[6] The history of these factory workers was published in Ruytermeisjes and Verkadevrouwen in 1997; oral historians Ineke Hogema and Ivonne van der Padt describe the women and their situation.

[12] For Verkade, the benefit of hiring female workers was twofold: women were thought to have more delicate hands and be better at packaging brittle materials such as cookies and rusk, and they commanded lower wages than their male counterparts.

In a tradition of paternalism, the company apparently felt a kind of responsibility toward the younger girls, who often came from uneducated backgrounds; after hours, they were offered classes in cooking and sewing.

[11] After World War II Verkade found itself competing for scarce labor, and it drastically changed its policies, now employing married and older women.

[15] Dutch author and songwriter Willem Wilmink named one of his collections for them, Brief van een Verkademeisje en andere liedjes.