12 Flying Doves from Opperdoes

Envelope from Opperdoes to Höör in Sweden sent on the 16th of March 1937 and franked with 12 Leabeau Flying Doves!  

I found this little gem in a philatelic webshop of which I thought that I had picked out the West Frisia items long ago. Apparently my previous searches didn't involve the the small village of 'Opperdoes'. 

Opperdoes is located just west of the city of Medemblik and is famous for its tasty potato- the so-called 'Opperdoezer Ronde'. In the 11th century the village was called 'Those' or 'Thosa' and later as 'Dosa' which refer to the mossy and moorlike ground. The prefix of 'Opper' (upper) was added later to mark the possible distinction between a 'upper' and 'lower' Does.

1935 map with Opperdoes in its centre and to its northeast the city of Medemblik.

Between 1887 and 1941 the village was served by a train. To this date the railway line has survived intact since it functions as a tourist steam railway nowadays.

The very Dutch sounding family names in the address (Leyden and Molenaar) made me wonder who moved to Höör (Sweden) in the 1920s or 1930s. The sender - a certain Mrs Blokker - didn't rang a bell. Besides, the names of Molenaar and Blokker sounds very catholic whilst Opperdoes was (and still is) a village with a very big majority of protestant inhabitants. So I did a small search online...

Announcement of engagement of  Cath. M. Molenaar of Twisk
 and Hjalmar Leyden of Höör Sweden. Schager Courant 29-7-1935   

Apparently Mrs Molenaar-Leyden was married to a Swedish man called Leyden! This man - Hjalmar Leyden - must have had Dutch ancestors since I don't think the name of Leyden originated in Sweden itself... They married in 1935 or 1936. I found another mention of Mrs Molenaar-Leyden in the same newspaper. She left for Sweden in September 1936:

People left: "... Molenaar, Catharina M., to Sweden, Höör"
Schager Courant 10-9-1936

What intrigues me the most about this envelope on a philatelic level is the excessive use of the 1c carmine/red (NVPH 170). The rate for a 20g envelope to Sweden in 1937 was fl. 0,12½ - so the cover was franked correctly. It might have something to do with another rate change in early 1937 - making the 1c red almost redundant. The simplest and most likely option though would be that Mrs Bakker couldn't find a 12½c stamp and used all her Flying Doves. A smart thing she did because this large unit of 1c stamps makes the cover very attractive - even when taking the annoying filing crease into consideration.

8x the 1927 1c carmine/red Lebeau 'Flying Dove' type tied by Opperdoes CDS

Location of Opperdoes (red arrow) in West Frisia and Holland