Lukács László (szerk.): Märkte und Warenaustausch im Pannonischen Raum - István Király Múzeum közelményei. A. sorozat 28. (Székesfehérvár, 1988)

Lubica Falt'anová: The Main Directions of Trade from Slovakia

influenced the social and professional structure of the Slovakian population and consequently also the cultural profile of several regions. To a large extent occupations such as fruitgrowers, greengrocers, vendors with embroideries, lacemakers, linen-weavers, vendors with wooden products, limeburners, axle-grease producers, tinkers, glass products' vendors and window-pane fixers, potters, oilmen and herbalists, saffron-vendors etc. took part in the whole process of development. The directions of their trading journeys were formed and fixed on the basis of several factors, such as sales possibilities, the regional existence of production and connected with this the trading centres and starting-points within the framework of Slovakia, and naturally also the broader social, economic and political conditions. When we follow the direction of product distribution from Slovakia through individual kinds of trading as they had been developing mainly in the 19th century from Slovakia to the area of Pannonia, the main move to the municipal centres of Vienna and Budapest is evident.

These two capitals became important and substantial places of sale in connection with exported articles for several types of vendors. In many cases, in spite of the fact that the vendors from Slovakia aimed towards the southern parts of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the main outlet of their trading was in other countries, e.g. in the case of saffron-vendors and tinkers in western i countries, in Poland and Russia, or else they directed their activity to the lowland regions situated between +he Rivers Danube and Tisza (some kinds of trade in Gemer). From the whole spectrum of trading activities we shall mention those which have been supposed to influence with their extent and intensity the offer of products.

First of all, as regards agricultural production, several articles of food, e.g. fruits, vegetables and dairy produce went to the given areas, in connection with a demand for these products among the municipal population in Vienna and Budapest, expocially from the 19th century. Fruits, both fresh and dried, from many parts of Slovakia were carried towards the areas extending southwards from Slovakia. In the case of fresh fruit, several centres and regions of Slovakia expanded production and intensified contacts with Vienna and Budapest. This was typical for the Slovakian-Moravian boundary region (Western Slovakia), as well as for other regions and localities with important fruit production. The trade from the villages situated in the Slovak- Moravian border area was orientated first of all towards Vienna. The inhabitants of Myjava and Brezová pod Bradlom, for example, sold their own fruits or purchased fruits at markets in Vienna and Budapest from July till the end of the season.(1)

An article by J.t. Holuby published in 1965 provides a not very often cited quantitative index to the volume of export. Besides giving other interesting data about folk trading in this region, the author specified that: "only one trading union (association) from Bo^áca delivered last autumn from the upper part of Trencin (County Trencin - author's note) to Budapest 1200 dry measures of different kinds of apple and this spring they floated 800 dry measures of apples on rafts."(2) He added: "It would be interesting to know how many hundred dry measures of dried fruits, plums, pears and apples as well as walnuts, Bosáca and Podhradie (Zemianske Podhradie - author's note) delivered to our fellow-countrymen in the lowlands, where these fruits are not produced in such quantity and quality".(3)

The importance of the role of rafts in the trade transfer of Slovakia is

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