250th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

NARA ARCHIVES UNITED STATES FOUNDING DOCUMENTS 

I think of the 4th of July as the most American of holidays, of course I mean The United States of America...

RUDAS BATHS of BUDAPEST : 450 YEARS OF HOT MINERALWATER SINCE THE OTTOMAN TURKS : MINERAL WATER DRINKING CURE : WONDERFUL PLACES IN HUNGARY #33

OOOH.... The Ottoman Turks.... who killed two-thirds of the Hungarian population...Can we love something they left behind when they were defeated? (There are Moslems in Hungary and no doubt some of them are descended from the occupiers.) How about if we improve upon it?

Well, there's architecture and there's history. These baths have been used for 450 years and the water still flows. For some time the baths were men only but now you can select a time to emerge yourself with others of your gender or not. (No getting naked!) You can soak in some history as well as relax and emerge feeling better. 

RUDAS FURDO (RUDAS BATHS)

Excerpt:

The centerpiece of the bath today, the Turkish bath, was built during the 16th century in the period of the Turkish occupation. Below the 10 m diameter dome, sustained by 8 pillars, there is an octagonal pool. The swimming pool, operating as a therapeutic swimming facility and with a sauna, was built in 1896. The thermal bath has been visited from 1936 o­n exclusively by men.

In its drinking hall, the water of the springs Hungária, Attila and Juventus can be consumed for the purposes of a drinking cure.

The blog attached is rather fun... 

BATHS BUDAPEST  This site gives more details about gendered bath times and:

Excerpt: What makes Rudas Bath stand out is the modern rooftop panorama pool overlooking the river Danube and its many Budapest river cruise boats, the Parliament, the historical bridges and more. Also, Rudas Bath boasts a 16th-century thermal bath in its core, called the Turkish Bath.

Click on the label Wonderful-Hungary to get to the entire series on this theme.

C 2026 Magyar-American BlogSpot  All Rights Reserved

FATHER'S DAY ??? MOTHER'S DAY ???

In Hungary, Fathers Day (Apák Napja) is the third Sunday in June, which is June 21, 2026. Today!  It coincides with International Father's Day.

Mother's Day (Anyák Napja) is also celebrated, the first Sunday of May, so the dates changes. In the United States it's celebrated on the second Sunday of May. (This is also true of Canada.)

In Hungary, people are not as materialistic as some are in the West. Gifts that are appreciated are appropriate flowers (often seasonal) original poems, traditional songs, nice foods, and little gifts.

The holiday origins are credited to Americans and the United States. Now Mother's and Father's Day are celebrated all over the world, but on different dates; there is no International Mother's Day.

International Women's Day on March 8 is celebrated in Eastern European and Balkan nations, such as Albania, which combine Mother's Day with International Women's Day.

HUNGARIAN and HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN STEREOTYPE : PALINKA IS OUR REMEDY, a CURE FOR EVERYTHING

I enjoy investigating and commenting on Hungarian and Hungarian-American stereotypes so much I kind of hate spoiling this one with a definitive article (below) about drinking Palinka. But here's the thing, this is a stereotype of the Hungarians very much more than the Hungarian-Americans because there just isn't much Palinka to buy here. I don't think I've ever had a taste of the good stuff that legend has it will cure just about anything - even the hangover you got from drinking it too innocently, as it pickles your liver very very slowly, until suddenly you're so drunk everyone and everything in life is sweet. I'm not much of a drinker and far too self controlled to have more than a sip so how could I be a judge of it? 

Just try it. Go into a good hotel, the kind of place that boasts a well stocked bar, and ask for Palinka and you'll find out that it is rare indeed in America.

This article suggest it be used as the basis for a cocktail.  You know, one jigger's worth.

https://dailynewshungary.com/myth-or-reality-the-health-benefits-of-drinking-palinka/https://dailynewshungary.com/myth-or-reality-the-health-benefits-of-drinking-palinka/

Excerpt: Before you set out to make 70 degrees plus pálinka, you must know that it brings more pain than pleasure to your taste buds and throat. You will no longer be able to taste the fruit, and it will be so strong that your organs will be thrown off balance, so you should rather not try distilling or drinking such pálinka.

C 2026 Magyar- American BlogSpot

MY FRIEND IN BUDAPEST WANTS TO COME BACK TO THE U.S.A. : PRIME MINISTER PETER MAGYAR MAKES CHANGE : ORBAN LOYALISTS EXIST

For years now my friend, who has duel citizenship and speaks fluent Hungarian, has spent half his year in Hungary, usually in the spring and fall, but for the first time he reports being "homesick." Usually he wants to stay there. So what has changed? It would seem that he personally feels that there's more chaos. It has to do with the change to Peter Magyar as Prime Minister. He's not essentially opposed to Magyar, but in looking at the news reports, there certainly are some changes happening fast since the man took office.


WORKER VISAS : Other recent tourists to Hungary remarked to me that the Hungarian people were letting immigrants do the work, I take it in hotels and restaurants.

REUTERS : HUNGARY TO STOP ISSUING WORKER VISAS

Excerpt: Hungary's government will stop issuing worker visas to employees from the Philippines, Georgia ​and Armenia from Friday, a government spokeswoman said, ‌calling the move a first step towards regulating the inflow of guest workers.

PBS: PETER MAGYAR TO CHANGE HUNGARIAN CONSTITUTION

Excerpt: Hungary's government will amend the constitution to remove the country's president, part of a push by the new Prime Minister Péter Magyar to eliminate officials appointed under former populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Magyar and his Tizsa party won an overwhelming victory in an election in April. With a two-thirds majority in parliament, they can make sweeping changes to the autocratic political system Orbán built over his 16 years in power.

***

I previously confused Magyar's Title to be President.  Hungary does have a Prime Minister and a President.  If you're an American, you might be confused too.  The Prime Minister is the person who has political power.  The President of Hungary has a ceremonial role. 

According to the article above : "While mostly a ceremonial role, Hungary's president is responsible for signing legislation into law and has the power to send bills passed by parliament to the constitutional court for review, raising concerns among supporters of the new government that he could use that power to obstruct its plans."

***

The way I see it is that the President of Hungary has more power than say, the King Charles III of the United Kingdom ...

How do you see it?

***

PEAR AND PLUMS

Pálinka is a traditional Central European fruit brandy made from fermented and distilled fruit mash, pomace, or lees. It is produced solely in Hungary and specific regions of Austria, utilizing local fruits such as plums, apricots, pears, cherries, quinces, and berries.

FLORINT PAPER MONEY (Hungarian: forint papírpénz)

THE GERMAN GENEALOGY GROUP CONTINUES TO ADD TO THEIR FREE DATABASES : NEW YORK - NEW YORK CITY - CONNECTICUT

It's been over a decade since I posted on the GERMAN GENEALOGY GROUP!  They are still adding to their databases.  So, here's the thing : These are Americans who are posting useful archival data focusing on NEW YORK - NEW  YORK CITY - and CONNECTICUT - and this is what they say:

GERMAN GENEALOGY GROUP - FREE DATABASES

"As a group we are focused on German genealogy; however, our databases encompass ALL nationalities and are always free to search."

A Sampling of the latest additions:

 
SEE WHAT'S NEW/UPDATED:

02/18/2026 Added 22,040 records to the Births database (Manhattan 1872) that were missing from the original index.

01/31/2026 Added 4,965 records to the Baptism database (St Vincent de Paul RC Church, Williamsburg).

01/13/2026 Added 14,588 records to the Births database (Manhattan 1870) that were missing from the original index.

11/11/2025 Gravesend database modified to display the record page numbers for each name searched.

11/11/2025 Added 110 bride and 19 groom records, Kings County, various years

11/11/2025 Added 1,180 bride and 427 groom records, 1869 Kings County

09/15/2025 Added 3,331 records to the Births database (Manhattan 1868 "A" certificates) that were missing from the original index.

09/06/2025 Added 103 brides and 16 grooms; corrected 912 bride & groom records, 1866-1937 Kings County.
.

MY FRIEND TRAVELS BACK TO HUNGARY and WORRIES ABOUT HIS RETURN FLIGHT IN JUNE BEING CANCELLED and a TRUE TRAVEL STORY

The third week in April, my Hungarian-American friend, who I met through genealogy, and who enjoys dual-citizenship, called me from the San Francisco airport. He had promised a call before he left for two months in Hungary and did so after going through customs and awaiting a boarding call. He'd purposely decided to fly Swiss Air - a neutral country. He bought a round trip ticket, but friends in Europe told him they were not sure about the availability of oil - fuel - and that there might be a possibility that the airline would be able to keep its promise of a round trip ticket. What with the wars -  Russia - Iran - etc.

In which case, how would he get home?

We joked about the movie Plains, Trains, and Automobiles. He mentioned Vienna being only 120 miles from Budapest and the industrious Austrians and Germans possibly being better able to obtain plane fuel. We jokingly imaged him rowing a boat across the Atlantic with one paddle.

"I'm going to go, forget my troubles in the United States, and have a good time, and try not to worry," he said. But I could tell he was plenty worried. Because Russia and Hungary were not having a good relationship over the last few months over the war in Ukraine, he said. And also that Orban, in his opinion, had been in power twenty years (not just sixteen) and had done a good job the first three terms. What was Hungary going to be like this visit with the new administration?

But it brought to mind this true story, which took place about twenty five years ago, and which I told him.

I met two sisters at a library. On was employed as a temporary worker and pretty much supporting her immigrant mother and disabled sister. The temp worker had a few weeks with no assignment and - and, as was possible back in that day - told the agency she needed the time off anyway *** The two sisters then had a very inexpensive six week vacation traveling, for which they spent about $3000.

They took the little local community shuttle near their home to the closest train station and arrived at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. From there they took a train that passed through Albuquerque, New Mexico and then went on to Florida. In Fort Lauderdale they got on a cruise ship that had a lot of cabins empty for a cruise and got a deal. The ship sailed the Atlantic to Portugal. From Portugal they traveled to Paris. The only night they had nowhere to sleep was in Paris, but they spent it at an all night café drinking coffee! The best place outside Budapest to be up all night drinking coffee. (They had so much to eat on the cruise, they felt no need to eat.) After finding an affordable B & B near Paris and traveling around Paris and locale, they took the bus that goes through the tunnel under the Channel to England and spent time in London. From there they traveled to Liverpool, where they booked on another inexpensive cruise and sailed the Atlantic to New York City. In New York they got on a train that went to Chicago, and then south, and arrived back in Union station in Los Angeles. Then, once again, the community shuttle home...

Think of how little they spent!

 (*** and returned to find they hadn't dumped her and soon got a decent permanent job from a temp assignment.).

RED POPPIES BLOOM IN HUNGARIAN MAY

 

HUNGARIAN HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN STEREOTYPE : WE LOVE EVERYTHING TO DO WITH SPA CULTURE AND ARE NOT SHY ABOUT OUR BODIES

 There is no doubt about it. We do! 

In the United States, if you visit some of the less expensive day spas, or places where you can go in natural surroundings to put clay on yourself, scrub with bristle brushes, float around in the shallows on rafts, submit yourself to the strong fingers of a deep tissue therapist, or simply soak in mineral rich thermal waters, YOU WILL FIND HUNGARIANS and HUNGARIAN-AMERICANS.

That's not to say that no one spends on the expensive day spas. The trouble with them is that these days the expensive ones may also put you on a diet that is too extreme for someone who cares not to loose weight, or they may expect you to hit the gym, which is not the Hungarian-American/Hungarian point of going to a spa.

That has been my experience and so you can't argue with it!

As for the part about not being shy about our bodies, I'm not claiming that we are immodest. Rather, we are practical. We have a body. Everyone does. And very few people are in excellent shape.  And you do not have to be in excellent shape to enjoy feeling good or soaking in thermal waters with other people, some who are friends, some who are not.

Smile!

C 2026 Magyar-American BlogSpot  All Rights Reserved including Internet and International Rights

Want to see what other stereotypes I tackle? Click on the tag below!

APPLE HARVEST IN HUNGARY - USUALLY IN THE SPRING

 

Apple harvest in Hungary occurs in chief growing regions and can be badly affected by drought.
The fruit is grown in the counties of Heves, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok and Zala, but the most important production area is still Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg count.

PETER MAGYAR IS ELECTED IN LANDSLIDE VICTORY AS NEW PRIME MINISTER OF HUNGARY AFTER SIXTEEN YEARS OF VIKTOR ORBAN

NPR ORG: WHO IS PETER MAGYAR WHO BEAT VIKTOR ORBAN?

Excerpt: He burst onto the scene as an opposition leader in 2024, rising rapidly to become the leader of the center-right Tisza Party, which won a two-thirds majority in Sunday's parliamentary election. Orbán, who has led Hungary for 16 years, conceded and congratulated Magyar less than three hours after polls closed. ...

In a victory speech delivered to a sea of jubilant supporters on the banks of the Danube River, Magyar reiterated his promises to rebuild Hungary's ties with the European Union and NATO, root out corruption and cronyism and "restore the system of checks and balances." ...

The country has economic incentive to do so: Since 2022, the EU has frozen billions of dollar's worth of funding for the country because it said Orbán was violating key democratic values. Magyar said the country will "never again allow anyone to hold free Hungary captive or to abandon it." ...

A note: I apologize for identifying the man previously as the President of Hungary and have fixed my errors.  I suppose my Americanism is at fault. However, Hungary has both a Prime Minister and a President. 

1950 CENSUS FINDER - MORSE AND WEINTRAUB : HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN GENEALOGY

STEVE MORSE ORG 1950 CENSUS UNIFIED FINDER 

Of course, this census finder may help anyone of any ethnic or racial identity searching for ancestors who might appear on the United States 1950 Federal census, but those of you who come to MAGYAR-AMERICAN for genealogy, may find this especially helpful.

The 1950 census as it appears on the National Archives site is simply not easy to navigate and yes, in some places the handwriting isn't great so the spellings are not correct. The NARA site used artificial intelligence to interpret the handwritten! Trying to figure our just how a surname is misspelled can be a waste of time and make you feel crazy! 

(I will include this link on my sidebar that is simply full of wonderful links!)

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES 1950 CENSUS START PAGE : https://1950census.archives.gov/

FUN WITH HUNGARICANA #7 : THE LIBRI REGII in HUNGARICANA : WHAT'S INSIDE?

This post continues on the exploration of the Hungariacana databases.

Please note that there are extensive collections that are not uploaded onto databases. ***

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF HUNGARY - HUNGARICANA - DATABASES - LIBRII REGII

Let's start with what "Librii Regii" means. This are Latin for "Royal Books" just as Királyi Könyvek, is Hungarian for "Royal Books" as well. But they are casually referred to as King's Books.

The collection contains 67 volumes of official records from the Hungarian Chancellery, documenting important state documents issued by the Kings of Hungary and Austria-Hungary between years 1527 and 1867. (So that includes Queen Maria Theresa's time on the throne.) Patents of nobility are just part of this collection. There are also wills, the ownership and transfer of ownership of land (a principal aspect of wealth), as well as many other aspects of royal decrees (laws, policies, and rules). *** However, you may need to ask an archivist at the National Archives of Hungary for some help, unless you can make your way through the Latin handwriting.

When you go to the link you will see a number of images (start pages) and the numbers below them indicate the DATES that are covered.

There are some images that are PRESS PRINTED IN LATIN.

There are some images that are handwritten in LATIN.

And there are some of these in HUNGARIAN.

BECAUSE SOME IMPORTANCE WAS GIVEN TO THESE DOCUMENTS, many were made with an attention to readability and neatness - beauty.

I'm going to link to a book of heraldry - family crests - coat of arms.  These are for the TITLED NOBILITY OF AN ERA and this book has over ONE THOUSAND PAGES. THIS BOOK IS FOR THE YEARS 1901- 1909.

HUNGARICANA ARCHIVES : BOOK IMAGE 71.1 KIRALYI KONYVEK  This is the cover image but you can SEE the artistic representations of each coat of arms.  The very first one has a crow holding an envelope in its mouth.  

YOU WILL ALSO SEE THAT THREE GREEN HILLS ARE PRESENT IN MANY OF THESE COAT OF ARMS...

This motif is so common in Hungarian arms, and I've not found a definitive reason why.  I venture that these indicate the Carpathian mountains and the story of how the tribal people who were seeking a homeland followed a White Stag through. Without reading the information given, I cannot say that this also indicates that the original members of the family were part of that adventure.

You will also see arms with swords. These indicate that the person battled or persevered over the Ottoman Turks who were in control of Hungarian lands for centuries - depending on locations - 

LINK TO MAJOR ARPAD HUNGARICANA - ROYAL BOOK - MAJOR ARPAD image 0082

This particular book may be of interest also because there are a good number of GERMAN SURNAMES included, including some who are listed as Medicinae Doctor (M.D.): Literally "Teacher of Medicine".  However, just as we call PhD educated people "Doctor", the use of this term may be honorary.

Interested in learning more about these databases.  See my past posts.  They will all come up if you click on the label  Pro Tip Hungaricana Fun