He figured that he might succeed by producing glass badges, which would be cheaper than the metal ones. And he was right. From today’s perspective, it may seem a trifle, but the 1930s and 1940s were the golden era of associations, sports clubs, gymnastic unions, cottager alliances, political movements, and parties. Each member of any such community wore their badges proudly.

In the spring of 1944, a joyful moment happened in the Halama family. A son was born, the successor of the clan and of the family glassmaking tradition. He received the name František, after his father and his grandfather.

František Halama, with his fifty employees, welcomed the end of the war in good financial standing and health.

The company was allowed to once again fly to the world, which was taking its first peaceful breaths after six years. The spring air brought with it hope and joyful expectations.

No one in Železný Brod, not even the visionary František Halama, had any idea of the plans the Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin had prepared, and nobody expected what would arrive three years later.

From our point of view, post-war development in Czechoslovakia may seem inconceivable. Yet, the situation in the heart of Europe sped inexorably in that direction.

In Yalta, even before the war ended, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin agreed on how the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union would divide areas of influence in post-war Europe. People in Czechoslovakia were grateful to the Soviet soldiers for freeing the country from the loathed Nazis. After the hell people had gone through they wished now to build a heaven on earth. The Nazi “superior race” ideology was replaced with the Soviet’s “classless society,” where all people would be equal, which captivated entire multitudes. For three post-war years, Czechoslovak communists led and, supervised by their Kremlin comrades, occupied all important positions in the state, and after February 1948, the Red Terror broke out. The Czechoslovak regime was starting to be called a people’s democracy, a new Constitution came into force, outlawing all “bourgeois” features like entrepreneurship, independence, success, and wealth.

Overnight, František Halama, the factory owner, turned into a public enemy. As a wealthy and successful person, he was among those to be excluded from society where there are no exploiters and all people work together to achieve a better tomorrow. As early as two days after the communist coup, on the 27th of February, 1948, the company, including the money, precious molds of art, the stock, buildings, and land were seized and all of it fell into the hands of the state.

As any totalitarian ideology is able to evoke negative characteristics in people, unsuccessful neighbors came, with National Front bands on their sleeves, happy to nationalize and rummage about in the Halama family’s property. Such daylight larceny took place all over the country. In every village and town there were people, who were better off due to their zeal and entrepreneurship. And these had to be “annihilated.”

People living in a totalitarian system have two options: to flee or to stay. František Halama chose the latter. In spite of being awarded the “Uniqueness Prize” by the Sultan of Morocco, regardless of the numerous other appraisals from world fairs and immeasurable experience, he became an ordinary worker in what used to be his own company. His son was not allowed to study. The family was subjected to home searches and interrogations by the secret police. The family of a verified communist moved into his house, so František Halama would meet the unwelcome visitors in his kitchen every day. Later on, František’s plant was absorbed by a giant, national company, Železnobrodské Sklo. It swallowed up all private glassmaking workshops all over the Jablonec nad Nisou region. Such was the reality of the victory of the working people.

What František Halama felt at that time is really hard to imagine. He was not allowed to pass on his experience of running a glassmaking factory over to his son, who was only 4 years old. He experienced ample disillusionment, yet he still believed this unjust period would soon be over and all will come out well. All he saw around him contradicted common sense and his own instincts as an entrepreneur. Who would have thought that this dark episode would last for four decades?

The contemporary press glorified the victories of socialism on all fronts. From 1948 to 1989, the state company Železnobrodské sklo exported ground vases, fruit and dessert bowls, perfume bottles, glasses, candy boxes, liquor, and vanity sets produced by the means of molds stolen from František. The glass of the Jablonec region was presented abroad as the pride of the Czechoslovak people, who were unaware of the paradox.

Gradually, with the decreasing efficiency of the socialist economy, the quality of glass products coming from Železný Brod declined. Series of items produced without attention to detail came from the hands of frustrated people, lacking both the interest in meticulous craftsmanship and any perspective.

Months, years, and decades passed as the nation began to grasp that the shining future under the red star would never happen. A short walk in Prague to look into shop windows was enough for everyone to understand that heaven on earth should not look like this. Furthermore, living in a lie distorted people’s souls, and even the ruling class quit believing in the ideals of communism. The Soviet Union fell apart and the Kremlin had their own problems to mend.

The Halamas were visited by a mysterious stranger with a tempting offer to buy all of the grandfather’s intellectual property, including the molds and designs. For the family, having no personal experience with making glass, this was a great temptation. The family council gathered, at the very same house, Number 55 in Železný Brod, which Grandfather had chosen to be his headquarters before World War II. This address he inserted in labels affixed on all of his products that were dispatched to the world. The family council decided unanimously: We’re not selling. We want our glass molds back and we’ll resume Grandfather’s work. We’ll obtain the missing experience along the way. The most beautiful Czech glass bearing the František Halama brand will once again be admired by the whole world. And, we’ll do this together as a family.

Legal battles began, since nobody wanted to return something they considered to be their property for the past 40 years. Some glassmaking molds were lost, other tools suffered mysterious damage upon being handed over. Privatized companies started to feel that a troublesome competitor was rising up, and they thought they risked losing an important part of their assortment. Scrambles went on and after years of disputes, even the entire court record was lost.

A ground glass vase is able to open a set of doors. This is what František and Robert Halama, who have been bringing glass beauty to customers for twenty-five years, are well aware of.

They have not been offering only the transparency of Czech glass and the imagination of Czech designers. František Halama’s products combine the subtle work of skilled hands, attentive eyes, and focused minds. They reflect the joy of the person who produced the item, taking delight in its perfect beauty.

František Halama’s vision when he started his own business in August 1932, that is, to produce Czech glass as finely as possible, floats over each vase, bowl, and ornament like an invisible mist. The vision, so strong that it was not crushed by human envy or greed, tanks, secret police, nor any of the totalitarian regimes. The dream, so powerful that it helps František’s successors open doors all over the world.

And the world accepts the Halama family’s work with outstretched arms. Most of the production leaves Europe for the Middle East, Persian Gulf countries, China, or Japan. The backbone of František Halama’s production still covers embossed glass, produced using the grandfather’s artistic molds, but even still, the father and the son do not shrink from new challenges. Their portfolio includes exclusive glass for special occasions, produced as a single item. František, the founder, used to say: “What can be visualized can be brought into being.”This is what his grandson, Robert Halama, has followed, running the family company for several years now.

In the fall of 2007, Robert got the idea that his father would be pleased by the “Entrepreneur of the Year” award, and he sent in the application in his father’s name. František Halama took part in the regional round ceremony and was very surprised to leave the stage with the first-place prize. This prize was an important turning point for the company, as such events are held under the auspices of prominent politicians and ministers, and the Halamas saw the door to areas of diplomacy and protocol open. Here, gifts are extremely important, since they reflect respect and good will, they represent the Czech state and have to be exclusive. So František and Robert Halama became unofficial Czech diplomats, of a kind, assisting in making that delicate first contact with the world via their products.

Fairy tales claim that love overcomes all adversity. Love for glass is faith in the miraculous power of beauty elevating the human soul. And love is what Robert Halama’s children were born from, so the family tradition is allowed to further unwind. The children have already reached the age allowing them to seek their own visions. The daughter wonders about the way ground glass might look in the 21st century, and the son, looking at the map of the world in his father’s study, thinks where it might yet be admired.

The story keeps unfolding.