was the bulldog the first coffeshop to open back in '75?

Taken from the Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory

"There is some debate about which was the first coffeeshop but the most famous was certainly The Bulldog established in 1975 by a guy called Henk de Vries in a former brothel in the Red Light district. The real first was probably Mellow Yellow (no longer under original management) and even before that The Melkweg (see clubs) was doing a bit of dealing. Rusland was another pioneer."

A little more history is available from the Dampkring website.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~dampweb/once.html

cheers dave

i thought it was Mellow Yellow ???

I think the debate, of which coffeeshop was the very first, will continue to burn indefinately. Some say it was Mellow Yellow; some say it was the Bulldog on OZA, and still others say it was Rusland. I have heard some other old timers tell stories that it was another coffeeshop. Some give evidence that The Bulldog has the green & white coffeeshop (BCD) sticker with the number 001. These BCD stickers have got nothing to do with the order in which coffeeshops were established. Even though Mellow Yellow is not owned by the original owner and is not in it's original location, it's still in the top 2 or 3 of the first licensed coffeeshops. All 3 of the above mentioned shops, make the claim to have been the very first. No matter which one was the first,
the freedom of choice is still alive and smokin'! :) Peace.

on the subject of the mellow yellow shop - i was on tram 16 heading up vijzelstraat last evening, sat behind an american lady and what appeared to be her two teenage daughters. first we crossed the keizersgracht and the woman says 'gee, the canals are really pretty arent they, even though theyre 'sketchy'. next, as we head towards the stop at the weteringcircuit where they were it seems staying, the same woman pipes up in a booming voice 'oh look, mellow yellow coffee shop, ours must be a 'sketchy' area too'. the entire back half of the tram shook its collective head, especially those whos neighbourhood had just been insulted.

now as a non-american, im taking 'sketchy' to mean 'dodgy' - is that correct? if so i dont recall aybody ever suggesting the grachtengirdel was dodgy! and mellow yellow is positively plush compared to a lot of shops around town. id say these guys were in for a terrifying visit if these kind of areas were making them nervous. i was tempted to advise them to avoid the libanees restaurants and to watch out for any muslims on the tram but didnt want to have to deal with a coronary situation by myself.

i wonder if theyll be around for gay pride this weekend?! could be a real eye opener!

doog!

withnail

now as a non-american, im taking 'sketchy' to mean 'dodgy' - is that correct?

Yes, questionable.. like she thought it would be in a rough crime ridden area.. Although I have not heard that usage in the USA..maybe...just my experience. Could be they were originally from somewhere else..


if so i dont recall aybody ever suggesting the grachtengirdel was dodgy! and mellow yellow is positively plush compared to a lot of shops around town. id say these guys were in for a terrifying visit if these kind of areas were making them nervous. i was tempted to advise them to avoid the libanees restaurants and to watch out for any muslims on the tram but didnt want to have to deal with a coronary situation by myself.

LOL.. That would have been beautiful! What a freak in a box she was! I don't care where she is from originally she is whacked ignorant and rude!


i wonder if theyll be around for gay pride this weekend?! could be a real eye opener!

Oh yes we have the folks who think the discussion is Taboo.. ignorance is bliss really stuck with them..

Dodgy is an apt comparison, although I would associate "dodgy" with a criminal element, while "sketchy" to me means more urban, industrial or gritty with a slightly negative slant.
I feel the urge to crawl into a hole out of embarssment when I hear that kind of crap from my countrymen. There should be some kind of test to take before Americans can get a passport. High score goes to Amsterdam, low score goes to a week of traffic school.

I thought the Melkweg opened in ''78 or 79? I remember being there in the fall of 80, and it was relatively new... (I actually just found my membership card for it too...soooo 80s)

The history section on their website says 1970 was the year it started!!

http://www.melkweg.nl/artikelpagina.jsp ... nfoid=1370

Also i believe the mellow yellow was not classed as the first coffee shop as they called themselves a TEA House!! Tea being a hippy word for grass.They opened spring 1972 acording to Nol Van Schaik in his book "The Duch Experience" The inside story:30 years of hash and grass coffeeshops. An great book.
(Nol Van Schaik is owner of the Willie Wortel chain of coffee shops in harlem.}
hope this helps
bedge