Miss Hook of Holland

Mrs. Hook died young, leaving her husband with a daughter, little Sally Hook. Ludwig Schnapps, the foreman of Mr. Hook’s factory, tells the story of how pretty little Miss Hook possessed a remarkable aptitude for business. By force of her character and her shrewdness, plus her invention of a wonderful liqueur called “Cream of the Sky”, Mr. Hook found himself at the head of a thriving establishment, with a considerable fortune in the bank. Simon Slinks, the leader of a group of lazy loafers picks up a piece of paper accidentally dropped by Mr. Hook, which turns out to be the secret recipe for Cream of the Sky. The cheese merchants arrive, followed by a dashing officer, Adrian Papp, who heads the local army unit. Papp is courting Sally, but she seems to prefer the Bandmaster van Vuyt.

Slinks sells the secret recipe to Papp, telling him that its return will help him with Sally. Sally’s maid Mina flirts with the foreman, Schnapps. The loss of the recipe is discovered, and Mr. Hook announces that he will give a reward for its return, knowing that people who find things usually turn out to have been the original thief. Papp announces that he will find and return the missing paper before the next day’s fete in Amsterdam is over. His rival, van Vuyt, says that he will also go to Amsterdam the next day.

Mina finds Schnapps flirting with Gretchen. He pacifies her by revealing that he bought a petticoat for her at the fete. This is the fifteenth petticoat this year that she has been given by admirers. Van Vuyt and Sally share a moment, before Sally catches Papp flirting with Freda Voos, allowing van Vuyt to emerge as the victor for Sally’s hand. The recipe finds its way back to Mr. Hook.