Berti Hoppe, Herman Besselaar en een echtpaar met twee kinderen, poserend bij een auto c. 1930

Herman Besselaar made this photo collage of Berti Hoppe, Herman Besselaar and a couple with two children posing by a car. The presence of an automobile in these family photographs speaks volumes about the shifting social landscape of the early twentieth century. Mass production of cars was transforming the way people lived, worked, and related to one another in the Netherlands and across the western world. Owning a car meant newfound freedom, but it also created new social divisions. These images likely capture a family of means, flaunting their participation in an emerging culture of consumerism. As historians, we must consider the conditions under which such images are produced and consumed, and the cultural values they reflect. Careful examination of archival materials, like family letters and financial records, can help us better understand the social dynamics at play in this seemingly simple snapshot of a bygone era.