CHAINS
CHAINS is a MacGuffin podcast by Alix de Massiac that explores the Amsterdam municipal pawnshop through the voices of people who go there, people who work there, and the objects pawned there.
The Stadsbank van Lening, as it is called in Dutch, receives items of jewellery from all over the world from people who have to part with a piece of their history, in exchange for quick cash. A broken washing machine? Get your necklace out of your nightstand.
Part business and part social service, this 400-year-old institution has evolved with the city and its inhabitants. Of the 24 outlets that once existed, only three remain: one in the city centre, one in the Bijlmer, and one in Osdorp. But the chain of customers queueing up outside hasn’t grown shorter.
Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify now
1. CITY BANK OF LOAN!
In episode 1 of CHAINS, we meet a longstanding and satisfied customer, and go behind the scene to meet the staff.
2. RUSSIANS TSARS AND DUTCH TV QUEENS
In Episode 2, the staff of the Stadsbank give us the grand tour of the shop, a popular destination for shoppers looking for a bargain. The items on sale get sold at a blistering pace. As soon as the shop opens up on Monday, people pour in and buy earrings and rings and necklaces and the odd silver serving platter...These customers often have little to do with customers that pawn their jewellery, and despite buying their jewellery don’t know much about them.
3. A COLD DRINK
Come Friday, the showcase of the shop is empty and we meet a customer looking for a little extra cash to buy his girlfriend dinner and some flowers. Forty euros can have different meanings for different people from all walks of life. A glass of wine for a manager is another weekend well spent for a customer, who narrates the worst day of his life: the day he lost the necklace his father gave him when he was born.
4. THE PRICE OF GOLD
We hear an appraiser exchange with a customer, who can get more money for an item he’s pawned before. The Stadsbank uses a calculation that fluctuates and with which they figure out how much money they can lend and what the interest rate on it will be. This calculation is primarily based on the price of gold. So when the price of gold does go up, as a customer you’re in luck and you can get more on the same piece of jewellery. Some customers keep a close watch of the economy, and come in on a weekly basis to pawn and repawn items.
5. THE GRAVE OF THE FORGOTTEN LOAN SHARKS
In the fifth and final instalment, Mariken, the manager of the Stadsbank, tells us all about its future. Having gradually expanded and then reduced in size over the lifespan of its 400 plus years, this institution is facing some challenges. Just like the price of gold, the Stadsbank is contingent on a big and fluctuating ecosystem of people and policies.
