Right here, on number 90, in the middle of the Red Light District, is where it all started for the famous Bulldog franchise. Back in the 70’s, in the cellar of his father’s sex shop, Henk de Vries started selling weed and hash. In 1974, he took over his dad’s sex shop and turned it into the first Bulldog coffeeshop. Now, years later, the Bulldog is an internationally recognised brand franchise with five coffeeshops in Amsterdam, cafés and hotels in The Netherlands as well as in Canada.
So, for some real cannabis history, you need to take a stroll down the Red Light District and step through the door at number 90. The first thing you’ll notice is the fact the shop looks exactly like it did back in 1974. Just another brown café. That’s until you look more closely and spot the museum pieces tucked away all over the shop, which will give you a good impression that the heydays of the Dutch Coffeeshop culture weren’t as free and easy as it appears today. The story they tell sounds more like that of the ‘Speak-easies’ back in the prohibition days in 1930’s America.