The Sonnevelds with guests in their garden. Photo: NAI/BIHS Collection

The Sonneveld family had four members: father Albertus Sonneveld, mother Gésine Sonneveld-Bos, and daughters Puck and Gé. Albertus Sonneveld became engaged to Gésine Bos in 1910 and they married in 1912. The elder daughter Magdalena, nicknamed Puck, was born in 1913 and Gésine (Gé), in 1921. The family occupied the Sonneveld House from 1933 to 1955.

> Left: Mr. Sonneveld, 1936. Photograph: NAI Collection, BIHS Archive. Right: Mrs. Sonneveld, 1935. Photograph: NAI Collection, BIHS Archive.

Tobacco Industry
Mr. Sonneveld worked for the Van Nelle company for fifty years. He started as a junior clerk when he was fourteen. He took evening classes in various languages, as well as a course on the technical aspects of the tobacco industry. When he was twenty-four this training earned him his first business trip to America. By the time he was thirty-four he had been appointed as Deputy Managing Director and he held this post until his retirement.

> Left: Gé with dog Teddy, 1933. Photograph: NAI Collection, BIHS Archive. Right: Magdalena (Puck). Photograph: NAI Collection, BIHS Archive.

Thrift and Cleanliness
The Sonneveld household was run by Mrs. Sonneveld with the help of two servants. Mrs. Sonneveld was preoccupied with thrift and with cleanliness. After guests had visited the house, she would wipe the banister with a flannel duster to remove any fingerprints. The servants had private rooms on the ground floor and a bathroom with bath, luxurious conditions for that period. The house had an internal telephone and signal lights above the door for summoning the servants. Daughters Puck and Gé had their own studio on the ground floor with a view of the back garden. There, the girls did their homework, played gramophone records and listened to the radio.

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