Remembering Samuel Bekker, A General Dealer, Hermanus, South Africa

A painting of a 'classic' General Dealer Store in Hermanus... now long gone

Title: S. Bekker, Algemene Handelaar, Hermanus. Artist: John Kramer. Medium: Oil on linen Canvas. Size: 800mm * 1300mm. Dated: 2008. Private collection: J.Kramer

I first noticed this wonderful general dealer store, S. Bekker, when passing through Hermanus in 1973. (This is the town now famous for whale watching from the cliffs above Walker Bay.) It was on the corner of Stemmet Street and the Main Road just a block away from the Marine Hotel. It was a wonderful example of a family store in the days before the branded supermarket came to town and made this type of shop redundant. I only took one photograph with my camera at the time. A year later when I returned to Hermanus to record it more carefully, it had been demolished! Using the photo I had taken in 1973, I finally brought "Bekkers" to light again in this painting.

A plea in the Hermanus Times in December 2008 led to the following responses:

Julius Sell: “I recall that Bekker came from Cape Town and was a Jew. He stayed in a buitekamer (outside room) with the Henns in Mitchells Street. At first he took orders for sugar and stuff like that. In other words he was a smous. He must have hired a place which must have became the basis of a shop. He got a women from Cape Town to help in the store. She later became his wife. He had a son called Ian. Ian lived in Cape Town is no longer alive.
He had a shop assistant called Koen Wessels who later worked at J. J. du Toit.(a general store in the village) Another person who assisted in the shop was a Miss Niemand. The store sold groceries, rokke (dresses) and shoes. The area was known as Pooles Bay.”

Michael Clarke a long time Hermanus resident moved to Hermanus when he was 15 years old in 1954 recalled.
“S. Bekker was Jewish and his name was Samuel. He had a son Ian who was a chartered accountant in Cape Town. Bekker was the victim of the coming of the Supermarket. At some point in the early 1970's a Pick and Pay opened a supermarket in Somerset West. (I also recall this because when my parents moved to Hermanus they used to go to Somerset West to do a "big shop" every month. Capelight)
In the vicinity of Bekkers store were cottages occupied by fisherman who worked from the old harbour. They generally were poor and when they could not fish, fell on hard times. Bekker would extend credit to them and kept many families going, suppling them with the essentials they would need. The demise of the old harbour must have had an effect on the fortunes of S. Bekker.”

Uwe Kroger told me that he (Uwe) matriculated in Hermanus in 1959.
The Kroger family arrived in Hermanus in 1952 when he was in Std. 3 to run the "Fro-joy ice-cream company in 58 Mitchells Street which was started by the MacFarlanes. The ice cream was A1 from Cape Town. In the off-season they nearly starved.
We also discussed Westcotts cooldrink factory which was in Harbour road near the Bayview Hotel where Dovecote is now. He mentioned another general store called Bouchers which burnt down in the 1950's where the funeral parlour was in Main Road. He remembers Mr Bekker well in the 50's and 60's and was quite a character. He had many sayings and one that he remembers is the phrase "What's the cheapest jam on the market? - Answer: Traffic Jam!" When one entered the shop the groceries were in the front and further back was the clothing. He sold clothes hats and shoes. He did a lot of trade with the local 'Africans" He stored his stock in the house next door and the Bekkers lived on the corner of Mitchell and Stemmet street. He also remembers his son Ian.

Mrs Rudolf from Hawston phoned She told me she is 79 years old ( Jan 2009)
As a child she remembers walking into Hermanus from Hawston to go and shop at Bekkers. He had a son and later a daughter. He was a very nice man.

Note: This type of general corner store has all but passed from memory. Replaced by the supermarket, hypermarket and mall they are relics from another age. I hope you enjoyed this type of post as I have many other general stores to share.