I am guessing it will be another 10 years before you won’t be able to tell which European city you are in, at least not from their pedestrian zones, because they will all look the same. Already, the signs of global chainstores make the shopping areas of Munich, Prague, Paris or London seem eerily similar. Or maybe that’s just me… But can you tell where these were taken?
Against the backdrop of all the invariably sleek and professionally designed signs and logos, the humble home-made Czech sign is especially refreshing. No pretense here. You want socks? You get socks.
I really hope that at least some of these lackadaisical storefronts will survive. A nice example of shrewd business sense recently caught my attention inside the Czech capital’s Masarykovo nádraží, where some local hero had the guts, or should I say cojones, to open a hairdresser’s that can only be reached through a casino.
Hats off to whoever is making that work in the middle of the much-discussed European debt crisis.
Or this sign, which suggests that the customer isn’t always king, a refreshing point and one that needs to be made:
I think the Czech Republic is one of the few countries where a business that is only open two hours a week could actually thrive, or at least survive. It’s a nice balance to the 24-hour-workday mentality that seems to be spreading like a virus.
Of course, not all handmade signs serve commercial purposes. Some will be educational.
I like that the author chose to address potential readers with člověče and that they ran out of space and had to abbreviate the word for trash can. I will take imperfect signs over shiny generic garbage any day.
This is only the beginning of what I hope will be a big collection of funny and heart-warming Czech signs. Of course, there already are many snapshots on the internet, but if you have some personal photos that you would like to share, I’d love to see them.