Sister Kenny and Polio in Czechoslovakia

Today we are looking at a bit of unknown history about polio in Czechoslovakia and the Czech influence that would become a part of the polio wars. Poliomyelitis or polio is a highly contagious disease that can cause paralysis of the legs, hands and respiratory muscles. It’s basically a bullet trying to kill specific parts...

History, NOSTALGIA

January 17, 2020

Czech-Inspired Springtime Skirts

Today we are sharing two lovely skirts that reminded us of old Czech folk embroidery. First you will see the two designs, then you will see the sizing chart and finally there will be an order button. Please remember to specify your size when ordering. Please note that there is just ONE WEEK to place...

LIFESTYLE, Shopping

January 15, 2020

Zemlbába or Žemlovka – Czech Bread Pudding Recipe

Each country that has bread offers up their own version of bread pudding. Bread pudding is a (usually stale) bread-based dessert popular in many countries’ cuisines, made with old bread and milk or cream, generally containing eggs, a form of fat such as oil, butter or lard. Sweet bread puddings may use sugar, syrup, honey,...

LIFESTYLE, Recipes

January 9, 2020

Bambini di Praga aka Czechoslovakian Children’s Choir

The Bambini di Praga, also known as the Children’s Choir was founded in 1973 in Prague, (then known as) Czechoslovakia. The Bambini di Praga choir (BDP) was one of the top ensembles in Czech choral art. This select group of young singers, predominantly girls aged 12 to 20, was capable of meeting all artistic challenges...

ENTERTAINMENT, Music

January 4, 2020

Watch This: The Sorrows of Lenka or Trápení

Also known as The Sorrows of Lenka, The Proud Stallion, The Stress of Youth, Suffering, the Czech film Trápení is an engaging drama by director Karel Kachyna about the growing pains of a young teenage girl (Jorga Kotrbova) and the hardships of a noble steed mistreated by a cruel neighboring farmer. She is having a...

ENTERTAINMENT, Movies

December 31, 2019

New Year’s Eve and Lentils

What is it about New Year’s Eve and lentils? Well – there is an old Czech saying – “Jak na Nový rok, tak po celý rok” which translates as: “As on New Year’s Day, the same throughout the whole year.” Therefore, on New Year’s Day, most Czechs consume lentils (čočka). Lentils are served on New...

Food, Holidays

December 31, 2019

Czech Christmas Chocolate Collections

How many of you remember growing up with Czech Christmas chocolate collections? You know, the ones that came in the large box which included hooks for hanging on your Christmas tree? The chocolates themselves were wrapped to resemble all sorts of Christmas ornaments. In our house, Christmas was not complete unless we had these included...

Food, Holidays, LIFESTYLE

December 9, 2019

American Airmen Killed in Czechoslovakia

75 years ago today, several American airmen were murdered in a Bohemian field in Czechoslovakia. These fighter pilots fighting against Nazis had safely crash landed and were sitting on the wing of their plane handing out food and cigarettes when they were picked up. Today you will learn the unknown story of these American airmen...

History

November 20, 2019

American Women Vote Thanks to a Czech Woman

Did you know that American women vote thanks to a Czech woman? They do. The year 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing and protecting women’s constitutional right to vote. The passage marked the largest expansion of democracy in the history of our country. Hardly anybody knows that the...

History, PEOPLE, Women

November 17, 2019

International Students’ Day Began with the Czechs

Today is International Students’ Day and a public holiday in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia thanks to the martyrdom of nine at the hands of the Nazi occupation forces this day in 1939. The previous fall, Hitler had cowed the allied powers into ceding the mountainous Czechoslovakian Sudetenland to the Third Reich in order...

LIFESTYLE

The Earliest Czech Autochrome Photographers

The Salvation Army in Czechoslovakia

Steel Strings and Iron Curtains

A Brief History of the Early Bohemians of Chicago