In Žďár n. S., there is a monument of the tote bag, which was created in the city

Žďár nad Sázavou - A new artistic work reminiscent of the legendary mesh shopping bag was unveiled today in the central square of Žďár nad Sázavou. It will remind passersby that this shopping net bag originated in the city about 90 years ago, thanks to the enterprising Vavřín Krčil. The statue of a sitting man with a net bag was created by sculptor Jiří Plieštik, who wove it from steel wires.

The unveiling of the artwork was also attended by the entrepreneur's grandson, Roman Krčil. "I am very happy; I take it as a tribute to my grandfather," he told journalists.

Vavřín Krčil (1895 to 1968) initially worked as an organizer of home production of hair nets. He began producing mesh bags in the mid-1920s when the demand for hair nets from Horácko was ended by cheap competition from Japan. "Grandpa certainly didn't perceive it as some kind of invention, maybe a clever idea... He needed to find another sort of product to provide work for home workers," his grandson noted regarding the creation of the net bag.

The mesh bags were also not made on factory machines. "It was purely a manual craft, and people in this agricultural region supplemented their income with this work," Krčil said. The mesh bags made from artificial silk yarn were practical and cheap, and their sales increased year by year. Orders also flowed in from other countries, including Germany, Canada, and North Africa.

In 1948, when Krčil's property in Stržanov near Žďár nad Sázavou was nationalized, it was reported that around 600 home workers were associated with him. The communists also prohibited the family from living in Stržanov, and Vavřín spent four years in Valdice prison. Later, at Krčil's initiative, a workshop for the production of hand-woven and embroidered curtains was established in Bystřice nad Pernštejnem.

With the unveiling of the statue, the town hall completed the reconstruction of the lower part of Republic Square for ten million crowns. This followed the renovation of the main area of the square completed two years ago, during which a granite fountain symbolizing the five springs of rivers in the Vysočina region was added. Its author is also Jiří Plieštik.