These are some of these retro items were very common in Czechoslovakia and some of them have been (long) forgotten. How many of them do you know?
Some of these 24 items were in use before the Velvet Revolution, some of them even in the 1990s. You can find many of there not only in antique stores but also in the attics of older rural houses and, in some cases, as household items still in use. Here is a little quiz, see how many of them you know or can guess! The answers are at the end.
Czech Retro Items
Quiz
Correct Answers
- Thermos flask of larger capacity, popular for family camping. You press the top and the beverage comes out of the tap.
- Electric bread cutter. They used to be in almost every grocery shop and customers would slice the bread themselves.
- Nutcracker
- Typewriter
- Hand whist (for egg whites, whipped cream…)
- Video game, often sold with all text in Russian
- Candy dispenser Kalimero
- Radio
- Box, often used for sewing supplies
- School bag
- Scales
- Egg holder
- Coffee grinder, they would be found in grocery stores so customers could ground their coffee.
- Shaving machine
- “Mushroom” for sock darning
- Toilet paper, sold in folded stacksH
- Another hand whisk, this one is very practical and in use until the present.
- Hair rollers
- So-called horské sluníčko (montain sun). Heater than was believed to work as prevention of diseases.
- Home coffee grinder
- Potty – you might have mistaken it for a traditional enamel kitchen bowl that was of a similar shape.
- Coin purse
- Redukol, exercise machine, you grab the handles and roll into a plank and back
- Shopping list
- Swimming cap (used to come in 3-4 colors and 3 designs)
- 20-heller coin from 1980
- Movie projector
- Tram and bus card punching machine
- Small bouncy ball called colloquially hopskulka
- Work punching machine that punched the time of you arrival at work and departure. The poster says “Didn’t you forget to punch, comrade?”
- Post office wet pad used to wet the backside of the stamps if you didn’t want to lick them.
