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Merkur - Eighty Years a Household Name (continued)

Merkur is a phenomenon outside the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The founder of the company, Mr Vancl himself took part in the Chicago World's Fair in the 1930s. Merkur was exported mainly to the Soviet Union. Often it was not available in Cold War Czechoslovkia because everything was exported in order to get foreign currency. Today Merkur exports to the EU and also to the United States, Canada, the Russian Federation and former Soviet countries."

A shining moment for Merkur was when the inventor of the soft contact lens, Professor Otto Wichterle, used it in 1961 to construct his "cockostroj" or "lens machine" to make the first pair of contact lenses. "Of course, Professor Otto Wichterle made his first contact lenses on a machine made from Merkur. It was on Christmas Eve and he had nothing else about the house but Merkur. Using a small dynamo and a small motor he built this primitive machine and produced the lenses," says Kriz. The original machine is at the National Technical Museum.

Today competition is tough. Children have many more options how to spend their free time than 100 or 50 years ago. But Merkur has a place among the toys, especially for manual skills, because no computer, no virtual reality can replace it. It is necessary to return to reality once in a while and try and make something with your own hands with a screwdriver. Merkur is an ideal tool for that. And that's why there is still demand.

Based on a story by Czech Radio 7, Radio Prague and other sources.

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