Рет қаралды 7,960
(24 Dec 1995) T/I 10:54:41
As Christmas approaches, Manneken-Pis, one of Brussel's best-loved
landmarks, is dressed as Santa Claus.
But this is just one of many costumes the little boy, forever set
in stone relieving himself, has worn over the years. The statue is
a beloved part of the Belgian capital and the city even has an
employee responsible for dressing it in different costumes.
Dressing Manneken-Pis has been Jacques Stroobants' responsibility
for 21 years and he now sees it as more of a hobby than a job.
Many of the costumes are now kept in a special museum but
Stroobants has his own collection of more than 600 outfits.
The mystery surrounding the origins of the statue has created many
legends, including a tale that the statue is a monument to a young
boy who used his common sense to extinguish a firecracker which
was about to blow up the town hall.
Another is that it was erected by a grateful mother and father who
found their lost child relieving himself on the spot where the
statue now stands.
SHOWS:
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM RECENT
Undressed statue, pan to Jacques Stroobants (dresser) arriving at
Manneken Pis with his Santa costume
Cutaway tourist
Stroobants begins dressing statue
CU Santa jacket
Stroobants' face
Tourist takes photograph
ZOOM to Manneken Pis statue dressed
Stroobants' shows his collection of costumes, kept at his home
Stroobants, SOT: (in French) about his job becoming more than a
job. It's work and a hobby in one. I'm a collector of all sorts of
Manneken-Pis
Cutaway collection
Stroobants, SOT: (in French) "It was at the time of Louis XV,
there was a kind of revolution and his troops were angry because
Pis had been stolen. So when it came back, Loius XV offered him
the dress of a French aristocrat and created a tradition."
Mannekin-Pis statue
Stroobants SOT: (in French) about the origins of the Santa costume
- a gift from the town of Helsinki
Japanese tourists at statue
Costume museum
Display cabinet
Martine Vrebos, museum representative SOT about the statue
becoming a town symbol of the free spirit of the citizens of
Brussels. He has received costumes from all over the world.
Costumes in cabinet
Manneken-Pis urinates
3.29
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.c...
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.c...