Made in Yugoslavia
By Bud Stefanski, Adams, MA
Made in Yugoslavia By Bud Stefanski, Adams, MA
I sit in a certain type of chair at an area restaurant quite often. Recently, the combination of a shaft of sunlight, combined with a dark shadow, caught my gaze. I took a really good look at the chair and noticed the label of manufacture: "A Guaranteed LEVEL Product, Winchendon Massachusetts."
A fine piece of work and, according to the waitress, more than likely circa 1940s. The screws on the sides looked new, but the chairs were sound. Tipping the chair in order to see the bottom construction, I noticed, branded into the wood, "Made in Yugoslavia."
Poached eggs and sausage arrived, and my memory banks activated as I chewed and pondered what I remember about that country. Those people fought valiantly against the Nazis, had a neat Black Sea resort in Montenegro, and made a little car called a Yugo, until things got nasty. Many Berkshire County military guys have served in Kosovo lately.
Some highlights of Yugoslavia's history …
1918: Yugoslavia came into existence as a result of World War I. (The earlier histories of its six component republics are treated separately, under their respective names.) In 1914 only Serbia (which included the present republic of Macedonia) and Montenegro were independent states; Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina belonged to the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
1945: Yugoslavs under Marshall Tito possessed greater freedom than the inhabitants of any other Eastern European country.
1987: Slobodan Milosevic, a Serbian nationalist and blood-thirsty rat, became the Serbian Communist party leader.
2002: The kettle still boils.
