THE ŠOKAC HOUSE - AUDIO GUIDE
About The Kitchen
Welcome, everyone! I’m Eva, but people call me granny Eva. I’m old, uhhh—let’s not talk about that! Instead, I’d like to tell you a bit about this lovely house. It was built not long after the First World War, following the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This house belonged to my friend Manda’s family. They were called the Jegrini, though their last name was originally Andrić, and later Matijević. After she got married, she became Kovačev. That’s just how names used to change back and forth! Oh, but look at me, rambling on about family roots and generations – please don’t hold it against me. Now, this room was called the kitchen—kujna, or kuća, meaning ‘the house.’ On the shelves, you’ll see dishes and pots for water, and in the corner, there’s a clay stove. When I was younger, there used to be an open hearth in its place. That open hearth was our kind of ‘central heating,’ keeping the big, beautiful mud oven in the front room to the left warm and cozy. Go ahead, take a look!
About The Front Room
Everything you see in the big front room isn’t just there by chance – this is where people worked, ate and slept. Sometimes, you’d even catch someone nodding off on the bench by the stove – that’s a little bench right here, which we call the banak. The room is bright, with two big windows facing the street and a smaller one looking out onto the yard. People needed more daylight to get everything done, but the days were short, especially in winter when yarn was spun on a spinning wheel, and fabric was woven on the loom. You can’t eat in the dark either, so the benches and the chair, we would say stolica – that was how we called the table – were always placed under the windows. On the walls, you’ll see images of saints and a crucifix. We used to buy these at fairs, just like the pottery. The big room was where the older folks – the landlord and landlady – and the little ones usually slept. On the beds, you’ll find handmade pillows and woven bed covering, with sheets underneath, and thick duvets for the cold winter nights. Winters aren’t as harsh as they used to be, but it’s always good to have them, just in case.
About The Kijer, Or Small Room
Where you’re standing now, and that back room over there, are called kijeri – the heart of our youth. This is where the younger people slept – girls, boys and newly married couples. Up until around 1920, it was pretty common for several married couples to live together. That was what we called a zadruga, which is a kind of communal household. Each couple had their own room, called a kijerak, where they slept. Or should I say, not much sleeping went on – haha we were young. Oh, listen to me, being ridiculous in my old age. In the ‘kijer’, apart from the bed, there were small drawers and wooden chests, and later, even wardrobes! That’s where we kept our clothes: dresses, towels, and all kinds of woven mats – there was just about everything! But do you know what we didn’t have? Not a single kijer had a window or a stove! Love kept us warm – oh, if my Stipa could hear me now!
About The Yard
Getting bored with my Eva already? Well, it’s good you’ve come to see me too. I’m Stipa, and when it comes to my age, I’ll say the same as Eva—don’t even go there! Let me take you for a quick tour of our yard instead. You’re standing by the well. Back in the day, we needed it close to the house and the livestock. To your left is the summer kitchen, and to your right, in the middle of the yard, are corn crib, and, granary. The corn crib is on the right, made of wooden slats, and that’s where we kept the corn. On the left, with unstable-looking doors, and painted white, is the granary which is used for storing grain. If you take a closer look at the sides where the lime has chipped away, you’ll see that the walls are woven from rods. The pigsties are behind the corn crib and granary. This was quite the farmstead back in its day.
About The Shed
A long time ago, way back in the 19th century, this was a house where people lived. It was made of compacted earth mixed with straw chaff. Its roof was made of reeds, the last one of its kind in all of Topolje – or Ižip, as our village used to be called, and the name that stuck with the locals. When the new house was built in 1923, this one was given a new purpose. It was turned into a shed, stables for horses and cattle, and a storage room for tools. You’re now standing in the shed. On the wall to one side, you’ll see horse harnesses that were used for hitching up the horses. On the other side, you’ll find a yoke for oxen, and in front of you are an old wagon, a plough, and sleds. Oh, my friends, winters used to last for two, sometimes three months! As the song goes, ‘Hitch up two horses, two fiery falcons, and go sledding day and night!’ We loved our horses the most, along with our fine wagons and, of course, the beautiful girls–hahah, but don’t you let Eva hear about this! Just say that grandpa Stipa was talking about plowing and coachmans who loved their horses so much that they even kept their bedding in the stables and slept there. True story!
