J. Boom has stood on the Magdalenenstraat for nearly two hundred years, selling wooden clogs, hand-bound brushes, and the cordage that used to outfit every Dutch farm and boat. The shop looks much as it must have done a century ago — wooden shelves to the ceiling, drawers and pigeonholes, brushes hanging from beams, clogs in every size sorted by colour and pattern.
It is half-shop, half-museum, and the staff are happy to talk you through what each thing is for. Even if you have no need for a clog, it is worth ten minutes off the tourist circuit — a working remnant of the trades that supplied the cheese carriers, the canal boatmen, and the farmers of the surrounding polder. Useful as well if you are looking for a non-naff souvenir; the wooden shoes here are made for actual wear.