Kolkman has been fascinated by yes-men all his life. How could it be different? The languidly swaying oil pumps appeared everywhere around Schoonebeek and Nieuw-Schoonebeek after the Second World War. An extensive oil field had been discovered in the ground, which led to the establishment of the oil-extracting NAM. Around 350 pumpers sprang up around both villages to extract black gold from the ground.
Kolkman comes from a well-known regional baker’s family that ran a business in the center of Schoonebeek. “From the living room I had a beautiful view of the fields full of nodding trees. When a tower for well treatment was installed, a crane and all kinds of things were added. I loved seeing that as a child.” There is also an installation right in front of the bakery, which was decommissioned and closed in 1987.
“They left it as a rotating, electrically powered monument. We received the key and were allowed to switch on the installation,” says Kolkman. “Fun for visitors. Children especially love it. I handed out coloring pages and even had a complete slide show. At one point, a miniature oil train even drove through my shop window. You can use that to tell wonderful stories.”
The first yes-men were dismantled from the end of the 1980s. In 1996, when oil extraction stops, they almost all disappear. “Most of the yes-men went to Venezuela and perhaps Indonesia. Also for the oil, yes.” The rest ended up on the scrap heap. Only four remained, all in and around Schoonebeek.
But because oil extraction has been at least as important for the neighboring village, Kolkman and Büter believe that one should also be established in Nieuw-Schoonebeek. “Years ago I started a Facebook site about yes-men. That’s how I came into contact with Bennie, which started the ball rolling.”
This morning around 8 a.m. the men arrived in Breda after almost 250 kilometers and 2.5 hours of driving. The group from Nieuw-Schoonebeek will attack the jack-in-the-box with penetrating oil, ring spanners and a grinding wheel. The colossus offers stubborn resistance, but collapses at the knees when the head is literally removed. A crane then lifts the device onto a low loader and then the long drive to Nieuw-Schoonebeek follows.
(Story continues below the photos)