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Souvenir keychain, Prague
Object/Artifact
A souvenir keychain whose fob is a small molded red plastic tire (a detailed miniature with tread and sidewall patterning) framing a central two-sided photographic medallion behind a gold-tone metal bezel. One face shows a black-and-white view of a twin-spired Gothic church (the Church of Our Lady before Týn, on Prague's Old Town Square); the reverse shows a castle-and-river view (Prague Castle/Hradčany above the Vltava) captioned "PRAHA" (Prague). The fob hangs from a brass-tone link chain with a hinged C-shaped snap key ring. Both images are the same object (the two faces of the medallion).
2025.1.65
Probably a gift of Leopoldo Arús Caraballo to Leopoldo Arús Gálvez. Alternatively, a gift of Leopoldo Arús Caraballo's Czechoslovakian friends to the family.
The Cabrera Arús family collection
Leopoldo Arús Gálvez collection
2025.1
Czechoslovakia
Eastern Europe
Europe
MAKER: Unknown; unmarked as to manufacturer. A mass-produced tourist souvenir; the producing workshop is not identified. DATE / PERIOD: Not marked; later twentieth century, Czechoslovak period (i.e., before the 1993 split, and the "Praha" souvenir trade fits the socialist-era tourism of roughly the 1960s–1980s).
MARKINGS / INSCRIPTIONS: "PRAHA" (printed on the castle/river view). No maker's mark, country line, or other text visible. Languages: Czech ("Praha" = Prague).
Good
Leopoldo Arús Caraballo
probable purchaser, gifter
Leopoldo Arús Gálvez
probable owner
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
use
Prague
Czechoslovakia
Eastern Europe
Europe
acquisition
This is a tourist souvenir keychain from Prague, of a common socialist-era type in which a novelty fob (here a miniature tire) carries small photographic city views; the captioned "PRAHA" and the recognizable monuments — the Týn Church on one face and the Castle/Hradčany-and-Vltava panorama on the other — identify the city and confirm a Czechoslovak origin. Such items were sold to visitors and are themselves modest evidence of travel.