Bertus Sonneveld was 14 when he joined the Van Nelle coffee, tea and tobacco factory as its youngest employee in 1900. His ascent through the company was a rapid one. In 1919 he became deputy manager and in 1935 he was appointed business director of the tobacco division, where he remained until he retired in 1950. As a self-made businessman, he was greatly respected at Van Nelle, but he was not authoritarian and got on well with people from all walks of life. Sonneveld had a huge admiration for the United States, where he often went to buy tobacco. He used a lot of English words and had American tastes when it came to music and cars. His travel to the United States also gave him a taste for modern comforts, mainly as a result of staying in large hotels and on luxury liners. He loved clever inventions and gadgets, and his affinity for the Nieuwe Bouwen movement was probably because it combined comfort, efficiency and advanced technology.
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