Bet van Beeren

Van Beeren died of liver disease on 16 July 1967. She laid in state on the billiard table of the pub for several days before her burial on 20 July at the Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats in Amsterdam. Greet, van Beeren's younger sister, continued to operate the business until 1982, when she closed it because of the heroin trade expansion in the area. Some of the items from the bar were incorporated into the Amsterdam Museum in 1998, but for the most part, the building remained untouched until Greet, shortly before her death, sold it to her niece, Diana van Laar. Van Laar completed a renovation of the pub and reopened it on 2 April 2008. In 2017, a bridge spanning the Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal between the Korte Stormsteeg and Korte Niezel streets was renamed on the pub's 90th anniversary to honor van Beeren in a symbolic representation of her building bridges in the community between diverse groups.

Van Beeren went to work in a canning factory on Haarlemmerweg, quickly working her way up to foreman, but she didn't like the job and the work was dangerous. She lost two fingertips while working and after a fight with her boss, quit and went to work for her uncle at his pub, Amstelstroom, where she had previously worked part-time. She also rode around town in leather clothing on her motorcycle and sold fish. In 1927, she bought the bar with loans from the Oranjeboom Brewery and thereafter, was always loyal to that brand of beer, though other breweries later tried to gain her patronage. It was very unusual for a woman to own a business at that time, especially on the rough seawall area where it was located. She renamed the pub, Café 't Mandje (The Basket Café) because her mother brought the food in every day in a basket.

Bet van Beeren (12 February 1902—16 July 1967) was a flamboyant, legendary bar owner in Amsterdam. While hers wasn't the first bar that allowed LGBT persons to openly associate, the fact that she was openly lesbian, and accepting of a very diverse clientele, led her establishment to be one of the most known. In 2017, she was honored by the city of Amsterdam when a canal bridge was renamed in her honor.

Elisabeth Maria van Beeren was born on 12 February 1902 in the Jordaan neighborhood of Amsterdam to Maria Johanna (née Brants) and Johannes Hendrik van Beeren. She was the oldest daughter and one of thirteen children of the couple. Her father worked in street construction and her mother ran a boarding house and delivered fish and vegetables by car around the neighborhood. Bet's education ended at middle school because her family needed her to work.