The BRB Guide to Budapest
Vanishing Budapest
[...]
Young Pioneers' Department Store: deserted
The very name Young Pioneers' Department Store
strikes a chord in the heart of most people under 45 in Budapest. It was
built some time in the early thirties and its delightful Art Deco interior
remained intact even amidst the ridiculous trappings of pioneer uniforms.
I still remember those tedious visits with my mother when we tried to buy
a pair of shoes there. In the Sixties, the shoe department boasted a series
of tableaux high up on the wall, under the ceiling, on the history of children's
life. It used to be difficult to be a kid before communist ideas took the
upper hand, I gathered from the scenes depicting some of the most frightening
stories of the Brothers Grimm. But the only problem that remained, it seemed
to me, was to find a pair of shoes.
We came here to buy the hideous pioneer
uniform with its bizarre accessories (a special whistle on a red string,
red necktie, and a belt), but also stationery, Sunday suits, and socks.
It was a wonderful place for an outing. At the back there was a three-storey-high
gallery all around, with gangways. From the ceiling hung a model aeroplane.
Which often flew in a circle.
(V. Kossuth Lajos utca 7.)
[...]
András Török
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