Gaper on the front of "Van der Pigge", a pharmacy in Haarlem.

A gaper is a stone head, often depicting a black man, on the front of a building in the Netherlands. Download high resolution version (600x700, 101 KB)Logo of famous shop Van der Pigge in Haarlem, the Netherlands. ... Download high resolution version (600x700, 101 KB)Logo of famous shop Van der Pigge in Haarlem, the Netherlands. ... Coordinates: Country Netherlands Province North Holland Area (2006)  - Municipality 32. ...

It was used to indicate that this building is a pharmacy. For other uses, see Pharmacy (disambiguation). ...

The literal translation of gaper would be yawner; the figure is always displayed with an open mouth, and sometimes you can see a pill he has taken resting on his tongue. In fact he wasn't yawning, but opening his mouth to take medicine.

The existing "gapers" in Amsterdam are almost all of Moorish appearance but this wasn't always the case and earlier ones, now in museums, show white Dutch faces as the gaper. The gaper represents the assistant of the travelling apothecary, the forefather of today's pharmacist. The apothecary would attend market days all over the country and his assistant would play the character of an ill man. After taking the pill, the assistant (often a Moor) would all of a sudden feel much better and perform a dance.

It is also said (on the Dutch wikipedia) that the southern appearance of the gaper was a symbol for the origin of the ingredients of the medications. This exotic link might also have suggested effectiveness.

Later, when pharmacists opened shops instead of travelling through the country, the symbol of the Moorish man (often depicted with a pill on his tongue) would tell the illiterate audience that this was the home of a pharmacist.

Nowadays these symbols are rare, outside museum collections, fewer than 50 can be seen on buildings, some have now lent their names to cafes such as the Gevulde Gaper in Amsterdam.

External link

• http://home.planet.nl/~souer014/Gapersgb_tekst.htm (in English)
• http://www.amsterdamsegevelstenen.nl/GapersBeeldbank.htm (Dutch only)
• http://www.gapers.nl/ (Dutch only)

Beginner in skiing

It is also a term for beginners on a downhill skiing mountain, generally coming from either Texas or California. Many mountains have a "gaper day," where locals to the mountain dress up as beginners. These people over estimate their skiing ability and have a "yard sale" as they spill their gear down the mountain slopes.

• [EdwardPultar.com] Edward Pultar won the 1st annual "Gaper of the Year" award held at Solitude ski resort in Utah in November 2006