Ferkai András: Shopfronts - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1996)
The era of nationalized commerce (1948-1980) During the siege of the capital in 1944-45 a significant number of shopfronts were damaged and many were even completely destroyed. Then the nationalization of commerce and industry in 1948-50 caused at least as much, if not more, damage. Competition inspiring rivalry between shopfronts was terminated. Holding a monopoly in their respective fields, state companies were never stimulated to create exquisite, unique shopfronts. Quality materials were unavailable in any case, and the former builders disappeared overnight. The firms involved in shopfront building were nationalized, their directors and engineers were dismissed and truckloads of their product designs were dumped into landfills. (Thus Haas & Somogyi was transformed into “the state metal processing works”.) Designing shopfronts lost its status of being a profession in its own right. State- run commerce operating as a means of centrally controlling distribution was satisfied with the cheapest shopfronts made of painted wood or iron. The former designers were obliged to work in “plan factories” and it was there that they tried to put their expertise to the best use possible. These people deserve credit for the few fine creations of the early 1950s, such as Gábor Forgó’s 1951 “Úttörő áruház” (“Pioneers’ Department Store”) at 11 Kossuth Lajos utca in District V, which is now threatened with demolition, or the basket on the logo of the “Csemege” (“Delicatessen”) grocery chain, created in 1952 by Pál Gábor, who later became a renowned graphic artist in France. Unfortunately, this basket has been made angular lately so that the Meinl company’s logo can appear in it. After the period of general scarcity, when canned food and posters collected dust in the shop windows, trade began to pick up in the 1960s. The building of new shopfronts was first necessitated by the construction of arcades by the Hotel Astoria in Rákóczi út and by the filling of the gaping holes left by the fighting in 1956. Then new shopfronts were built along all the main roads of the city. These were designed by specialized planning firms and built by companies that had a vested interest in mass production. Pressed metal fronts and, as a vague reflection of what was taking place in the West, the use of neon light characterized the end of the 1950s. (Many of the signs written in conjoined letters imitating italic writing have survived to this 36
