Windmills

Holland means windmills; also those weird wooden shoes, of which I have seen exactly zero. But we have seen windmills and toured one recently in Haarlem.

In the Netherlands, and many other countries around the world, wind power was the major 'industrial' technology, equivalent to steam power which arose in the 19th century and brought on the demise of the windmill. To give you a sense of the importance and scale of this technology, at their peak in the 19th century, there were an estimated 9000 working windmills in the Netherlands (wind-powered mills in Europe is estimated to have been around 200,000) performing many industrial functions; pumping water, hulling barley and rice, grinding grains, pressing olives to olive oil, pressing linseed, rapeseed and hempseed for cooking and lighting. There were also cocoa mills, mustard mills, pepper mills, spice mills, tobacco mills, snuff mills, paper mills, paint pigment mills, and sawmills. 
history-of-industrial-windmills

The functioning windmill (and museum) in Haarlem dates to 1779. In 1932 it burned but was meticulously rebuilt in 2002. By meticulous I mean the wooden structure, gears, wheels, etc. were custom manufactured similar to the original. The structural components don't have any nails or screws, and few steel connectors. There are also these amazing scale wooden models of windmills on display. The tour guide was from England but has lived in the Netherlands for the past 30 years. He was totally into windmills.

e energy generated by wind and watermills was used to turn any raw material that needed pounding, mauling, shredding, hacking or mixing into a tradeable product. The Zaanstreek paper mills, for instance, were renowned throughout the world for their good quality paper. In fact, the American Declaration of Independence was printed on sheets produced there. There were mustard mills, hemp mills, grain mills, snuff mills, cocoa mills, oil mills, chalk mills, paint mills and saw mills.

Read more at DutchNews.nl: 10 things you should know about Dutch windmills http://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2015/05/10-things-you-should-know-about-dutch-windmills/

e energy generated by wind and watermills was used to turn any raw material that needed pounding, mauling, shredding, hacking or mixing into a tradeable product. The Zaanstreek paper mills, for instance, were renowned throughout the world for their good quality paper. In fact, the American Declaration of Independence was printed on sheets produced there. There were mustard mills, hemp mills, grain mills, snuff mills, cocoa mills, oil mills, chalk mills, paint mills and saw mills.

Read more at DutchNews.nl: 10 things you should know about Dutch windmills http://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2015/05/10-things-you-should-know-about-dutch-windmills/

e energy generated by wind and watermills was used to turn any raw material that needed pounding, mauling, shredding, hacking or mixing into a tradeable product. The Zaanstreek paper mills, for instance, were renowned throughout the world for their good quality paper. In fact, the American Declaration of Independence was printed on sheets produced there. There were mustard mills, hemp mills, grain mills, snuff mills, cocoa mills, oil mills, chalk mills, paint mills and saw mills.

Read more at DutchNews.nl: 10 things you should know about Dutch windmills http://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2015/05/10-things-you-should-know-about-dutch-windmills/

The energy generated by wind and watermills was used to turn any raw material that needed pounding, mauling, shredding, hacking or mixing into a tradeable product. The Zaanstreek paper mills, for instance, were renowned throughout the world for their good quality paper. In fact, the American Declaration of Independence was printed on sheets produced there. There were mustard mills, hemp mills, grain mills, snuff mills, cocoa mills, oil mills, chalk mills, paint mills and saw mills.

Read more at DutchNews.nl: 10 things you should know about Dutch windmills http://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2015/05/10-things-you-should-know-about-dutch-windmills/

The energy generated by wind and watermills was used to turn any raw material that needed pounding, mauling, shredding, hacking or mixing into a tradeable product. The Zaanstreek paper mills, for instance, were renowned throughout the world for their good quality paper. In fact, the American Declaration of Independence was printed on sheets produced there. There were mustard mills, hemp mills, grain mills, snuff mills, cocoa mills, oil mills, chalk mills, paint mills and saw mills.

Read more at DutchNews.nl: 10 things you should know about Dutch windmills http://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2015/05/10-things-you-should-know-about-dutch-windmills/

The energy generated by wind and watermills was used to turn any raw material that needed pounding, mauling, shredding, hacking or mixing into a tradeable product. The Zaanstreek paper mills, for instance, were renowned throughout the world for their good quality paper. In fact, the American Declaration of Independence was printed on sheets produced there. There were mustard mills, hemp mills, grain mills, snuff mills, cocoa mills, oil mills, chalk mills, paint mills and saw mills.

Read more at DutchNews.nl: 10 things you should know about Dutch windmills http://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2015/05/10-things-you-should-know-about-dutch-windmills/