrival of the bells it became clear, they were too damaged to be played. In revenge, Kampen paid in copper coins of four duiten (the equivalent of 2-and-a-half cents). Zwolle distrusted Kampen and wanted to be sure they truly paid the entire price. After the rigorous counting of this vast amount of money, their fingers had turned blue from the copper

P.S. As I received duplicated card, I added Postcard ID of the second card at the top.

Here is the stamp from this card: