Kovács Zsuzsa: Göcsej Village Museum. Exhibition Guide (Zalaegerszeg, 2008)

GÖCSEJ VILLAGE MUSEUM The most eye-catching part of the room is between the two windows: here we can find the religious objects and the sort of souvenir glasses from saints' day fares. Even though the exhibited family is quite well off, they don't have a 'clean-room' so they must keep their decorated eiderdown in the same room they use every day. The bed made with decorated bedclothes was not used to sleep in at all; they used the other bed and covered it with blue dved fabric. Next to the room we can see a scene of festive cooking because besides drinking a toast, they dined the suitors as well. The shy bride would never go into the room where the guests were, so she was given several tasks for example to take the wine or the food in. Then the suitors had a chance to look at the girl and see how diligent she was. In the kitchen they used the so-called 'stelazsï to keep the dishes in; it stood by the wall beside the oven. On the wall there is a rod for carrying water and the 'breadboard' and there is a bench right in front of the wall with water jugs and milk jars on it. On top of the oven cooking pots are placed upside down and on the berm there is the essential salt kept in a small straw pot. And there is a small light, called a 'fokla', for the evening work. 'Fokla' Well after the introduction of the paraffin lamp, 'fokla' remained the only light in the kitchens. A 'fokla' was a thin pine rosined slat, which burnt very well, and was placed on a stand, continuously changing as it burnt. This stand's height could be altered, but in other museums we can find other types too. In the kitchen of the Felsőszenterzsébet house there is a very simple 'fokla' stand. This is a small branch fixed in a wooden support and the 'fokla' goes into the cleft. Beside the kitchen the family has a relatively big pantry where they can keep the food and the tools. A granary is placed opposite the entrance; it has four little doors on it. Behind these doors in separate boxes, oats, rye, barley and wheat were kept. In front of the granary we can find straw containers to keep grain in, a cabbage barrel, a chair to sit on while grinding corn and along the wall there are old tulip chests now used to keep flour in. Left of the entrance the bread container is hanging from the beam.