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CALENDARS AND TITS

When Botana Skuteč decided to start publishing calendars as posters at the end of the 70s in former Czechoslovakia, they were one of the first to do so. Ten years later, at the dawn of the 80s, a calendar was hanging in every office, bathroom, and storeroom in the country.

After the idea for poster-calendars came about, deciding to put hot chicks on them wasn't a "decision" so much as an inevitability. The beginnings were conservative--all it took was a vest, a shirt, and some shorts. As the years went by, however, competition increased and soon it became time to stiffen-up (pun intended) and reveal them tits! Botana stepped up to the plate with surprisingly little protest from the comrades or the Women's Union. When the tits came out they spread like a sexy and aggressive airborne virus. It was virtually impossible to go anywhere in former Czechoslovakia during the 80s without being reminded of the month and your fondness for boobs.

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The girl calendar trend continued even after the revolution, though only for a few years. After National Enterprises became privatized, kinky, hardcore porn mags replaced the soft erotica that was so prevalent during communism's fall. We spoke to Jiří Krejčí, the head of Botana's publicity during the 80s and the man in charge of the tits.

Vice: Whose idea was it to put girls on the calendars?
Jiří Krejčí: It was just a trend, it was something we saw going on abroad and we wanted it too. Our calendars came out in the second half of the 70s. Thanks to our designs, Botana had a good reputation, so we could get away with lots of things.

What was choosing the models like?
We were cooperating with photographers--especially from Prague. They had their own databases of models. Every year a photographer would bring us a few shots as suggestions and we would simply choose the one we liked most.

Didn't the comrades from the Cultural Commission have something to say about it?
Oh no, all the pictures passed without a problem. But even though there was no inspection committee above us, we had to keep some balance--the photo couldn't be too nasty. It was all just common sense, we didn't want to go too far. At times there were a few complaints, but we always figured what we were doing was our choice, so we didn't listen to those people a great deal.

Thanks to Jaroslav Bouška and the Skuteč Museum

MÍRA VALEŠ