The gaper is now a historical collector’s item. The Royal Archeology Society in Amsterdam received a gaper in both 1882 and 1883. Meanwhile, the Museum of Antiquities in Groningen was given a gaper in 1891 and 1892. Also, Oudheidkundige Vereniging Flehite in Amersfoort received a gaper in 1893.
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Some gapers disappeared during the second world war. The gaper that was hanging on Lange Delft in Middelburg was lost in 1940 during a bombing. Made in 1693, it was the oldest preserved gaper in the Netherlands. The gaper on the corner of Gasthuisstraat in Gorinchem disappeared one morning during the war.
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The reasoning for theft and associating the gaper with jokes are also unclear. There is speculation that the disappearance of the gaper figureheads is caused by the weather. The gapers are hung outside storefronts and exposed to rain for long periods of time. This has caused many wooden gaper figureheads to rot or split.
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A gaper from the Wolvenstraat in Amsterdam was pushed off of its platform by street pranksters in March 1960. In 1830, a gaper was stuffed with gunpowder by a group of students and then blown up in the middle of the street. In 1895, the gaper on Heiligeweg 42 was given a large piece of liver sausage in its mouth. The gaper at this address also disappeared in 2008, there is still no clarity as to where it has gone.
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Gaper on the front of "", a pharmacy in Haarlem Gaper in Zuiderzeemuseum A gaper (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣaːpər]) is a stone or wooden figurehead, often depicting a Moor, Muslim, or North African. The figurehead first appeared in the late 16th century as a hangout sign used outside the storefronts of drug stores in the Netherlands. The literal translation of "gaper" would be yawner; the figurehead is always displayed with an open mouth, sometimes with a pill resting on his tongue. The gapers gaping tongue could represent the intake of medicine and grimace represents the bitter taste of the medicine. The gaper takes on various appearances that are symbolic of the origin for the pharmacist’s practice or medicinal ingredients. There are stories of the gaper as a symbol of the pharmacist’s traveling "quack" or helper.
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Gaper clams are edible and are heavily fished at spring tides.
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Each gaper is hand cut and painted using a stone or wood base. They are usually displayed with an open mouth or with their tongues sticking out. They have facial expressions characterized from innocent, humorous, to angry. The gaper takes on various appearances with no copy being the same.
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Recently, gaper figureheads have been stolen or removed from storefronts. Now, few remain within public view in the city of Amsterdam.
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Recently, gaper figureheads have been stolen from storefronts. However, some have been later returned to new locations throughout the Netherlands. The gaper on the facade of Wijde Heisteeg 4 was stolen and delivered back in 2004 on the sidewalk outside the Municipal Archive on the Amsteldijk. There are stories of gapers being vandalized and used for jokes.
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The gaper in the late 16th-century functioned as a hangout out sign on the street. Not only did the figurehead communicate information about the origin of the medicines, but it was also a tool for luring in customers. In this period there were no house numbers. The gaper served as a hangout known as a recognizable point for business.
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Mya truncata, common name the blunt gaper or truncate softshell, is a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Myidae.
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Pharmacies often decorated their storefronts with 'rarities' to invoke customer curiosities. Exotic items such as a stuffed crocodile or tortoise, ostrich eggs, deer antlers, narwhal teeth, sawfish teeth, elk legs, and peacock feathers were popular decorations. Some say that the gaper was used to taunt non-buying bystanders in the street. The gaper could have also served as a mirror image of the drugstore's pharmacist.
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It is speculated that it was taken as a war booty, or maybe for wood in someone's stove. There is still uncertainty about the origin and historical reasoning for the gaper. According to folklore, people used to hang monsters with their tongue sticking out off of buildings to ward off evil spirits. Some researchers explore the gaper in connection to certain medieval folklore stories.
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Gaper Day is a mountain tradition that takes place in ski resorts across North America. It is the day when locals can dress in the most ridiculous outfits and pretend to be like their gaper counterparts. Their getup can range from no or very limited clothing (only shorts) to the most retro ski attire there is. It is like the April Fools' Day of the mountain.
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Outside museum collections, fewer than 50 can be seen on buildings. Some have now lent their names to cafes, such as De Vergulde Gaper in Amsterdam.
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However, there still isn't much solid evidence as to why certain types of gapers were depicted and why the gaper became the figurehead of pharmacists drug supply.
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In the French era (1795-1813) there was a push towards a national policy on medicine sales. The gapers in uniform were introduced during the second half of the 19th century after the government extended authority on the sale of medicines. The gaper had several identities that suggest background information or a story to the onlooker. The gaper as a jester would "reference to the helper of the traveling person or quack".
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Tresus nuttallii, common name the Pacific gaper, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Mactridae. It also shares the common name horse clam with Tresus capax, a species which is similar in morphology and lifestyle. Both species are somewhat similar to the Geoduck (Panopea generosa which is in the family Hiatellidae), though smaller, with shells up to eight inches long (20 cm), weight to 3-4 lb (1.4-1.8 kg). Two species commonly known as "horse clams" inhabit the intertidal zone of the West Coast of the United States: the Pacific gaper, T. nuttallii, which is more abundant south to California; and the fat gaper, T. capax, which is more abundant north to Alaska.
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There were also 'golden' gapers, gapers with a crown and gapers with a monkey on the shoulder. In Holland chemist were often young women, however, there have been very few gaper heads discovered that depict a female. The gaper referring to illness or a sick patient commonly wore a hat with a hanging point with a tassel or pom- pom attached to it. Some gapers were depicted in uniform, as a fire brigade, police or a Roman soldier.
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This hospital was situated at "het bolwerk" on Schoten's territory. This Gaper is located on the front of "Van der Pigge", a chemist's that declined to move for Vroom & Dreesmann's new department store in 1932.
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Tresus is a genus of saltwater clams, marine bivalve mollusks in the family Mactridae. Many of them are known under the common name the horse clam or as species of gaper clam. They are similar to geoducks.
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As a symbol for the jester or help, the gaper would perform silly acts outside the store or in privacy to entertain customers and bring in more business. The Oriental dressed gaper possibly refers to the use of ingredients such as aloe vera, opium and gum arabic in medicines. It would "reference to the origin of the opium that is in the store sold in the form of sleeping dumplings." It is difficult to say if all the different types of gapers have been around since the beginning.
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Many of its common names, including "cottonmouth" and "gaper", refer to this behavior, while its habit of snapping its jaws shut when anything touches its mouth has earned it the name "trap jaw" in some areas.Conant R, Bridges W (1942).
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Soft-shell clams (American English) or sand gaper (British English/Europe), scientific name Mya arenaria, popularly called "steamers", "softshells", "piss clams", "Ipswich clams", or "Essex clams" are a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Myidae.
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After a delay caused by the behaviour of a colt named Highlander, the race began with Gaper taking an early lead. The second favourite set such a strong pace that most of the runners were soon struggling and only four other horses- Khorassan, Cotherstone, Siricol and Gorhambury- were still in contention when the leader turned into the straight. Gaper then began to tire and Bill Scott sent Cotherstone into the lead a quarter of a mile from the finish. Gorhambury (rumoured to be a four-year-old "ringer") emerged as his only challenger, but the result was never in serious doubt as the favourite steadily increased his advantage to win easily by two lengths.
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The 'Moor' is a word initially referring to those originating from Northwest Africa. Gapers with dark brown or black skin were used to represent the moors. The common oriental gaper often wore a turban with gold earrings. The turban confirmed an exotic origin that suggested the potency of Eastern medicine to customers.
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Beginning in 1840, the demand for medicine quickly became unbalanced. There were more drugstores in the Netherlands than there were citizens. This caused many drugstores to close taking the gaper figureheads with them. The Act on the Exercise of Medicine in 1865 declared that the pharmacy had to be separate from the drugstore.
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Master Plan for Marine Protected Areas (approved February 2008). Retrieved December 18, 2008. Moro Cojo and nearby Elkhorn sloughs host year-round residents tightly associated with estuaries, such as pickleweed, eelgrass, oysters, gaper clams, and longjaw mudsuckers, as well as important seasonal visitors such as migratory shorebirds, sea otters, and sharks and rays.
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Their individual designs are claimed to be specific to the specialties of the drugstore. The oriental gapers are categorized between two identities: the muzelman and the moor. The 'Muzelman' is an old word for Muslim, which often refers to those living in the northwestern parts of Africa. A gaper with olive colored skin was considered to depict the muzelman.
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The name stigmaeus means "speckled" in Greek. The redeye gaper has a rounded, slightly compressed body and a very large head. The mouth is large, with a protruding lower jaw and teeth arranged in bands. The skin is soft, loose, and very pliable (especially on the underside), forming folds over much of the head and body.
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This is clearly visible with some preserved figureheads in museum archives. The decaying or splitting causes the gaper to fall completely apart over time. Some gapers were protected with a layer of lead-mix and flaxseed oil over the paint. Others received a lead plate on top of their hats so the rain did not end up directly on the wood.
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Pharmacists were required to have a diploma, if not, then they were no longer considered a chemist. This caused the drug stores to change their appearance. The pharmacy displayed the mortar as a symbol for the ability to prepare medicines, while the druggists continued to use the gaper as a symbol. This caused a large decline in the numbers of gapers left in the cities.
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Additional common names for A. p. conanti include aquatic copperhead, aquatic moccasin, cotton-mouthed snake, gaper, gapper, lake moccasin, mangrove rattler, moccasin viper, North American water viper, pond moccasin, river pit viper, short-tailed moccasin, small- tailed rattler, snap jaw, stub-tail moccasin, swamp lion, swamp moccasin, trap jaw, water mamba, water moccasin, water pilot, water pit moccasin, water rattlesnake, white mouth moccasin, and worm-tailed moccasin.
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Turkish fashion, Japonerie, and Chinoiserie are said to be a source of inspiration for creating the gapers. The origin of the gaper, mostly Southern or exotic, symbolizes the origin of the ingredients used in the drugstore's medicines. During the 17th century, Western European trade with continents such as Asia and Africa introduced new spices from far and unknown places. Many exotic medicine components entered Europe through trade with the Ottoman Empire.
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Some of Oregon's most productive shellfishing is in Coos Bay. Coos Bay is Oregon's largest bay, and the lower part of the bay offers many shellfishing opportunities such as crabbing and clamming. The lower bay is the area that extends from the airport to the ocean entrance, and is marine dominated (meaning there is little freshwater influence). Some popular, easily accessible clamming spots are along Cape Arago highway, where recreational clammers can dig for gaper and butter clams, in the extensive mud flats during low tide.
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Panopea zelandica, commonly known as the deepwater clam or New Zealand geoduck, is a large species of marine bivalve mollusc in the Panopea (geoduck) genus of the family Hiatellidae. It is also sometimes called a king clam, or a gaper – in reference to the shell not being closed at either end. It is found around the North, South and Stewart islands and occurs mainly in shallow waters (5–25 metres) in sand and mud off sandy ocean beaches.Deepwater (King) Clam fishery summary - New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries.
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The typical mussels of the Wadden Sea are the common cockle (Cerastoderma edule) and the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis). While the common cockle is omnipresent, wild growing blue mussels are less common than in the southern Wadden Sea. They suffer from the expansion of the Pacific oyster which benefit from the warmer winters. The sand gaper was probably introduced by the Vikings from America; the American piddock arrived at the end of the 19th century, while the appearance of the Atlantic jacknife clam in the Wadden Sea is known since 1976.
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Bill Scott called Cotherstone the best colt he ever rode. Shortly before the 1843 Derby, John Scott moved Cotherstone from Malton to complete his preparations at a stable at Leatherhead, where the colt was visited and viewed at exercise by the Queen and Prince Albert. At Epsom on 31 May, Cotherstone started 13/8 favourite for the Derby in a field of twenty-three runners, with Gaper being made second choice at 5/1. Despite the damp and misty weather, the race attracted the customary huge crowd, which included Prince George of Cambridge and his brother-in-law the Prince Royal of Mecklenburg.
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Leptasterias polaris is a major predator in the cold waters in which it lives. Young individuals are mostly found on rocks less than deep and feed on such bivalve molluscs as the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) and Hiatella arctica. Older individuals move to deeper waters where the seabed is sand or mud and feed on clams such as the Greenland cockle (Serripes groenlandicus), Spisula polynyma, the blunt gaper (Mya truncata) and the Atlantic jackknife clam (Ensis directus) which they dig up with their tube feet. They also eat gastropod molluscs such as the common whelk (Buccinum undatum) and the American pelicanfoot (Arrhoges occidentalis).
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The redeye gaper, Chaunax stigmaeus, is a sedentary species of anglerfish in the family Chaunacidae. It is native to deep waters in the western North Atlantic from the Georges Bank off New England southward to the Blake Plateau off South Carolina. The species is found on the outer continental shelf and upper continental slope at a depth of 90–730 m and among dense beds of dead coral (Lophelia pertusa) rubble, their preferred habitat. The original type specimen was caught in a trawl off Atlantic City on March 1, 1946, and donated to the Academy of Natural Sciences by Carroll B. Atkinson.
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Cotherstone began to show potential towards the end of 1842 and despite being beaten in a private trial race by a colt named The Era (a future Northumberland Plate winner), he was sent to run at Newmarket in the autumn. Before he ran, Cotherstone had been introduced into the betting lists for the following year's Derby, with bookmakers offering odds of 20/1 on 20 October. On 24 October he made his public debut when he ran in the Criterion Stakes in which he finished unplaced behind Gaper, Pineapple and Testy. Four days later he reappeared in the Nursery Stakes in which he ran a dead-heat with an unnamed filly later called Mania.
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Up and down the coast of the Eastern U.S., the bamboo clam, ensis directus, is prized by Americans for making clam strips although because of its nature of burrowing into the sand very close to the beach, it cannot be harvested by mechanical means without damaging the beaches. The bamboo clam is also notorious for having a very sharp edge of its shell, and when harvested by hand must be handled with great care. On the U.S. West Coast, there are several species that have been consumed for thousands of years, evidenced by middens full of clamshells near the shore and their consumption by nations including the Chumash of California, the Nisqually of Washington state and the Tsawwassen of British Columbia. The butter clam, Saxidomus gigantea, the Pacific razor clam, Siliqua patula, gaper clams Tresus capax, the geoduck clam, Panopea generosa and the Pismo clam, Tivela stultorum are all eaten as delicacies.
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Geoducks are a native species of giant clam that have incredibly long necks, and they are eaten by the bucket full as well as shipped to Asia for millions of dollars as they are believed to be an aphrodisiac. Gaper clams are a favorite food, often grilled or steamed in a sauce, as is the native California abalone, which although protected as a food source is a traditional foodway predating settlement by whites and today features heavily in the cooking of fine restaurants as well as in home cooking, in mirin-flavored soups (the influence of Japanese cooking is strong in the region) noodle dishes and on the barbecue. Olympia oysters are served on the half shell as well as the Kumamoto oyster, introduced by Japanese immigrants and a staple at dinner as an appetizer. California mussels are a delicacy of the region, and have been a feature of the cooking for generations: there is evidence that Native American tribes consumed them up and down the California coast for centuries in their masses.
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