What kind of American gift to bring to Czech family?

My ex was French and when we used to visit his family, we would bring items from the NW such as smoked salmon, frangos and calendars of Wa. state. I think any gesture would be appreciated and you can probably not go wrong with food (no gels or liquids unless you're checking your bags). But you are right to keep it small, portable and not fragile.

Also, read the post "Gift Ideas for German Helpers."

My son-in-law is South African. When his parents visited from South Africa, I bought some things from the 'Made in Oklahoma' store. Specifically, I bought them a thow, some locally made candy and a couple of light weight books with pictures of different areas in OK.

When I visited some friends in France a few years ago, I purchased a few small gifts for them from my home state (Colorado). We chose a small calendar with pictures of the area we are from, a funny little book about miners and cowboys and finally the biggest hit of all a little bag of fools gold. They had a couple of young boys who went crazy for the fools gold. Apparently they had been learning about the gold rush in California and had never seen what fools gold looked like. So my suggetion would be to choose something that represents the state where you live, so you can talk about it.

These are great responses, here's the list I'm bringing:

Oreos
Reeses PB cups
Pop Rocks
Picture Book
Maple Syrup
Jelly Belly beans
Brownie Mix

One of my daughters studied at 3 European universities and she said her European classmates were always fascinated by all things having to do with Texas. If the family has young people they'd probably love Texas b-ball hats, t-shirts, etc, - anything having to do with cowboys and the old west.

do they have kids? My Russian friends say the best gift I ever game them was packets of jello! Takes just water to make, and they had never seen it before... Cheap too.

When I went to the Czech Republic as an exchange student in HS, I brought package of Big Red. They didn't have cinnamon flavored gum there and it was a great gift to hand out at school or to younger relatives.

If you're in central Pennsylvania or anywhere else in the US that has a settlement of Amish people you might want to bring along one of their crafts or a book about them

Well, I don't know, packages of Jello and packages of gum and calendars of Utah ... if you were that Czech family, wouldn't you rather be taken out to dinner somewhere nice? Or maybe be given a couple of bottles of wine from the Duty Free? Or an enormous box of chocolates?

take them a utah calendar showing some of our gorgeous scenery. or some made in utah products.

I think you will be surprised on what they have access to in the rural areas. I have inlaws and friends scattered throughout Czech Republic and see hypermarkets everywhere. I was surprised by a first cousin showing me his Iphone this last trip. It's only the pensioners that might not have the money to buy anything for themselves but the basics. You may want to find out what their interests are to get thoughtful gifts. Find out from your Father in law what folks you will be seeing like. Many Czechs are collectors of a particular item, so you might want to start there. Anything country western can be a hit or american indian made. Or maybe something practical to use like potholders/towels with your state's logo. Or maybe a picture book with the sights of Utah. Personally, I have brought all kinds of things over there from Tinker Bell and Cinderella dolls for the two youngest girls to a standing order of a year's supply Men's Speedstick deoderant for an Uncle. The women in the family loved the Kiels hand creme I brought last year. Alcohol can be a good option too. They are big drinkers there. I bring really good California wines over every year to a couple of households. And for the kids I bring over bags of mini sized Snickers and bags of Jelly Belly which they all really love. Anything that you do bring, they will love because you thought of them.

On a side note, these folks most likely will not speak much English, so arm yourself with a good Czech-English dictionary and try to learn ahead of time simple words like Prosim - Please, Ano - Yes, and Ne - No. Try your best to speak as much Czech as you can. Don't worry about making mistakes or mispronouncing anything. They still laugh about my using the slang word for "underware" instead of the word for "turn" which the only difference is a soft or long O sound when telling them about how we got somewhere in the car.
The point is after going on 10 years of visiting the inlaws I still have my moments and it's usually good for a laugh for everyone, so don't be daunted by the language. Most likely they will feel confident enough to try to speak what little English they know to bridge the gap if they see you are willing to make the effort in their language.
There will be many differences there than what you are used to but if you relax and go with it you will be more than OK.