Thread by @fakehistoryhunt

RIP Maria Augustina Norberta (Ria) van Dijk, who died yesterday.
AKA "air rifle Ria" because of her habit of shooting at the photo rifle booth at fairs since 1936.
It was quite something back then but it's also just great to see our world change through these pictures.

🧵

Girls shooting rifles and being good at it was quite a thing in her part of the world back then, in her own way she was breaking barriers.
Not just by shooting but also by going her own way and running a drugstore in stead of just working in one.

1938

As Ria shoots, year after year, and wins, year after year, every bullseye gets her a photo to take home, showing not just her achievement but also her friends and random members of the public behind her.

1953

We always see Ria with the rifle but behind her the people change, the fashion, architecture, design, even, perhaps, in a way, how people react and stand.

1954

The crowds become bigger, she becomes more famous, people start to know who she is and want to be there when she hits another bullseye.
And we see their clothes, hairstyles and for a flash second see the past as it was.

1958

But it wasn't till 2006 that the rest of the country and even far beyond the borders of the Netherlands, learned of Ria when there was an exhibit of the air rifle booth pictures she had collected through the years.

1962

A book was published, the internet loved the photos, there were exhibits abroad and she, in her own modest modest way, became famous, not just in her home town.

1973

But as the world changes behind Ria in these photos, she changes as well.
Not just her look but her age, she too gets older.

1989

Shooting became a bit more difficult but she didn't stop and kept hitting that bullseye, she kept winning those photos to take home.

2016

When she was 100 years old it became a bit too much to go to the fair, so the fair came to her.
A shooting booth was set up outside the retirement home she was living in.
Of course she hit the bullseye.

Thanks for all those pictures Ria.