Retro Museum Prague – Experience the 70s and 80s in Czechoslovakia
“In 2017, we announced a national collection, so a large part is from our supporters, but we also went to auctions, communicated with state institutions and collectors,” Robert Vůjtek, director of the Retro Museum in Prague, told the News.
The area of the exhibition is 2,500 square meters and you will find a total of twelve thousand exhibits. Most of them come from the 70s and 80s. The exhibition is divided into three parts, namely housing, design and everyday life.
Everyone had something from the show at home
There are also home accessories, electronics, cosmetics and designer furniture, while all exhibits are original.
“I would definitely invite the audience to look at the teletype, which is so unique. We have a piece from 1971 on display here and national companies and large institutions communicated through it, “added Vůjtek.
Furniture typical of the socialist period
Photo: News
The main part invites you to visit prefabricated apartments – housing so typical of the time. How did people live in “rabbit houses”?
“In the housing you can see replicas of panel apartments with period furniture. If you open any shelf or cabinet, you will always find something inside, ”Vůjtek entices.
In the faithful replicas of households, visitors touch the classic core and sit on the couch that every family had in the newly furnished living room. Many will certainly be familiar with furniture, for households the production cooperative UP Rousínov, Hikor Písek or Dřevotvar from Jablonné nad Orlicí has settled. The bedroom looks like someone left it this morning, as does the original kitchen with an Asta line from Jitona Soběslav.
Animals on a key and Merkur kit
In the children’s room, some may remember their youth or compare its facilities with the room of today’s teenagers. Of course, there are mončičáci, céčka or Merkur kits. The toy exhibition presents a collection from tin cans from the Kovap company to remote-controlled toy cars via cable.
Miroslava Pecháčková, who collects toys from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, lent the museum an inexhaustible amount of toys, board games, furniture and even clothing from its Toy Museum in Rychnov nad Kněžnou. When asked what is most unique, she chose a toy car, which at that time could only be found in Tuzex, or the iconic orange Tatra, which was not missing in any school, on any sandpit, and there were queues on it.
Toys borrowed from the Toy Museum in Rychnov nad Kněžnou
Photo: Retro Museum Prague, News
“Under socialism, mainly occupational toys were promoted. Military toys were also very popular, “adds the collector.
The largest collection of chocolate packaging in the world
The exhibition also includes a collection of chocolate packaging, which according to the organizers is the largest in the world. “Everything is mostly from the 70’s and 80’s, but some are even older,” Stanislav Krámský, a collector of chocolate packaging, boasted to Novinka.
He started collecting them as a child, first the packaging of bars and later the whole box of chocolates. “The most popular was a three-story box of chocolates, the original of which I have from 1987 at home,” he adds proudly.
The idols that the posters hung in many rooms are reminiscent of a collection of costumes by popular singers. Are you interested in what Helena Vondráčková and Hana Zagorová celebrated New Year’s Eve TV? The girls from our kindergarten and other hits were also listened to on tape recorders from Tuzex in the 1980s, the unique collection for the Prague Retro Museum was lent by the passionate collector Matěj Ruppert from the band Monkey Business.
Retro kitchen
Photo: News
In addition to period electrical engineering, the exhibition also has a space at its disposal, represented, for example, by original turnstiles from the 1970s, through which people entered the metro at the time.
An amused and nostalgic smile on his face will surely conjure up examples of home fashion, including period underwear. A show of work coats, overalls or an apron will once again remind you of the everyday lifestyle in Czechoslovakia.
Sit in the period office, where you will try every power, as was written on Consul typewriters, or jump into the shop, where the “woman behind the counter” serves. The selection is not the largest, but what to buy will be advised by period advertisements presented by the legendary “Mr. Egg”.
A typical grocery store
Photo: Retro Museum Prague, News
The museum also introduces the age of underground and normalization to younger visitors. The exhibition can be found in the Kotva department store, which has been open to the public since 19 May.
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