A baby has been born in the household of the people living here. Many Dutch people show this by putting a stork in their garden. The stork is a bird that is linked to the birth of a baby for more than one reason. In the old days parents used to fool their children into believing that babies were delivered by a stork. It was a long-preserved taboo to tell them how things really were. The stork fitted this story perfectly: it is big enough to carry a baby and a prick from its bill was the reason why mummy had to stay in bed for a couple of days. In addition, the name of the bird means ‘bringer of good tidings’.

Whereas people used to stick a plain wooden stork into the ground of old, other variations are plentifully available these days, such as this rear end, which is stuck onto the windowpane with a sucking cup. It is not an exclusively Dutch tradition, for that matter. In many Western European countries and the USA the stork is a symbol of a newborn baby. (SK)