Introduction

In previous chapters, the organisation of the whaling and sealing industries and the people who were involved in these maritime endeavours, either behind desks in offices on the quays and wharves, or actually on the decks of whaleships, was discussed. In short, the focus has been on the producers of commodities. In this chapter, the products and the consumers will be examined in detail. What products were derived from the whaling and sealing expeditions? Who were the clients of the various Dutch whaling companies? Were they also actively involved in whaling? Did they equip ships, provision crew, and invest in the business, or did they wait for the products to arrive in the companies’ home ports? Finally, by scrutinizing the clientele for whaling and sealing products, can it be stated whether or not the distribution had a local, regional, national, or perhaps, even an international character?

Attention will also be given to distribution and the use of whaling and sealing products. Research into the final destination of the products is beyond the parameters of this study. Data is extremely scarce regarding the sale of the catches of the South Seas whale fishery. Basically, the only information available is what happened to Logan and its cargo of whale oil and baleen: the sale took place in New York. Information as to the distribution of these commodities and the identities of the clients remains unknown.

Again, most of the information concerning the buyers is related to Arctic whaling and sealing, and more specifically to the expeditions conducted from Harlingen. The results of a handful of public auctions organised between 1831 and 1834, and in 1838 are available, as those auctions were often presided by the local notaries, who apparently specialised in whaling and sealing affairs.

Sellers and buyers

The notary records of the sales of whale and seal products pertain to the final years of the Groenlandsche of Straatdavidse Visscherij Sociëteit, based in Harlingen. The auctions of 1832, 1833, 1834, and 1838 were held at the inn ‘Roma’. In 1831, buyers, sellers, and notaries gathered at Douwe Innema's Heeren Logement, located at the Voorstraat. Clients were required to pay in cash, in guilders, for their purchases.