My grandmother still has today an impressive collection of porcelain ballerinas, handmade decoratives napkins – the traditional mileuri and plastic flowers. If I would want to provoke her a heart attack, throwing them away will do the trick. My parents on the other hand, they have never had had a glass fish. I used to see it when I visited my relatives, and more often, it sat on the mileuri, on the TV. By far, the glass fish seemed the peak of the communist interior design.
However, as kitsch as these objects now seem, I have to admit that I look at them with some kind of nostalgia. Before the 90 you could find them in all Romanian houses and it’s understandable why. Back then, you had a very narrow offer for design products, and at the beginning of each school year, the teachers increased their collection of ceramic puppies, good enough to put on the nightstand.
For those who remember with amusement and / or nostalgia of these things, now they can visit Palatul Vechiturilor / Palace of Old Things
The name says it all. In a shop located at a stone’s throw from the Piata Muncii Metro Station, arranged in a disorderly order, you will find all of the above mentioned items. Add typewriters, pick-ups Unitra, Aradora clocks, old telephones or televisions and the image is complete. The list could go on and it’s impossible when entering the store not to say something like: “Look … I’ve had one of this …or that one …”. In fact, the place is a sort of museum for the communist home.
In fact, Palatul Vechiturilor is a consignment store. Suppose you want (or need) to get rid of the old objects. You can throw them, or try to get a dime out of the situation. If you go to the store, they will rent you a place on the shelves and the price at which you sell the object it is at your choice. Rarely, the owner will make you an offer, but only for items that sell quickly and at a good price.
The fast disappearing items from the shelves are the toys. Perfectly normal, if you think that most visitors were children before the 90s. No matter if it’s an Arădeanca doll with one hand or a Pegasus bicycle eaten by rust.
As for me, I managed to complete my vinyl collection with albums of Iris and Phoenix. In the Palatul Vechiturilor you will find thousands of disks and tapes – from the domestic ones produced by Electrecord up to vinyl’s of foreign artists. In fact, when I entered the store, the pick-up went “Off the Wall” by Michael Jackson.
Obviously, from this “vintage communist” store could not be missing the pioneer tie or braid. They are among the cheapest items and with a few dollars they are yours. In addition, they are the most popular items of the shop. The top sales list is completed by the slides depicting children stories and the pick-ups.
With few exceptions, it’s unlikely that anyone really need a Chinese fisherman or an old disc phone. So it is easily understandable why most of those who visit Palatul Vechiturilor are just coming in to watch and remember. And this is just fain. In fact, the store trades nostalgia and the joy of returning in time.
This post is also available in: Romanian
English
Română
RSS