Tuzex

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Tuzex was a trading chain founded in 1957 in the former Czechoslovakia , whose goods could only be paid for with convertible currencies , but not with kroner .

The name is derived from tuz emský ex port (German for "domestic export ").

offer

Voucher for 10 liters of petrol, issued by Tuzex.

In the Tuzex shops you could buy exclusive western products such as food and beverages, cosmetics and perfumes, clothing (such as jeans) and shoes, cigarettes and the like. a. buy, as well as electronics and everyday items for long-term consumption such as washing machines, refrigerators, etc., as well as automobiles of well-known brands at the time such as Ford, Citroën, Saab, Austin, Volvo, Fiat, Crysler, Peugeot or Renault, among others usually not be bought. Citizens of Czechoslovakia could purchase “Tuzex coupons” against western currencies and use them to shop in Tuzex shops. The black trade in these coupons was very common.

At the time of the ČSSR , petrol vouchers were available to everyone at Tuzex and could be redeemed accordingly. For people who drove to post-communist Czechoslovakia by car between 1990 and 1992, so-called talon vouchers were available at the border . In the first years after the Velvet Revolution, fuel was only available to foreigners at petrol stations against these vouchers.

For a long time in Czechoslovakia, jeans were only available in Tuzex stores. In the beginning it was about jeans from the Italian brand Rifle , later US brands like Levi's and Mustang were also available. Imported jeans often cost half a month's wages in Tuzex and were a popular status symbol among teenagers and young adults, but this also applied to all other capitalist western products ( e.g. Nivea cream, Casio digital wristwatch, Coca-Cola / Pepsi ). Over time, rifle developed into a widely used generic name for jeans in Czechoslovakia. The generic name rifle is also still very common in the successor states of Czechoslovakia . The state-owned production of jeans in Czechoslovakia started slowly - the cut and fabric, which was more reminiscent of thick cotton sports trousers, hardly met the wishes of consumers. Alternatively, jeans were also bought, resold or given away for personal use on trips abroad in Poland and Hungary from local production in the form of bulk purchases.

Similar business

Individual evidence

  1. Bony zanikly. Džíny přežily, ale pro Tuzex to byl smrtící úder , report on the news portal himed.cs from June 30, 2003, online at: archiv.ihned.cz/
  2. Džíny za půlku platu. Came se v Olomouci chodilo do Tuzexu, "ostrova luxusu"? , Report in the news portal Olomoucky denik.cz from October 27, 2019, online at: olomoucky.denik.cz / ...
  3. Johana Tomková: Tuzex a jeho působení na socialistickou společnost , diploma thesis, page 83ff., Online at: is.cuni.cz / ...
  4. Rifle za socialismu stały v Tuzexu Pułku platu. (In socialism, jeans cost half the wage in Tuzex) In: styl.instory.cz, May 17, 2020 (Czech)
  5. O Tuzexu (About Tuzex) In: tuzex.cz , accessed on August 3, 2020