What's in the name Calefax?

Amsterdam´s three ‘western isles’ form a sort of village in the middle of the bustling city. They are surrounded by water, and their characteristic atmosphere is one of peace and quiet, narrow streets, and old storehouses inhabited by artists. The saxophonist Raaf Hekkema spent a good many years of his youth on one of these islands. Everyday he rode his bicycle over the Bickerseiland to school and back. Along the way he saw the word ‘CALEFAX’ inscribed over the entrance to a dingy, dusty building.
Years later Raaf remembered the word when we were trying to come up with a name for our quintet. We performed for several years as ‘Calefax’ before we happened to learn the origin of the name. It was a summer evening, and we were having a drink at Marcella, a somewhat dingy café on the Prinsengracht, after a concert. Ship´s attributes on the walls, dusty types at the bar, and a small gold plate with the black letters ‘CALEFAX N.V. Amsterdam-Rotterdam.’
An old man enveloped in a mist of alcohol and cigar smoke was sitting under the plate: “Calefax? Now that was a business...yes, a construction business on the Bickerseiland. Now they knew how to build ship motors, those were first-class welders! When the Calefax boys, man, say they had hot ovens going, when they poked the fire, that was the hottest place in town.”
Alban Wesly