Moving, how it all started…
About 100 years ago, men rented courier services (by horse and carriage) or carried their belongings themselves in wooden tea boxes by handcart. At the bottom of these boxes they used wood shavings as a springy and protective layer during transport.
The origin of our company started with family de Jong from Noordhorn. Grandfather Piet de Jong (1880 - 1965), 2nd from the left on the photo, started his career as a so called “ship hunter” (snikjong). Someone who walked along the canals with his horse and offered boatmen to pull their ship for a price. In 1903 Piet started a courier service to Groningen with his dog cart from Noordhorn. He served Noordhorn, Zuidhorn and Aduard. Dog and cart were later replaced by horse and cart.
In the early thirties, Piet de Jong purchased a T-Ford with a closed cabin and a rack on top. Before, during and after working hours, he was busy carrying out courier rides to Groningen on Tuesdays and Fridays. In addition, the trade in fuels also played an important role. Assisting people in their move became an increasingly important source of income at the end of the sixties.
In various countries, people have had an annual moving day for centuries. This was often on the first of May, as it was a direct connection to contracts usually starting or ending on May 1st. If one changed bosses, voluntarily or forced, it usually lead to moving away. This used to be true for mainly farmers and agricultural workers back in the day.
Jan’s son ran the business starting from 1956. At the time, he had to steer his heavy transport bike through the dirt roads with reluctance. Over the years, the courier service became less and less profitable due to a decline in suppliers. One colleague after another ended their business. By purchasing their permits, De Jong managed to keep this branch of the company profitable for a long time to come. In those years, the CiBoGa site on the Bloemsingel in Groningen played a central role in the distribution process.
The following anecdote shows how busy the life of a young entrepreneur was in earlier years. In 1969 Piet married Joke Alkema, but 2 days after their wedding the couple had to rise early again. Duty called. Another two-day trip was planned for that day. Along their companions, they left for Utrecht with a small inventory load and then drove to The Hague. The next day they had to drive to Westerbork with the household goods of a notary from The Hague. When the notary heard of the special occasion, he gave the young bridal couple 25 guilders, which was a nice amount for back in the day. He helped them find a hotel for the night. That night they stayed within walking distance of Scheveningen beach.
After Jan's retirement in 1981, the distribution service was continued on behalf of the expedition centre until 1994. From that year on, the company focused entirely on moving household items and business inventories all over the world like offices and schools, etc.
Storing inventories and archives also became an important task, as did the packaging of household items and machines for overseas transport. The family characteristic and customer-oriented attitude have ensured that this company has grown into a skilled and solid moving company in the North.
Due to a lack of successors, Piet de Jong sold the company in 2002 to Leeuwarden moving company Bandsma Bultje. And ten years later on April 1, 2012, Oscar Renken, who was manager of that company at the time, bought the company from his boss. To this day, the well-known name Jan de Jong has been maintained and has graced the moving vans ever since men can remember it.
