14 November 2010

Made in Lithuania

These signs were all over Vilnius' old town, outside linen shops. Like most of the shops and galleries in the city, the goods were made right there in the store, by the artisan. Tourists go into the workshop, maybe look around at the process and then purchase something to remember it by - or just if they happen to be in the market for a traditional wedding sash.
The only thing more popular than linen was amber. Along with the requisite jewelry, there were figurines, sculptures even massages with "amber oil." I have a feeling that the "number 1" may have been an approximate translation of something that means official, authentic, endorsed or "top," because almost every store was "Number 1."What do you do if you can't decide between the Number 1 Linen Shop and the Number 1 Shop of Amber? You go to the Number 1 Linen & Amber in Lithuania of course. I'm curious to see if these are Vilnius-specific or not. I'm kind of hoping to find a Number 1 Beef sign outside a farm in the countryside.

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