[78-L] Shopping in places other than record stores

[Michael Biel]

At 09:03 26/12/2009, MB wrote:
>> On my first trip to Budapest Hungary in 1988 I came across a great
>> record store that had Hungarian and Soviet cut-outs.

From: agp <agp2176 at verizon.net>
> I went to a store like that in Prague in 2004. Got a bunch of 45s of 
> Czech/ Slovak covers of western hits on Supraphon, and almost 6 45s 
> by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich on German Fontana all for 1 Koruna each.
> T

During the days of Communism, each of the capitol cities had a store for
each of the other sister Communist Bloc countries as an exchange deal. 
A variety of all sorts of goods that were supposed to represent the
country were available, and records were a usual item.  I got some
Polish Elvis LPs in the Budapest Polish store in 88.  A few years later
after Communism there still was a Hungarian store in newly non-Communist
Bratislavia, Slovakia.  For some strange reason I found a 2-disc
documentary set about the 1989 Velvet Revolution that freed
Czechoslovakia -- an album my friend at Slovak radio told me he had
helped produce but was impossible to find in regular Czech and Slovak
stores.  I was lucky.  That Hungarian store might have cornered the
market.  I never did make it to Prague, however.  

In Sopron, Hungary in the mid-90s when I was there for an IASA
convention, I found a variety store that was closing out on great Soviet
topical stamp collections mounted in albums for what was about a dollar
apiece for a hundred or more stamps each.  BAD memories!!!!  Get them
out of here!!  Thank you, I will!  They also had old Hungarian LPs, but
one of them was a Hungariton MIDEM Convention sampler that was marked in
Hungarian that it was a Not For Sale promo, and they wouldn't sell it to
me!  I wish I had a Hungarian with me to ask them to GIVE it to me since
it was a promotional item!  

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com