Peasant cottage from Karmonki Nowe, early 19th century
It was probably built at the end of 18th century. Until 1850, it functioned as a village tavern in which beer and vodka were sold. In the second half of 19th century, it was changed into a residential building, and the tavern chamber into a guest chamber. The second entrance from the yard leads to the lard, from where there is an additional entrance to the chamber.
In the two-chamber building from Karmonki Nowe, there are exhibitions presenting a tavern and a shop of the interwar period.
A tavern was an important element of Silesian landscape. It was usually located in the centre of the village and it was a place for social gatherings, meetings, weddings and funerals. Common celebrations strengthened group bonds, allowed to feel a member of a given community and showed how coherent the group was.
In the chamber of the hut from Karmonki, there is typical furnishing of a village tavern presented on the left of the hall. Apart from chairs and tables for guests, attention should be paid to a massive counter (szynkwas) with appliances for pouring beer, a pools table, and a board for recording game results, as well as unique advertisement boards of Silesian breweries.
Village shops were open for customers at different times due to the fact that the shopkeeper was at the same time the owner of the house in which a salesroom was located. It was most frequently the owner's wife or daughters who was engaged in selling goods. This kind of shop is arranged in the chamber on the right of the hall. Behind the counter, on the shelves of shop racks, a wide range of foodstuffs and general products was displayed, and in a separate pharmaceutical cabinet – medicine and chemicals used in a household. The goods were arranged in accordance with the rules stated in sales guides. Special attention should be paid to brand-name cabinets dr Oetker and Knorr.
The replicas of archival postcards of village taverns and shops, as well as unique beer labels and advertisements of goods sold in a village shop, all presented in the hall are a supplement to the exhibition.