The carriage of dreams

Laza Kanacki was one of the first carriage drivers in Ub. He performed his duty for more than 35 years every day no matter what the weather was like, in winter and in summer, clad in opaklija ( a cloak made of sheep's fur ) driving carriage or sleigh. He would always make it on time respecting the timetable, and if it was necessary he would have passed the same route for two times a day. People called him 'uncle Laza'. Only six passengers could get on, and the ride  would cost them 5, 10, and 18 dinars, depending on their age. Accuracy, properness and the sound of his trumpet were the signs, by which many people from Ub could wound up their clocks. He died in 1948.

We can see him here in front of '' the old Post Office'', and now that is the place near the City library.

M.Jovanovic, 2004.

Inn, tavern, or simply said ''kafana''

People like taking pictures on different occasions. Some years ago, while the camera was a rarity, and we did not have many photographers, the pictures were most frequently taken for the purpose of having kept the memories from the military. The ones who could afford themselves going to a spa took pictures in the spa’s park, or next to a photographer’s tools.

Many photographs  are related to a special place in our lives- Inn, tavern, or you can use the term kafana, because it is a word with  strong markdness.[1]  People would put on their finest clothes when going to kafana , because it made no sense at all to be clad in bad clothes, surrounded by others, who were beautifully dressed, all having the same desires, needs and habits. They all were mostly the same and equal. Probably, that was the main reason for taking the pictures with eagerness, so relaxed and light-hearted. They would keep those photographs as dear memories. The atmosphere and good company would make the person smile, and we should not underestimate a good drink.

In the report of County Valjevo in 1858, it was stated that there were 27 kafanas in Ub. Anyway, our devotion to kafanas is still present. And the young have accepted the reasons for going to kafanas with ease.

The photo was taken in May, in the 50’s last century, in front of the restaurant’’Promaja’’. Visitors were sitting in the garden. Nowadays, the garden is a hotel terrace ‘’Tamnava.’’The garden was paved with pebbles, which was considered to be very luxurious at that time. The stadium ‘’Jedinstvo’’ had not yet been planned, and at the place of today’s  pool was a meadow.

  

In front of ''Beges''kafana in the 60's

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[1]Lepa Varos Ub, Divni ljudi,Milutin Jovanovic,  strana 119.  I have used Serbian word for tavern, people are familiar with it.

From my point of view

The author's family album


I keep thinking about the past times, and even as a child I really enjoyed looking at my family albums asking my mother whether she knew anything about the people in the photographs. Let's begin with the first photo, these two people are my grandparents. Unfortunately, my grandfather had died before I was born, so I didn't have the chance to meet him. They got married in 1951. The photo is slightly damaged, but we can see that the newly weds were nicely dressed. It is a custom in Serbia that a groom should wear a sprig of rosemary on his wedding jacket, whereas bride carries a bouquet of flowers.

In the second photograph, we can see the other wedding couple-my aunt and uncle, very dear people.

My aunt, father's sister among her peers in high school Skola za kvalifikovane radnike (High school for skilled workers) now called Tehnicka skola ,,Ub''.

 My aunt and uncle at their wedding. The photo was taken in 1980.

 My father at elementary school in our village. Nowadays there are not many pupils.

Finally, my uncle with his friends. Back then, it was not important the place where you wanted to have a great time, but the company you chose.

Weddings

Weddings have always been interesting for people who live in Ub, especially for women. In order to make a wedding plan work, different factors were key to success: the weather, family’s financial state, obligations etc. The physical appearance of the newly weds would arouse a great deal of interest, and people often commented on a bride’s beauty.

The Main Street, as we can see, was paved with cubes.  [1]

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[1] Lepa Varos Ub, Divni ljudi,Milutin Jovanovic, 75.strana

Ljubisa Jocic

Ljubisa Jocic was born in 1910, in Ub. He was a journalist, film director, poet, interpreter and a painter. He published his first poem in 1928, and his novels ‘’Broken cars’’, ‘’Draga Masin’’,’’What’s the time’’, which he illustrated himself.

He wrote poems, essays, made movies, did acting and painting. He mostly experimented with modern form and expression, trying to find a formula of personal, autobiographic poetry, finding his authentic moments in different poetic aspects: satire, elegy, lyric and descriptive poem. [1]

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[1] Znameniti Tamnavci, Zivorad Todorovic, 17.strana

Dragan Dzajic

Dragan Dzajic was born in May 30, 1946. As a fifteen-year-old boy, he started playing for the Red Star. Two years later, in May 1963, he had his debut in the match against Buducnost, the team from Titograd, now Podgorica. Dragan Dzajic led his peers in winning the title of four National Cups. Then, he made his debut in the national team June 17, 1964, in the match against Romania.[1]

International career

Džajić on his most well-known international matches (at the UEFA Euro 1968):

"I have nice memories from that championship. It's true that our failure in the final hurts me, but from today's perspective I can say that we made a great result. Some excellent teams were behind us but against the home side, we were in a subordinate position due to a 'higher power.' The referee Dienst was the Azzurri's twelfth man and they won only due to his help. In those circumstances, our generation couldn't win the gold medal. It's also too bad that there was no Ilija Petković in the repeated match because our game play would have been much quicker."

"Džajić is the Balkan miracle – a real wizard. I'm just sorry he's not Brazilian because I've never seen such a natural footballer."

-Pelé about Džajić

Džajić was just 18 when he was first named to the Yugoslav national team. He made his debut on 17 June 1964 in a 2–1 defeat against Romania at the JNA Stadium in Belgrade. Džajić would go on to earn 85 caps (the most in the history of the Yugoslav national team) and score 23 goals. Few who saw the left-winger play could ever forget Džajić's brilliance. He became internationally renowned for his passing and dribbling as well as his goal-scoring. His most famous international match was likely the 1968 European Championship semifinal against England, in which his 87th-minute lob over goalkeeper Gordon Banks gave Yugoslavia a 1–0 victory against the defending world champion. The British press dubbed him "the magic Dragan." He went on to score in the final against Italy but he could not prevent Yugoslavia going down 2–0 after a replay.

Dragan Džajić (right) facing Sweden's Jan Olsson at the 1974 FIFA World Cup

He participated in the 1974 FIFA World Cup which was held in West Germany. Džajić participated in Yugoslavia's opening championship game draw with world champions Brazil and scored one goal in a record victory of 9–0 against Zaire. However, after passing the second stage of the championship, Yugoslavia didn't repeat the results of their opening games. They lost three games in a row, and had to return home.

Džajić was much loved because of his kindly nature and easy-going manner, while on the pitch, he won admiration for being an exceptional left-winger who could both score goals and deliver defence splitting passes with fantastic precision. The left wing was his domain – and it was quite usual for him to take off, leaving all defenders in his wake to deliver an inch-perfect pass into the penalty area. If highly appreciated by players and coaches alike for his passing ability, Džajić was no less embraced for his goal-scoring. He could score from just about any angle and many of his successful attempts came direct from corner kicks. Gifted with vision and that rare gift, a killer left foot, he was already scoring "Platini-like" free kicks when the French legend was still in shorts.[2]

Lepa Varos Ub, Divni ljudi,Milutin Jovanovic

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[1] Znameniti Tamnavci, Zivorad Todorovic, 27.strana

[2] Wikipedia.com