Dutch term – Mangelhoudster

A reader asked me about the term mangelhoudster. It literally means “keeper of a mangle.” The mangle would be a dvice to put laundry through to dry and flatten it. The occupation is mainly found in and around Amsterdam. It could be that the mangelhoudster owned a mangle that others could use for a fee, or that she was a laundress herself.

I have tried to find more documentation about the occupation but did not find much. An entry in the J.B. Glasbergen’s Beroepsnamenboek [occupation’s book], a dictionary of Dutch occupations, just lists the above explanation as a possibility, nothing definitive. The references I found in other books make this sound like a plausible explanation so I thought I’d share it for others to find.

Laundress. Credits: G.G. Haanen, collection RIjksmuseum (public domain)

About Yvette Hoitink

Yvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer in the Netherlands. She has a Master of Letters in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee, and holds the Certification of Genealogist and Qualified Genealogist credentials. Yvette served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Professional Genealogists and won excellence awards for her articles in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly. Yvette has been doing genealogy for over 30 years. She helps people from across the world find their ancestors from the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. Read about Yvette's professional genealogy services.

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