Inscriptions on Walls around the Factory Premises

The emerging factory complex was surrounded by fencing. The original wooden fence was replaced in 1924 and 1925 by a plastered brick wall. The aim of the wall was - not surprisingly - to secure the factory property. To achieve this, fragments of glass were inserted into the top of the wall to deter intruders. The fence had another purpose, however – it was to have an ideological effect on both the factory employees and the inhabitants of the factory town. The factory wall was covered on both sides with motivational slogans. Regularly-changed texts persisted throughout the interwar period before the new occupying administration of Nazi Germany ordered the wall be removed. At the time of the post-war Stalinist dictatorship, new inscriptions covered the (newly built?) wall for an unspecified time, in service to the new regime.

The Baťa slogans on factory walls, as well as slogans on concrete beams in factory workshops, mostly dealt with work that they often interpreted in relation to rationality and time. Work could become "the most beautiful mistress", while putting it off was"the thief of time".

Baťa's communication through texts and slogans was ubiquitous; motivational inscriptions penetrated not only the factory environment but also commercial, school, and public spaces. Slogans became a common feature of the interiors of school classrooms, the Market Hall building, and the Department Store, and were also to be found in buildings demolished during the redevelopment of the south side of T. G. Masaryk Square (today's náměstí Míru). The smooth transition from the factory premises to the public sphere was ensured by fences, stands, candelabra, and pavements. In addition to a number of motivational slogans such as "Who- -cuts-paths, he-stret-ches-li-ves", the tiles of the Zlín sidewalks also bore the reminder of the founder of the town "From - Ba-ťa-to his-na-tives".

The slogans disseminated in the factory and public space expressed the general demands of industry for life in the factory city, in which its inhabitants were to adopt a precise schedule of daily activities. Identification with slogans made it easier for employees to automate movements with production and to adapt their body to the exact dispositions of the factory operation. By adopting these instructions, the citizen of the factory city became an obedient subject, an individual adapted to the habits, regulations and orders that were constantly applied around them and on them. 

 

 

South side of the premises (inscriptions from west to east)

Year 1927

OUR CUSTOMER - OUR LORD! 

PUBLIC SERVICE 

DON'T BE AFRAID OF PEOPLE [,] BUT OF YOURSELF

CREATIVE […] 

[…]OBSTACLES […] 

HAPPILY FORWARD 

IN SPEED […] 

HELP YOURSELF

A WORD IN TIME 

WHAT YOU WANT - YOU CAN [HAVE?]

DELAY - THE THIEF OF TIME 

BEST QUALITY LOWEST PRICE

LET'S LOVE MOVEMENT 

LET'S SPEAK ACTION 

AFTER GOOD WORK GOOD ENTERTAINMENT […]

Year 1927/1928

PUBLIC SERVICE
LET'S OVERCOME OBSTACLES
BE THE WINNER
OUR CUSTOMER - OUR LORD!

Year 1932

PUBLIC SERVICE
LET'S OVERCOME OBSTACLES

1. 5. 1933

PUBLIC SERV [ICE]
LET'S OVERCOME OBSTACLES
BE THE WINNER
OUR CUSTOMER - OUR LORD!

1. 5. 1934

[…]GOOD WORK GOOD ENTERTAINMENT

WE WANT TO SERVE EVERYONE
LET'S OVERCOME THE PAST

Year 1934

WORK - […] NECESSITY

Undated - published in the book "Baťa Menschen und Werk", 1935

[?] JUST GOOD FOR US 

[WE ARE] ONE FAMILY 

DON'T BE AFRAID […] ONLY OF YOURSELF 

THROUGH CREATIVE WORK TO THE WELL-BEING OF ALL 

LEARN LANG [UAG] ES 

HONOUR WORK 

LET'S BE WINNERS

HONOUR TO WORK

GOOD SHOES - GOOD MOOD 

HAPPILY FORWARD 

SPEED IS POWER 

LET'S BE CREDITORS [,] NOT DEBTORS 

WHAT YOU WANT TO DO - YOU CAN DO
DELAY […] THIEF […]
[…] SERVE EVERYONE
LET'S OVERCOME THE PAST

First half of the 1930s

[…] WINNER

THE BEST IN THE WORLD JUST GOOD FOR US

1. 5. 1936

 […] WORK GOOD ENTERTAINMENT

WE WANT TO SERVE EVERYONE 

LET'S OVERCOME THE PA [ST]

1937

[FOR?] GOOD WORK GOOD ENTERTAINMENT

Undated - before 1939

HONOUR TO WORK

GOOD SH [OES -] GOOD [MOOD] 

[…] SERVE EVERYONE 

LET'S OVERCOME THE PAST

1950:

USSR - GUARANTEE OF SECURITY 

IN UNITED […]
[…]

North side of the premises (inscriptions from east to west)

The first half of the 1930s (north western tip) 

[…] MOVING MASS 

WHERE THE STRENGTH IS APPLIED

COURAGE - […]

Undated - before 1939 (probably by the station) 

[LET'S] BE FIRST

 

 

MM