Socialist Department Store

I finally have to point this out. There has been a really cool thing going on at iDnes.cz. For at least a year, readers have been sending in photos of the products that all of us who grew up in pre-1989 Czechoslovakia know and remember with that inexplicable fondness and nostalgia. The whole project started as a virtual “socialist grocery store” showing a few dozen photos, and has grown into a full-blown department store containing hundreds of pictures.

If you’re Czech and are old enough to remember the times before the 1989 revolution, I’m sure you’ll get a kick out of seeing the milk in plastic bags, the Pedro chewing gum and Vitacit, the Skivo ski wax, the dry shampoo or the Haló sobota newspaper. Everyone else who’s curious to see what it was like to shop in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s and 1980s and what could be found in our pantries, households and garages back then, take a look, too, for this is probably the best overview you can get.

http://ekonomika.idnes.cz/ekonomika.asp?y=ekonomika/od.htm

Just so you know what you’re clicking on:

Potraviny – groceries
Drogerie – drugstore
Trafika – tobacco products, newspapers, magazines, stamps
Mototechna – auto parts, cars and car accessories
Konfekce – clothing and fashion
Elektro – Fotokino – electronics and photo supplies
Papír – Hračky – paper supplies and toys
Hudebniny – music store
Sportovní potřeby – sporting goods
Nábytek – Domácí potřeby – Furniture and home supplies