Edited by MCK Sokół | Lesser Poland
Better a Łosieński maziarz than a clerk from Gorlice
Country: Poland
Region: Lesser Poland
Type of inspiration: History
Inspiracja
It was said of the maidens from Łoś that they rejected the advances of Gorlice clerks and lawyers from Kraków. They found the maziarz from their home village more attractive. From the mid-19th century until World War II, the Lemko village of Łosie was famous for the production and trade of smear, or wood tar. The smear was distilled from tarred pine logs, sealed tightly in an earthen mound. It was used to lubricate wooden cart axles and to impregnate wood. However, the profitability of the smear-making occupation was determined by trade in petroleum products. The elks obtained their oil from local quarries. Self-operated springs existed in the so-called Perekopy, a meadow on the road to nearby Bielanka, and in the forest on the Równe. Over time, the assortment was expanded to include products from refineries established in the area from the late 1880s, including Glinik Mariampolski, Gorlice and Ropa.
In the 1930s, in a village of 280 numbers, nearly 230 people were engaged in the long-distance trade in oil and petroleum products. At the time, more than 300 carts set off on routes leading to what is now Slovakia and Hungary, but also to Ukraine and even Lithuania and Latvia. Even after 1947, the elks were still travelling to Silesia, among other places. The Maziars set off in early spring and returned in autumn. Boys as young as ten apprenticed as helpers with their father or older brothers. Some apprenticed with strangers, experienced masons. The apprenticeship usually lasted 3-4 years. If, after this period, the boy could afford to buy his own wagon, he began to trade independently. The poorer ones became permanent helpers, or "catmen".
Further journeys were carried out by special merchant carts, called "sekers" in Hungarian, harnessed to a pair of strong horses. Massive and sturdy, they were designed for heavy loads (8 to 12 barrels of produce were loaded onto them) and long distances. A tarpaulin stretched over the rods provided protection from the sun and rain. If necessary, it was possible to sleep on the wagon. At the front and rear of the wagon were spiked trowels. The front, sprung one served as a seat. The rear one was used to load horse feed. There was also room for the hand luggage of the greaser and his assistant. In a wooden trunk, the men packed personal items needed on the road - a shaving brush, a linen towel, a change of shirt, a sewing kit, a spoon or a knife.
The smear and grease trade helped to make the village more prosperous and changed the tastes and preferences of its inhabitants. By the mid-1930s, there were already 12 brick buildings in the village. Wealthy elks were keen to convert their old chyzha into houses with several rooms, some put up wooden or brick villas with a glass veranda and even a separate bathroom. There was a story about a maziarz's daughter who bathed once a week in an iron bath brought by her father. Fashion was also changing rapidly, with traditional Lemko costumes being replaced by urban clothes.
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Nowy Sącz
Poland Lesser Poland
