H. Hooijkaas 1874-2008; Zilverfabriek Schoonhoven
Silver Factory, founded in 1874 and led by the successive members of the Hooykaas family. In 1874, the company named; Hooykaas Schoonhovense silver factory was founded by Hubertus Hooykaas and started as a small workshop. Around 1890 the company began to specialised in the electrolytic manufacturing of old Dutch silver. The company became in the thirties the most important silver factory in Schoonhoven and Schoonhoven’s main employer, Hooykaas had a major impact on the local Schoonhoven society. The silver factory of Hooykaas, at a large-scale, produced hand made silver. In the boom years the company employed around 150 people. A not inconsiderable part of the company owed its existence to the savings campaigns of the famous Dutch coffee roaster & coffee & tea blender named Douwe Egberts. Among consumers Hooykaas was well known as the supplier of the Douwe Egberts-spoons. Every pack of coffee & tea made by Douwe Egberts, I believe since the late sixties, comes with a point’s coupon. A certain amount of points could be exchange for coffee cups, silver plated coffee canisters and the famous silver plated spoons with the fancy monogram D.E on it for Douwe Egberts. The coffee coupons of D.E are still by many people collected and every so many years D.E changes the collection of his gift shop.
In the nineties, Hooykaas emphasis shifted from production company to a trading company.