Unusual Mark - made in Cechoslovakia

[Jules Hunkovic]

That "V" over the letter is called a "Mekchen"......(I don't
remember the correct spelling).....This imparts a "CH" sound over the
letter over which it is positioned. So Cekoslovakia with the "V" over
the C is prononounced "Chekoslovakia".
(Umlaut, like what the PC keyboard calls the "tilde"..is
German....and I never could pronounce a word correctly that used the
Umlaut).
This mark over the"C" should help in the "dating" of the piece.....I
don't think it has been used in the past 40 years.
As for the Logo......the mark you describe may further identify
where it was made, but I just can't get my hands on the right
reference book right now. In some of the "older pieces"....the name
of the "town" that the piece was produced in will appear.

Regards, Jules (An Old Slovak)

[Jules Hunkovic]

[Patricia V. Lehman]

Joanne wrote:
>
> I have a handled mug, peach luster in color, with an unusual mark on
> the bottom. It reads "Made in Cechoslovakia" without the z, and there
> is a mark over the C that looks like either a tiny V or an umlaut (I
> think that's what this ~ is called). Does anyone know anything about
> this mark? There is also a logo of a stylized two-handled sugar bowl
> type shape with the letters RK over G inside and a crown above it.
>
> Thanks for any help!
>
> Joanne

I'lll have to leave it up to antiques experts to tell you when objects
were marked that way, but I can tell you it's called a "hacek" (with the
hat over the "c" and pronounced "hacheck".) It is used to show that a "c"
is pronounced as "ch" and an "s" as "sh." Sometimes linguists just call
it the "hat."

This is a standard diacritical mark used in the Czech and other
languages. American typography doesn't usually have it, so we get around
it by spelling things other ways. (The name Fisher was originally Fiser
with a hacek over the "s".)

Tish Lehman (p...@umich.edu)
(frustrated at her inability to use appropriate diacritics in e-mail.)