Basic gear from the Hungarian People's Republic

[Sam Miller III]

David

Bravo !

Another great historical post on the modern history of European dive fins -
If you ever assemble all this information into a book please place me at the top f the list for a Hard Back copy that will be lavishly inscribed to your number one fan

Sam Miller, III

 

[simonbeans]

The Balaton Fins which appear to be made by Tigullio of Italy was also marketed by Sportways in the early 1960s. They were labeled Blue Manta. My dive buddy had a pair and I always liked them. But when you are 16 and have a paper route for money, I kept using my Cressi Rondine as I could not afford 2 pair of fins.

 

[David Wilson]

The Balaton Fins which appear to be made by Tigullio of Italy was also marketed by Sportways in the early 1960s. They were labeled Blue Manta. My dive buddy had a pair and I always liked them. But when you are 16 and have a paper route for money, I kept using my Cressi Rondine as I could not afford 2 pair of fins.

You're right. I've just checked with Bryan Pennington's wonderful library of diving catalogues accessible via the Vintage Double Hose at http://www.vintagedoublehose.com/. Mantas do appear in the 1961 Sportsways catalogue:

As you can see, they were available in black or blue versions. I have a pair of Tigullio Mantas in my collection and they are indeed super comfortable because their foot pockets are "high-cut" to enclose more of the heel below the ankle. I'm not convinced, though, that Tigullio originated the full-foot fin, believing the accolade for that development belongs to Luigi Ferraro who designed the Cressi Rondine full-foot fin and released it on the market during the early 1950s. Unless anybody has any documentary evidence to the contrary...

So Sportsways "carried" Tigullio's "Manta" in 1961, replacing it in 1962 with its own Manta-inspired design, the Waterlung:

 

[aquacat8]

Those fins with the little diver sculpted on them are a work of art! (Want,want)

 

[iamrushman]

i really enjoyed looking at the diving equipment catalogues from the sixties..thanks for providing them. i have to agree with aquacat8 about the art work on the fins.

 

[David Wilson]

Let's start this posting with an excerpt from the excellent Hungarian Diving Museum site at :::... Magyar Búvár - Múzeum ...:::, which I've roughly translated into English: "In 1965, Fortune seemed to smile upon the Hungarian diving community — or, to be more precise, the grim decision-making body of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) did so — because our country was “profiled” to supply basic diving equipment to the socialist countries of Europe. Then matters lapsed, time went by and nothing happened for a while. The OVP Palma plant from the 1970s onwards, then the Taurus Gumiipari Vállalat (Taurus Rubber Company) from 1973, mass-produced — in different colours and sizes — good-quality rubber closed-heel diving fins, whose original manufacturer in the GDR gave them the fanciful name “Najade” (Naiad); Hydroslip heel-strap swim fins; Modell, Kingston and Kompensator masks; Gagum and Olympic snorkels. Production began later at the Műanyagipari Szövetkezet (Plastic Industry Cooperative), later Extruform Műanyagipari Rt (Extruform Plastic Industry Inc.), in Tata and the range of Hungarian-made products expanded with the likes of Tihany heel-strap fins or Taifun masks. Later Extruform mainly manufactured basic gear for the Italian market under licence from Salvas."

The following illustrations accompany the text above:

The text and illustrations above will be my main source of information about the production of basic diving gear in the Hungarian People's Republic from the mid-1950s as I focus on each and every model of fin, mask and snorkel. One key event was the decision by the eastern bloc's "common market" COMECON in 1965 to centralise manufacture and marketing of underwater swimming equipment in Hungary. Another was the transfer of production of said gear from OVP Palma in the early 1970s to Taurus Gumiipari Vállalat in 1973 and thence to Műanyagipari Szövetkezet and Extruform Műanyagipari later on.

In my next posting I'll get back on track and focus on the Najade closed-heel fin, which appears in the second and fourth images.

 

[David Wilson]

On to Najade closed-heel fins, which come with something of a history. The name "Najade" translates into English as "Naiad", which was a water nymph in ancient Greek mythology.

Najade fins

Note the "Palma" logo on the heel, indicating the plant in Hungary where the fins were manufactured from the start of the 1970s. The "42-44" is the European size (about US 8-10) and the "4" indicates the largest of the five sizes for this model, numbered 0 to 4. These are powerful fins with tall side rails and blade ribs. Another distinctive feature is the soft rubber toecap, which could be left intact or cut out to release more space for the toes.

This fin continued to be available when it was marketed by Taurus after 1973 (see top left of image below):

The caption on the flyer reads:
Najade. Fin sizes. Size 0: 32-34. Size 1: 34-36. Size 2: 38-40. Size 3: 40-42. Size 4: 43.
A combined structure of soft and hard rubber compounds. Closed heel. Without band. Same shape for left and right feet. Najade Super: Floating grade.

I mentioned at the beginning of this message that Hungarian "Najade" fins come with something of a history. They were originally designed in the German Democratic Republic (blueprint of prototype below):

Here's an image of a pair of GDR-manufactured "Naiade" (note spelling) fins:

Note the East German "Guwelin" logo on the heel (VEB Gummiwerke Berlin).

The Naiade was East Germany's flagship fin, used by both military and civilian divers there. It was admired so much in the USSR that a Soviet version called "Model No. 6" was launched:

The design bore more than a passing resemblance to West Germany's flagship fin, the Barakuda Bonito:

Note the similar soft toe cap, which could be cut away to give toes greater freedom of movement.

Extraordinarily, the fin is still being manufactured in Hungary. It has now received a new lease of life as an aid to swimmers and you can purchase a pair if you order one at STANDARD fins; no commercial interest to declare, I'm just a satisfied customer. Apart from the markings, the Najade Standard fin is a replica of the Naiade fin developed in East Germany during the early 1960s, copied as the Mosrezina Rusalka fin in the USSR in the mid-1960s and now sold over the Internet in 2018:

I own a pair of Hungarian-made Najade Standards and can confirm that they are very comfortable and efficient fins, which have been 'homologated', or approved, for use in competitive finswimming races. They come with the same soft 'toecaps' that can be cut away to allow toes to protrude beyond the foot pocket if necessary; personally, I wouldn't mutilate my fins in that way! The original East German made fins are still popular in Germany, often seen on eBay, thanks to what is called 'Ostalgie', or 'East-algia' there, meaning something along the lines of 'nostalgia for the East German way of life'.

That's it for "Najade" fins. In my next posting I'll stay with the topic of Hungarian-made fins and review the "Syren" fin that can be seen on the Taurus flyer.

 

[JMBL]

Thanks a ton for that great post !

 

[iamrushman]

perfect..keep the information coming..i find it quite interesting.

 

[dmaziuk]

I mentioned at the beginning of this message that Hungarian "Najade" fins come with something of a history. They were originally designed in the German Democratic Republic (blueprint of prototype below)
...
The Naiade was East Germany's flagship fin, used by both military and civilian divers there. It was admired so much in the USSR that a Soviet version called "Model No. 6" was launched

Today's nitpick: the blueprint's in Russian, I wonder if it's a sketch of the German fin for "model 6".