The best thing about state socialist May Days were the balloons. As a kid, I usually got a balloon and cotton candy at the fair after the official parade. The fair--with cheap food, beer and entertainment--was a kind of reward to the people for marching under banners with slogans like "Forward on the road of … Continue reading may day balloons
Tag: state socialism
thatcher in budapest
The late Margaret Thatcher visited the Great Market Hall in Budapest in February 1984. I remember what a huge deal the British prime minister's official visit to Hungary was, the state media making the most of it. Interestingly, the first thing my eighty-six-year-old neighbor--who until recently took the tram to the market hall every week--recalled … Continue reading thatcher in budapest