The average salary was in the region of 1,800 CZK per month, with many people earning as little as 600 CZK. Accommodation costs were very low with most of the money being spent on food and clothes, and yet there still was something left for culture and entertainment. Entry fees were usually subsidised and were amazingly cheap, for example, the price for a cinema ticket was only three crowns! Television wasn’t affordable for everyone; a Dajána TV cost 4,400 CZK which meant, according to statistics, only about 66 percent of families owned a television.
There was still a shortage of flats mostly with an average age of 50 years. Many of the flats were built by cooperatives but demand was still much higher than supply. About 80 percent of families owned some kind of washing machine, at that time the company, Romo Fulnek, was already producing automatic washing machines. Fridges were owned by about 47 percent of families and cars by about 14 percent families although if you wanted to buy a car you had to enter your name on a waiting list. Old Škodas, two-stroke Wartburgs and Trabants were to be seen on the streets, but the favourite was the Embéčko. Those who owned Tuzex vouchers could get hold of a Renault 10, Simka, Dacia 1100, Lada 2105 or a small Fiat 500 – the favourite car of woman singers and actresses at that time.
Living rooms were furnished with fitted cabinets, ensembles of chairs covered by fabric or imitation leather, and a coffee table. Rooms were usually heated by Clib charcoal stoves and in bathrooms there used to be solid fuel boilers. Central heating was fitted in modern prefab flats. Kitchen floors were covered by linoleum, other rooms had carpets – Kovrals made in Vratislavice’s Bytex.
In Prague you sometimes had to wait a few years for a phone line to be connected. It was quite commonplace for people to use public phone boxes or post office to make a phone call. Writing letters was also quite widespread.
Children that started school in September 1968 were able to enjoy the newly introduced five-day week. Before that, Saturdays had been schooldays as well. As of 1968, children had to go to school only on a few Saturdays when they had to do small jobs such as cleaning the school and grounds. Girls usually carried red school bags and boys beige ones. Sportswear was strictly set, girls wore blue shorts and white T-shirts, and boys had red shorts.
Adults enjoyed the humour of Šimek and Grossmann in Semafor Theatre and Horníček’s “Hovory H”. Teenagers read Foglar’s books and went to the re-established Scout groups. Borders were open and people were able to travel abroad. Various tours were offered by companies such as ČEDOK and Rekrea.
During Christmas time, nativity scenes with the Dubček’s figure appeared in some family homes. A father of a family could quite likely find two synthetic shirts under the Christmas tree. A mother might well be given two sets of under-the-counter stockings and for an adolescent daughter there was a pair of huge plastic earrings with artificial eyelashes in a box. The family then played Ryba’s Christmas Mass on the TESLA radio and all in all they had a good time…
