Mala povijest iz Hrvatske Hercegovačke prošlosti – Davno bilo sad se spominjalo -A little history from Croatia’s Herzegovinian past – It was a long time ago, now it was mentioned

Slika Mile Bobana pred kapijom ulaza u zgradu duhanske stanice u Grudama, ponedjeljak, dan poslije Uskrsa 1957. godine. Meni nije bilo ni 18 godina. Ako se zagledate u moje cipele, vidjet ćete da su moje hlače štipalom pričvršćene, tj. zakopčane. Zašto? To je pitanje za današnje naraštaje. Pošto sam ja živio u to vrijeme kroz to vremensko razdoblje prošao, mogu svima dati točan odgovor, a taj odgovor je slijedeći:

U ono vrijeme prijevozno sredstvo je bilo Autobus za one putnike koji će zbog svojih kućnih i obiteljskih potreba morati ići u grad kupovati što mu je nužno potrebno. Kod nas grad je bio udaljen više od 12 kilometara. Zato je Autobus u jutro polazio od Imotskog pa do Mostara, udaljeno oko 65-70 kilometara, a poslije podne se vraćao od Mostara do Imotskog. Svaka 3 do 4 kilometra je bila Autobusna postaja gdje bi putnici čekali Autobus i išli kud su trebali ići. Istim Autobusom bi se na večer vraćali nazad. Tako je to tada bilo.

Bilo je i onih koji su imali svoja bicikla koja su koristili za razne potrebe. ja sam bio jedan od onih koji je imao bicikle, te sam ga često koristio kada bih negdje išao. U ono vrijeme putevi nisu bili asfaltirani nego su bili zemljani prirodni putevi, dakle glibavi putevi. U takvim glibavim putevima da nam se hlače ne zaprljaju, mi bi hlače umotali u stare istrošen krpe tako da nam se hlače ne zaprljaju. Kada dođemo na određeno mjesto, mi skinemo istrošene krpe. Kada je vrijeme lijepo, putevi suhi, onda bi mi koji bicikla vozimo kopčom zakopčali hlače tako kada nogama biciklu vozimo, hlače na dnu zakopčamo da lanac od bicikla ne bi zahvatio hlače. Tako se na ovoj slici mogu vidjeti i moje hlače zakopčane kopčom.

Nadam se da sam se izjasnio do te mjere da će čitatelji današnjeg naraštaja sve dobro razumjeti.

Mile Boban.

                                                                           English

A picture of Mile Boban in front of the entrance gate to the tobacco station building in Grude, Monday, the day after Easter in 1957. I was not even 18 years old. If you look at my shoes, you will see that my pants are pinned. Why? That is the question for today’s generations. Since I lived at that time and went through that period of time, I can give to everyone the correct answer, and that answer is as follows:

At that time, the means of transport was the bus for those passengers who, due to their household and family needs, would have to go to the city to buy what they absolutely needed. With us, the city was more than 12 kilometers away. That is why the bus left in the morning from Imotski to Mostar, a distance of about 65-70 kilometers, and returned from Mostar to Imotski in the afternoon. Every 3 to 4 kilometers there was a bus stop where passengers would wait for the bus and go where they needed to go. They would come back by the same bus in the evening. That’s how it was then.

There were also those who had their own bicycles that they used for various purposes. I was one of those who had a bicycle, and I often used it when I went somewhere. At that time, the roads were not asphalted, but were dirt natural roads, that is, muddy roads. In such muddy roads, in order not to get our pants dirty, we would wrap our pants in old worn-out rags so that our pants would not get dirty. When we get to a certain place, we take off the used cloths. When the weather is nice, the roads are dry, those of us who ride bicycles would fasten our pants with a buckle so that when we ride a bicycle with our feet, we fasten our pants at the bottom so that the bicycle chain does not catch the pants. So in this picture you can see my pants fastened with a buckle.

I hope that I have explained myself to the extent that the readers of today’s generation will understand everything well.