A good story is told as follows about the musician gypsies - the famous tsiganes - of Hungary, who provide orchestras for the hotels and cafes.
"In the small cafes the gypsies get no pay, but are dependent on collections made from time to time during the evening. These are taken up by one of the players; the others, however, apparently cannot trust him to take round the plate, lest he should steal some of its contents.
"Before he starts his round, therefore, a fly is caught and placed alive in his left hand. He carries the plate in his right; thus it is almost impossible for him to remove a coin from it without releasing the fly. On his return his left hand is carefully examined to ensure that the fly is intact and alive.
"In one cafe was heard a terrible row. The suspicious gypsies were trying to make out that the fly in the collectors' hand was not the one he started out with!"
I found this cool little story in this Weigel's Journal of Fashion from 1947 that I have just put up for sale in ZollyShoppe.
Our irresistible singing fox is a print onto vintage sheet music created by Hungarian artist Dénes Barna, a college student from Miskolc, Hungary. These make fabulous nursery decor. You can find more in his unique store moonlitsol. It's a good time to dress up your walls with something funky because he's currently offering 'Buy 2 get 1 free'. He ships worldwide and the postage prices are very reasonable.