Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread

Take a deep breath: 2023



Szklarska Poręba, located among mountains and forest, enjoys a unique microclimate which is perfect for people with respiratory system illnesses. The building you see in the picture is a well-known lung disease sanatorium, Izera Centre for Pulmonology and Chemotherapy. I visited my grandma while she was being treated there and was absolutely enchanted with the place.

There is nothing Polish about kebab shops. Obviously that's why you like them.

• 
  
  

You are a complete idiot.

Cultures evolve.... especially from immigration....

Kania aka Torq 1 aka Torq 2 aka ......... I see you can`t cease playing Novi`s attention sicking game in the forum. You are both completely obsessed. :):):) What does your psychiatrist say about it???? Is there a remedy for Russian ass lickers like you or there isn`t??? :):):)

Your reading comprehension is absolutely abysmal. Ask Russians here if they think I'm an arse licker ha ha :)

I'm a Skat-man: 2023



The photo above was taken during last year's individual skat Polish Cup in Katowice. Skat is a card game that originated in Germany but gained a lot of popularity in Poland, especially in Upper Silesia (it is sometimes called "Silesian bridge") and Kashubia. The game is complicated and fascinating from mathematical point of view; it develops strategic thinking and, according to Krzysztof Kołodziejczyk - the president of Polish Skat Association, it helps junior players achieve much better results in mathematics at school.

I know nothing about it.

You haven't been to Poland. There are thousands of kebab shops, some with queues on the pavement outside.


It's a fun card game. Not bridge however almost any card game is good for kids and arithmetic skills.

That song is dreadful though.

Ask those rabid putinists for opinion??

I haven't been to the kebab shops that are so near and dear to you.


And your waist size is a testament to having patronized each one.

But you can't cure homesickness by trying everything on the menu.




You mean queues of tipsy British tourists and emotional eating expats like yourself.

Kebab shops are popular in every Polish city and not frequented primarily by tourists or expats...

Kebab is Europe's version of Mexican food (southern ethnic fast food that everybody eats).

You don't know anything about modern Poland, do you?

An American redneck Boomer like yourself is the last one who should be implying you know what modern Poland is like.

@Poloniusz
Well, he does seem to know more than you. Including Polish language

I've lived in Poland for a looooooong time. When was the last time you were in Poland? For how long?

And all you can do is regurgitate your highly processed American redneck Boomer worldview of it.

Hint: you don't have any credibility with anyone outside of your own generation and the defeated Confederate States.

@Poloniusz
I'm not a boomer and he has way more credibility in my eyes than you. For one because he sees Poland as it is and not some fantasy land from the past like you do.

A co ty jesteś w stanie robić?

Of course you are going to say that. I don't like you either.


An American redneck Boomer who now spends most of his time posting on PF "sees Poland as it is"?

You're the one living in a fantasyland if you believe that.


Okay, Boomer. If you say so.

Jasne. Jak ty widzisz Polskę siedząc w Stanach?

Industrial tenements: late XIX century - today



When the Industrial Revolution reached Silesia many tenements were built to house working-class families, many of whom were moving to cities to work manufacturing jobs. They were called familoki (from German Familien-Block) and many of them are still inhabited today even in places where there are no longer factories, coal mines or steelworks. In the photos here you can see the famous redbrick familoki of Nikiszowiec in Katowice.



Bird's eye view on Nikiszowiec in the evening...

Supplement to the above

Alas, not all the familoki are as charming as those in Nikiszowiec. Some of them, like the ones in Ruda Śląska below, are very often in deplorable condition and are being demolished all over Silesia...

Good you find them charming coz I can`t see any charm in those dirty industrial buildings. I would get a deep depression after living there for a month or less. That brown colour reminds me of sth nasty, you know what. :):):)

I need brighter colours on houses:

• 
  
  

A year or so ago a friend was looking to buy a place to live. One offering seemed interesting but he couldn't find that number on the map or the street. Eventually it turned out it was in a familok type building that had belonged to a factory built in the 19th or early 20th century (and was set behind the buildings on the street). He said it didn't look bad from the outside (bunch of money had been put in to gentrify them) but it was no longer available by the time he round it.

Technically it was more like domy szeregowe but had a similar brick exterior look.

Yes, not all familoki are multi storey blocks of flats...





... but, as you said, they are made of red brick, so will last for centuries (and already did!) if properly taken care of.

They look the same as many of the derelict Victorian era factories in England.

So many of those have been turned into expensive flats now.

The familoki could probably be made into very nice homes however in PL people tend to prefer new buildings.

Carpet Beating Racks: 1980s



One of the obvious advantages of socialism over the rotten capitalism was the infrastructure that it provided for children. While the kids of imperial dogs had to spend time in some silly Disneyland, ride a boring rollercoaster or hang around a skate park, we could enjoy spending whole days on quality carpet beating racks, inventing a plethora of activities and physical exercises on those magical devices.



How could some people sing about escaping from Poland to Disneyland...



... is beyond me. :)

@GefreiterKania

Carpet beating has brought some good memories back)

beating crap out of each other or smoking and drinking cheap booze.

Everything was better in 1980s.

Computers, music, movies, cars... everything. Even nostalgia was better.


You remember it too!

*gets all nostalgic again*