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A Visit to the Czech Republic: Bead Style |
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Written by Dara Spiotto
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Monday, 18 February 2008 |
 A VISIT TO THE CZECH REPUBLIC: BEAD STYLE
Picture yourself standing on a narrow, stone paved road in the heart of Czech Republic suburbia. Can you smell the beads nearby? Do you feel the rapture of pressed glass? I’m there, all a-quiver with excitement! Maybe by the time you finish reading this article you’ll feel as though you have been there, too.
A Trip around the World
Charlotte McKibbon is a talented beader that I had the fortune to meet during a soldering class at a local bead store. She’s a talented weaver, stringer, lampworker and all around bead lover. Her passion for beads takes her out of the country occasionally to buy beads from around the globe, including silver and buri nut beads in Thailand and stones she took out of the hillside herself in China which she then brought to Zimbabwe and traded for seed bead art from local Ndebele artisans. You can tell from the moment you meet Charlotte that you could listen to her talk for hours about her adventures. Such an honor happened to me after class at a sandwich shop.
 Part of the way through her story, I asked her if it would be ok if I took notes to share some of the interesting stuff with you. She agreed with the stipulation that she didn’t have to do any writing and that she could proof-read before I posted any information.
So here are my notes from my conversation with Charlotte, put into my own words, with Charlotte’s thumbs up of approval.
A Beader on the Move!
Charlotte took a trip to Prague, Czechoslovakia in the spring of 2007. She spent 4 weeks there hoping to learn as much as she could about the current local bead industry, and perhaps buy some old pieces of bead making equipment to set aside for a future bead museum of her own. She planned this trip for two years, learning through a friend of a friend, etc. about a family of glass  bead makers who she would be able to get in touch with once there. The communication between her and the family of Mirek and Iva Topolanek began to flow pretty well with the help of a translator, and they told Charlotte that she was welcome to visit their family and view their podnik (factory).
I could go into enormous detail about her trip there, but I’ll try to include just the fabulous beady hightlights for you here. Charlotte spent a lot of time on foot, travelling through the districts of Prague that had bead homes. That’s her term, bead homes. She said after a while she got really good at finding them. You just had to look for homes with two chimneys, one in the front, and one in the back. These “factories for beads” are in actual homes where the family lives, and are located in the front of the building. The chimney there serves as the heat source for making beads. The chimney in the back is in the living part of the home, and is used for cooking and warmth.
Friends in all the Right Places
Mirek Topolanek welcomed Charlote in and allowed her to get her hands dirty in the factory, which consists of a room measuring approximately 15’x18’ and houses all the tools, glass and bead presses used for making beads. The tools that Charlotte had hoped to purchase are still in use. She decided to not even ask to purchase them, since the family uses all the tools they have. They’re old and worn with decades of use. Charlotte was a bit disappointed to leave them behind, since they were so full of character and so interesting.
First they adorned paper clothing. The heat in the factory is overwhelming and paper clothing helps to keep them cool. And because they work with the fire so closely, it's necessary to be able to jump out of your clothing quickly in case you catch on fire. Apparently this is not unusual in the glass houses, so paper clothing is pretty universal. Once properly adorned, they selected the glass they were to use from huge round drums stacked on tables. The glass is a special kind, one Charlotte had never heard of, requested by jewelry factories that purchase the beads from the local family. The Topolanek family saves the extra glass to make up extra beads, sometimes experimenting with shape and color. These extra beads would be stored and would some day be brought out for sale.
Making Beads
One person would manipulate the glass in the open flame of the oven and form a large ball of molten glass. Another person holds a press mold to catch the glass. When the glass is just the right temperature, it's slipped into the mold and the press is closed on it. It runs down a “cooling tunnel” (Charlotte’s words) and when it comes out the other end, a person is there to open the press mold. The beads are all connected together like a big sheet, and each bead needs to be hammered apart from the other. This creates a lot of scrap glass that can’t be reused. So the families in Prague have used it for a centuries old custom… sprinkling the glass in their driveways. It's colorful, cheerful and helps them advertise their work.
Next the beads go into tumblers to smooth out the edges and polish the surface. Each bead is then checked by hand to make sure it’s the topmost quality. The family can produce approximately 20 sheets an hour with each sheet holding 100 to 120 beads, depending on the mold used. That means each day they can produce up to 28,800 beads per day in a 12 hour period. Each family member has a key roll in this production, and without even one family member present they can’t do their work properly. They rely on each other and can depend on each other.
 Beads Then and Now
The Topolanek factory produces 12 different beads on a regular basis, including a lovely leaf shape, a fleur de lis and a flat spiral. Mirek brought out these same styles of beads that were made by his great, great grandfather, and held them in comparison to the beads that he’s producing today, explaining how identical they are. He’s extremely proud to be creating as perfect a product as his ancestors.
At the end of the day, the family sits down to eat a wonderful authentic Czech meal, Gulas se knedlykem, which is goulasch with dumplings. Mirek tells Charlotte that this is probably the most eaten food in the Czech Republic. It has a wonderful, spicy sauce and fat, moist dumplings. Also on the menu is Smazeny Syr, a slab of edam cheese dipped in bread crumbs and deep fried. Its served on paper to absorb the grease, and is served with tartar sauce. Charlotte says she really enjoyed that, a virtual heart attack on a plate. Delicious! At the end of the meal, when Charlotte was leaving the Topolanek family, they blessed her with a bag of beads they had made. She was so touched by their thoughtfulness and generosity, and will cherish the always.
Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig
Once home back in the good old USA, Charlotte wrote down all her memories in a journal. She also made herself a bracelet from the beads given to her by Mirek and Iva. They’re a sweet reminder of the bead friends she has around the world.
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