1936 On the Continent

for instance in Eastern Moravia, we meet with the most startling contrasts almost side by side. Thus, you may spend the morning looking over Bata’s footwear factory at Zlin in Moravia, which is unique of its kind and will bear comparison even with the famous Ford concern. Half-an-hour’s drive by car from here will bring you to a village where, if there happens to be a religious festival or a marriage, you will have an opportunity of seeing the magnificent Moravian costumes, of hearing the beautiful folk-songs and of watching the ancient ceremonies—the most striking contrast possible to everything you have just seen in the vast Bata undertaking.
    In Bohemia there is only one small district where the old mode of life has been kept up. Not far from Pilsen, and close to the town of Domažlice, there is a small tribeof mountaineers called the Chods, who in very early times were established on the frontiers to defend them against the Germans. On holidays and market days Domažlice is still crowded with the village women from the surrounding districts who religiously continue to wear their tribal costume. In Moravia there is no lack of localities where all the manifestations of folklore can still be studied. I need only mention the fine specimens of folk art represented by the wooden buildings at Roznov, which are the work of the Moravian tribe known as the Vallachs. In eastern and southern Moravia, where the population is Slovak, there is an abundance of costumes and folk-songs. The visitor who is interested in these matters will do well to visit these districts during one of the big religious holidays or festivals, when the peasants put on their finest attire. Here I may mention, too, that the well-known spas in these regions, such as Pištany and Luhaovice, organise big celebrations several times a year, when the various features of peasant life are also displayed.
Picturesque Costumes
    As I have said, still further eastward, in Slovakia and Carpathian-Ruthenia, the old costumes, ceremonies, etc., have been kept up in their entirety. On working days you will see the people in the fields and vineyards in their typical simple dress, but on Sundays, holidays and at family festivities the fine old painted chests and wardrobes yield up their store of fine garments which have been handed down from one generation to another and which were patiently embroidered by the peasants in their spare time. If you inspect these garments closely you will discover the enormous inventiveness of the people who designed them. The embroidery never repeats the same ornament or a similar grouping of colours. Nor will you find the slightest suggestion of bad taste or garishness. Every region and indeed every village has its own distinguishing patterns; moreover, the costumes of married women are quite different from those of the unmarried. This is due to the fact that the majority of the designs are symbols whose original meanings have been forgotten. Above all, Slovak and Ruthenian folklore abounds in vitality and colour. There are whole villages where you will find paintings everywhere—both inside and outside thewooden houses and churches, and even on the crosses in the small graveyards.
    The traveller who goes on a walking tour in the mountain districts will often be able to spend the night in a shepherd’s hut where he will drink milk from hand-carved wooden bowls and listen to old songs played on ancient reed pipes.
    The traveller in the most eastern parts of the Republic will also have an opportunity of seeing the Jews of those districts celebrating their various festivals. Here, again, is folklore of a different variety which has been preserved for centuries and which in most other places has already died out.
Peasant Art
    You will find examples of peasant art also in the Czechoslovak museums, which contain unique collections of this kind. Those interested in the subject should visit the Ethnographical Museums in Prague, Bratislava or Turiansky St. Martin. Among the most remarkable items in these collections are the lace-work and embroidery which reveal an extraordinarily high degree of skill, taste, imagination and patience.
    However, it would be wrong to suppose that Czechoslovakia has nothing but folklore or agriculture. On the contrary, statistics show that industry is as important as agriculture. The industrial worker of Czechoslovakia does not differ at all from his counterpart in Western Europe. His educational standard is