The whitest Christmas of them all

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We haven’t been able to fact-check the following anecdote, but in the spirit of ‘never let the truth spoil a good story’ it is one that deserves sharing. It’s about the famously harsh winter of 1963, also known as ‘The Big Freeze,’ and the difference between the English and the French. This notoriously severe weather reputedly revealed quite a contrast. With lakes and ponds having frozen overnight in both countries, huge numbers of wildfowl and other birds had been caught in the cold with their feet frozen solid to the ice. While the English came out in force carrying tools and Thermos flasks to free those poor ducks and geese, the French effected a similar plan of action. The difference was that they didn’t carry hot water flasks but clubs and bats instead, since the opportunity to grab a free Christmas meal seemed too good to miss...

So much for the yarn. The fact is that that winter was outrageously cold, and white, too. From Boxing Day, 1962, to early March, 1963, much of England was continuously under snow and ice, with extremely low temperatures measured throughout much of Europe and recorded as the coldest winter since 1740.

There had, however, been one snowier winter and that was the one of 1947, when this photograph was taken. We see the IJsselmeer (Lake IJssel) with Dutch ice skaters, for that’s what the Dutch do when lakes are frozen. Several of them have parked their cars on the ice. Are they all pre-war? The crowd behind the van suggests that it serves as a refreshments stall, probably with hot chocolate or the traditional pea soup. Remarkably, perhaps, we also see some sailing boats. The IJssel Lake hadn’t quite frozen solid yet, which famously did happen in 1963…

Words: Jeroen Booij; picture: Noord-Hollands archief
 

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