The wheelwright’s and blacksmith’s workshop of the Egri brothers, once much appreciated people all over the town, is a rarity as no other workshops have served for two different crafts. However, the tools of these two crafts were mostly identical, so such associations can be considered for the antecedents of later large workshops. This workshop reveals us the period when machinery was already present, but did not reach the phase of electrification. The wheelwright’s and blacksmith’s crafts have had a great tradition in Bačka Topola since the 18th century. Even in the 1940s, there were at least forty blacksmith’s workshops operating in the town. Carriages made in Bačka Topola were famous all over the Délvidék. A certain type of carriage was called as cart of Topola (topolyai szekér), based on its characteristic patterns of metal parts. Currently almost the whole interior of the wheelwright’s and blacksmith’s workshop is open for the visitors, and they can see a well-preserved, black buggy too.
Árpád Papp