![HK Wellcome shop fruit orange plastic bag Oct-2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/HK_Wellcome_shop_fruit_orange_plastic_bag_Oct-2013.JPG)
A string bag, net bag, or mesh bag is an open netted
bag. Mesh bags are constructed from strands, yarns, or non-woven synthetic material into a net-like structure. String bags are used as
reusable shopping bag
A reusable shopping bag, sometimes called a bag-for-life in the UK, is a type of shopping bag which can be reused many times, in contrast to single-use paper or plastic shopping bags. It is often a tote bag made from fabric such as canvas, natu ...
s and as packaging for produce.
History
![Kubi bukuro (Head Bag)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Kubi_bukuro_%28Head_Bag%29.png)
Bags of net-like material have been used by many cultures in history. For example, Japanese divers have used string bags to collect items to bring to the surface.
Czechoslovakia
In Czechoslovakia, the production of string bags dates back to 1920s to the town of
Žďár nad Sázavou
Žďár nad Sázavou (; german: Saar) is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. It is situated on a major rail link between Prague and Brno. The town both industrial and tourist centre. It is known f ...
/Saar in former Czechoslovakia, present day
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, when a salesman Vavřín Krčil, representing Jaro J. Rousek company, began to produce string bags under the trademark Saarense (EKV) at the local chateau Ždár. They formerly made
hair net
A hairnet, or sometimes simply a net or caul, is a small, often elasticised, fine net worn over long hair to hold it in place. It is worn to keep hair contained. A snood is similar, but a looser fit, and with a much coarser mesh and noticeably t ...
s, which had become obsolete due to shorter hairstyles coming into fashion. This led to years of prosperity for the company. The hand made shopping bags were made of
artificial silk Artificial silk or art silk is any synthetic fiber which resembles silk, but typically costs less to produce. Frequently, "artificial silk" is just a synonym for rayon. When made out of bamboo viscose it is also sometimes called bamboo silk.
The ...
yarn, woven by women working at home (this was often their second job) or by using child labour, the finished bags were then given to Vavřín Krčil. The bags quickly became very popular due to their low price, light weight, and compactness. Krčil soon extended the range of designs, including bags to be carried at the elbow or on the shoulder, and bags for sporting equipment. In the late 1920s string bags were being produced in Switzerland and Italy, and were distributed around the world. Krčil himself exported the bags to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and North African countries.
[.]
East Germany (German Democratic Republic)
![Netz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Netz.jpg)
The classic
East German
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
''Einkaufsnetz'' (shopping net) has leather handles and multicoloured netting made from
Eisengarn
''Eisengarn'', meaning "iron yarn" in English, is a light-reflecting, strong, waxed-cotton thread. It was invented and manufactured in Germany in the mid-19th century, but is now best known for its use in cloth woven for the tubular-steel chairs ...
, a strong, starched and waxed cotton thread.
[Klassik Lust. ''Eine wiederentdeckte Waren-Transportmöglichkeit'']
(in German). (Accessed: 4 December 2016)
Due to shortages of many types of raw materials in the GDR, recycling and reusing were the norm; plastic one-use shopping bags were rarely available in shops.
The bags took up very little space when not in use and therefore could be carried around in case one serendipitously came across something useful for sale.
[DDR Museum. ''„Dederon, ein Begriff für Qualität“ - Eine DDR-Kunstfaser setzt sich durch'']
(in German). (Accessed: 4 December 2016)
In West Germany use of net shopping bags declined from the early 1980s due to one-use plastic bags becoming common in shops and supermarkets, but they continued to be used in the GDR.
(in German). (Accessed: 4 December 2016)
In the 1960s and 1970s net bags were also made out of ''Dederon'', the East German trade name for
Nylon 6
Nylon 6 or polycaprolactam is a polymer, in particular semicrystalline polyamide. Unlike most other nylons, nylon 6 is not a condensation polymer, but instead is formed by ring-opening polymerization; this makes it a special case in the comparis ...
.
The oil crisis of the mid-1970s meant that GDR could no longer produce Dederon in such large quantities and Eisengarn was then more often used for the manufacture of net bags.
Environmental concerns,
Ostalgie
In German culture, ''Ostalgie'' () is nostalgia for aspects of life in Communist East Germany. It is a portmanteau of the German words '' Ost'' (east) and ''Nostalgie'' (nostalgia). Its anglicised equivalent, ostalgia (rhyming with "nostalgia" ...
(nostalgia for East Germany), and a general fashion for
retro
Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...
products from the mid-20th Century have led to the resurgence, in all parts of Germany, of what was once considered the frumpy ''Omas Einkaufsnetz'' (Grandma's shopping net).
[Keseling, Uta (2010). ''Der Stoff, aus dem die DDR war, kehrt zurück'' in Berliner Morgenpost (in German).(Accessed: 4 December 2016)] The
DDR Museum
The DDR Museum is a museum in the centre of Berlin. The museum is located in the former governmental district of East Germany, right on the river Spree, opposite the Berlin Cathedral. The museum is the 11th most visited museum in Berlin.
Its ...
in Berlin has a collection of ''Einkaufsnetze'', and the bags are now often sold as ''DDR kult Klassiker''.
Russia
![Avoska](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Avoska.jpg)
String bags were popular in Russia and throughout the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, where they were called avoska (russian: авоська), which may be translated as perhaps-bag.
["Little Vera", by Frank Beardow, 2003, ]
p.40
/ref> The avoska was a major cultural phenomenon of Soviet daily life. Avoskas were manufactured using various kinds of strings. With the advent of synthetic materials, some of them were made of stretchable string, so that a very small net could be stretched to a very large sack. With the popularization of plastic bag
A plastic bag, poly bag, or pouch is a type of container made of thin, flexible, plastic film, nonwoven fabric, or plastic textile. Plastic bags are used for containing and transporting goods such as foods, produce, powders, ice, magazines, c ...
s (which had the same important trait of convenient foldability) avoskas gradually went into disuse, but recent political trends in support of banning plastic bags
A plastic bag ban is a law that restricts the use of lightweight plastic bags at retail establishments. In the early 21st century, there has been a global trend towards the phase-out of lightweight plastic bags. Single-use plastic shopping bags, c ...
may bring it back.
Etymology
The name "avoska" derives from the Russian adverb ''avos' The Russian ''avos (russian: авось) describes a philosophy of behavior, or attitude, of a person who ignores possible problems or hassles and, at the same time, expects or hopes for no negative results or consequences. It is an attitude that tr ...
'' (), an expression of vague expectation of luck, translated in various contexts as "just in case", "hopefully", etc. The term originated in the 1930s in the context of shortages of consumer goods in the Soviet Union
Consumer goods in the Soviet Union were usually produced by a two-category industry. Group A was "heavy industry", which included all goods that serve as an input required for the production of some other, final good. Group B was "consumer goods" ...
, when citizens could obtain many basic purchases only by a stroke of luck; people used to carry an avoska in their pocket all the time in case opportunistic circumstances arose.[ The exact origin of the term remains uncertain, with several different attributions.][""]
'' Sobesednik'' no. 37 In 1970 a popular Soviet comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing
Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
, Arkady Raikin
Arkady Isaakovich Raikin (russian: Аркадий Исаакович Райкин; – 17 December 1987) was a Soviet stand-up comedian, theater and film actor, and stage director. He led the school of Soviet and Russian humorists for about hal ...
, explained that around 1935 he introduced a character, a simple man with a netted sack in his hands. He used to demonstrate the sack to the spectators and to say "А это авоська. Авось-ка я что-нибудь в ней принесу" ("And this is a ''what-iffie''. What if I bring something in it..."). The script is attributed to Vladimir Polyakov.[
'']Literaturnaya gazeta
''Literaturnaya Gazeta'' (russian: «Литературная Газета», ''Literary Gazette'') is a weekly cultural and political newspaper published in Russia and the Soviet Union. It was published for two periods in the 19th century, and ...
'', 1970. no. 14, cited from the ''Russkaya Rech'' magazine, 1976,
digitized by Google
See also
* Kubi bukuro
References
{{packaging
Shopping bags
Soviet culture
Czech culture
East German culture
Ostalgie
Packaging