Editing Gaper (section)

== Controversy ==
Recently, gaper figureheads have been stolen from storefronts. However, some have been later returned to new locations throughout the Netherlands. The gaper on the facade of Wijde Heisteeg 4 was stolen and delivered back in 2004 on the sidewalk outside the Municipal Archive on the Amsteldijk. There are stories of gapers being vandalized and used for jokes. A gaper from the Wolvenstraat in Amsterdam was pushed off of its platform by pranksters in March 1960.<ref>{{Citation|last=Cramer|first=Franz Anton|title=Body, Archive|date=2012-01-31|work=Dance [and] Theory|series=TanzScripte|volume=25|pages=219–222|editor-last=Brandstetter|editor-first=Gabriele|publisher=transcript Verlag|doi=10.14361/transcript.9783839421512.219|isbn=9783839421512|editor2-last=Klein|editor2-first=Gabriele}}</ref> In 1830, a gaper was stuffed with gunpowder by a group of students and then blown up in the middle of the street. In 1895, the gaper on Heiligeweg 42 was given a large piece of [[Liverwurst|liver sausage]] in its mouth.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.amsterdam.nl/kunst-cultuur/monumenten/erfgoed-week/gaper/|title=Erfgoed van de Week {{!}} Een gaper aan de muur|last=Amsterdam|work=Amsterdam.nl|access-date=2018-10-15|language=nl-NL}}</ref> The gaper at this address also disappeared in 2008, there is still no clarity as to where it has gone. The reasoning for theft and associating the gaper with jokes are also unclear.

There is speculation that the disappearance of the gaper figureheads is caused by the weather. The gapers are hung outside storefronts and exposed to rain for long periods of time. This has caused many wooden gaper figureheads to rot or split. This is clearly visible with some preserved figureheads in museum archives. The decaying or splitting causes the gaper to fall completely apart over time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationaalfarmaceutischmuseum.nl/artikelen/verdwenen-fenomenen|title=Verdwenen fenomenen|website=www.nationaalfarmaceutischmuseum.nl|language=nl|access-date=2018-10-15}}</ref> Some gapers were protected with a layer of [[Lead|lead-mix]] and [[Linseed oil|flaxseed oil]] over the paint. Others received a lead plate on top of their hats so the rain did not end up directly on the wood.

Some gapers disappeared during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. The gaper that was hanging on Lange Delft in [[Middelburg, Zeeland|Middelburg]] was lost in 1940 during a bombing. Made in 1693, it was the oldest preserved gaper in the Netherlands. The gaper on the corner of Gasthuisstraat in [[Gorinchem]] disappeared one morning during the war. It is speculated that it was taken as a [[Looting|war booty]], or maybe for wood in someone's stove.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gorinchempubliek.hosting.deventit.net/detail.php?nav_id=1-1&index=3&imgid=&id=12250388|title=Gorinchem - Detail|website=Gorinchem|language=nl|access-date=2018-10-15}}</ref>

There is still uncertainty about the origin and historical reasoning for the gaper. According to [[folklore]], people used to hang monsters with their tongue sticking out off of buildings to ward off evil spirits.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zWoMfgmS8WkC&dq=the+gaper+dutch&pg=PA54|title=Blacks in the Dutch World: The Evolution of Racial Imagery in a Modern Society|last=Blakely|first=Allison|date=2001-01-22|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0253214331|language=en}}</ref> Some researchers explore the gaper in connection to certain [[Middle Ages|medieval]] folklore stories. However, there still isn't much solid evidence as to why certain types of gapers were depicted and why the gaper became the figurehead of pharmacists drug supply.