Maarten Pauw, ~1947, Medal of car company Jongerius, silver, 50 mm, NEPK2609
The medals for long term employment described in the previous NEPK news item almost all refer to 25 of 40 years of employment. A medal for 12,5 years of employment is rare, especially a silver one. The obverse shows the portrait of Jan Jongerius, successful Ford dealer, against the backdrop of his repair shops along the Merwede canal in Utrecht. The reverse features a car mechanic and a Ford automobile, with in between the Utrecht city shield with the initials JJ. With this medal, medallist Maarten Pauw (1912-1966) did not only honour the recipient plus also paid tribute to a unique entrepreneur.
Jan Jongerius (“Jan Ford”) (1888-1941) was a real entrepreneur. At an early stage he saw the challenges and opportunities that the coming of the automobile brought. In the early 1920-ies he obtained the dealership of Texaco fuels and his company started to develop petrol stations all over the area. In 1925 he bought a car repair shop and obtained the dealership of Ford automobiles. From 1935 N.V. Jongerius was the largest Ford dealer in the Netherlands, with garages in Utrecht, Amsterdam, Arnhem and elsewhere. He was widely known as “Jan Ford”. Along the Merwede canal in Utrecht he built production halls where he assembled busses, lorries, tank trucks and the first tow truck in the Netherlands. After his death in 1941 at 53 years of age, the company slowly fell into decline, to go bankrupt in 1953/1954.
For the medal shown, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/collectie/?id=2609
For earlier news items, click: https://www.nepk.nl/en/news/
