Mary Visits Poland (1946)

so I brought posters in a peasant costume I got from my grandmother when I went there then a class about my well I began when I was 6 years old I went and visited my grandmother on a Polish farm that was in 1939 just before the war started in Europe my father wanted to visit his mother and relatives whom he had not seen for a very long time besides it would be a nice vacation for me too I remember my grandmother my uncle [Music] Thomas and his horse and wagon and the old village in which they [Music] lived their home was made of wool the roof was thatched with straw behind it was a pond where the Ducks used to swim when they walk they wobble from the safe place because they might get in the way of my uncle's shc he walked round and round all day long to thresh wheat for their daily bread grandfather guarded shac he wore a hat to protect his head from the Sun it didn't stay on his head much [Music] [Applause] though everybody works hard to raise enough food to eat you see polish peasants do not buy food from the stores the way we do everything they eat comes from their own Farm the women dig potatoes while men do hard [Music] chores but they also have fun after a week of hard work comes Sunday on Sundays even my smallest cousins dressed up to look their very best they took Special Care to curl their hair very much as we do though of course their styles are a little different then they go to church the children walk separately from the grown-ups only the six stay at home nobody has an automobile they walk or ride in horse drawn wagons some ride their [Music] bicycles the wagons will park near the church the horses Munch hay while they wait in my grandmother's village women and girls wear the same costume my aunt told me these are called Lich costumes because they're worn only in Lich Province they are very heavy and hot since they are made up of at least three woen skirts one Sunday there was a wedding at the church the bride and groom had to push through the crowd the bride wore the loic costume with a veil over it after wood there was a dance in the open air the dance was called the kuyak when shopan was a little boy he listened to this music and when he became a great composer he wrote many beautiful Tunes based on polish folk song next day children went to school in school the little ones dance in a circle sing songs and clap their hands then they sit down at the table draw and learn to write the alphabet some of the girls wear [Music] [Applause] Shaws it is strange to see them play the same games we do not all of them have shoes but that does not stop them from running fast and having fun peasant families cannot always afford to buy shoes for growing [Music] children after a few weeks we left my grandmother's Village to visit kco here the children made school trips to Old historic buildings and museums we do that here in America too the numbers on their hats stand for their school kco was the capital of of Poland in the old days of King here stands the cathedral where the trumpter of Croco was shot by a tart Arrow while he was blowing his trumpet call the V river runs right through the center of the city The Peasants of kco have a dance they call the kovak these costumes are very colorful the boys wear pickup feers in their hats and the girls have gay ribbons and [Music] Beads the most exciting part of our visit was the trip to the tatra mountains they are in the southernmost part of Poland on the border of Czechoslovakia we rode over the mountains in a cable car we could look far down into The Valleys it was just like riding in an airplane the Polish people say that to them these are the most beautiful mountains in the [Music] world [Music] this is where the gural live gural means Mountaineer in Polish the gal's Villages are in The Valleys between the mountains they have farms in the mountains there they grow potatoes wheat and other food food but the good ises are Shepherds small children tend the Sheep In The Meadows their clothes are made of sheep's wool the beautiful design on the trousers are embroidered by hand grownup men wear the same costumes around their hat is a band of seashells that is because as the gural say they originally came from the SE post the belts are made by hand out of leather with heavy metal [Music] buckles at home the women weave claws they even make their own Shaws and blankets they paint pictures on their dishes and call beautiful designs in their spoons and furniture even the paintings of the Saints are made at home these things are so beautiful that a special school has opened so that young people from all the cities in Poland could learn the G all [Music] art while the boys learn wood carving the girls make laces one of the favorite designs is a mountain [Music] flower then on Sundays the glls relax to the music of the bag p and Fiddle the Young Folks dance in one dance the boys fight for a girl the boy who loses hat is [Music] out the gay d es the beautiful costumes the old historic buildings and the hard work in the fields our last stop in Poland was Ginia Ginia is a new city port on the Baltic Sea it is clean and modern and reminded me of America then came our ship flying the American flag and then goodbye to Poland as we left for home we did not expect at that time that wall would come to Poland so soon