Shopping arcades are the ancient merchant center of Kostroma. Ukrainians Fair rows

A people living “against the sun, with their heads to the Chumatsky cart, and their feet to the blue sea,” as the old song says. Whitewashed huts surrounded by gardens, beautiful stove tiles and clay dishes, bright, cheerful fairs - all these are recognizable signs of the rich traditional culture of Ukrainians...

Settlement and formation of ethnicity

A group of girls and married women in festive dresses

In the South-West of Eastern Europe“against the sun, head towards the Chumatsky cart (Ursa Major), feet towards the blue sea,” as the people sang, the ancient Slavic land of Ukraine was located.

The origin of the name in the meaning of “edge, extreme” dates back to the time of the existence of the ancient Russian state - Kievan Rus. So in the XII-XIII centuries. it was called the southern and southwestern lands - the right bank of the Dnieper: Kiev region, Pereyaslav region, Chernigovo-Severshchyna, which became the center of the formation of the Ukrainian nation. Subsequently, the name Ukraine was assigned to the entire ethnic territory.

Main activity

The main occupation of Ukrainians - agriculture - regulated the way of life of the peasant family and the community as a whole. Grain and products prepared from it (porridge, kutia, loaf) were present as attributes in almost all rituals of the calendar cycle and rituals associated with life cycle person. For Ukrainians, like for many other peoples, bread was a symbol of hospitality. There was always bread and salt on the table in the house. Eyewitnesses noted that the Ukrainians received their guests cordially and kindly, sparing nothing for their dear guest. Cattle breeding predominated in the mountainous regions of the Carpathians.

Settlements and housing

Ukrainian villages were located near rivers, occupying lands not suitable for arable land. Farm settlements were built in the steppe regions.

"Rushnik" - a towel. End of the 19th century. Kharkov province, Zmeevsky district

The main dwelling of the Ukrainians was a whitewashed adobe hut with a high hipped roof, covered with straw or reeds, the edges of which protruded significantly above the walls, protecting the inhabitants of the hut from the cold in winter and from the heat in summer. For additional insulation in winter, the walls of the hut were lined with straw. Clean, whitewashed huts were almost always surrounded by gardens, and light wattle fence and narrow gates made of poles made it possible to see the courtyard and its inhabitants.

The owner and her daughters whitewashed the hut after every rainstorm, and also three times during the year: for Easter, Trinity and Intercession.

Interior of the hut

Painted stove and painting on the wall near the stove

The stove occupied almost a quarter of the hut and was located in the left corner from the entrance. This corner was called “bake”, and the empty space under the stove - “pidpichcha” - served to store fuel or a cage for chickens was placed there - “kuku”.

Opposite the stove corner there was a red corner - “pokuttya”. Here, on the shelves - shrines, there were icons that were called blessed, since they were used to bless the owner, the mistress and their sons before the wedding. The icons were covered with patterned towels - “gods”.

The corner to the right of the doors, called “deaf,” had exclusively economic purposes. The space above the door and the upper part of the blind corner was occupied by a shelf - a “polytsia”, on which there were spare pots turned upside down. Closer to the corner, numerous women's jewelry was kept in pottery. Below were shelves with the best tableware placed in a prominent place: painted clay and wooden bowls, spoons, plates and flasks.

Hutsul ceramics

Ceramic Kandiyka bowls. Poltava province, Zenkovsky u., metro station Opashnya.

The natural and geographical conditions of the Carpathian region predetermined the unique culture of its population, known as the Rusyns, or Hutsuls. Despite the fact that this group of the Ukrainian people lived in isolation from them due to territorial and political alienation, they did not lose their cultural and historical unity with their ethnic group. The Hutsul region was famous for its ceramic products.

A particular impression on those entering the Hutsul hut was made by the stove, the inside of the chimney of which - the fireplace - was lined with tiles - "kahli". The fireplace consists of two or three tiers of tiles, closed at the top and bottom with rows of narrow cornices. The upper edge of the fireplace was completed by two or three pediments - “hidden” and “bumps” at an angle. The tiles depicted scenes from the life of the Hutsuls, churches, crosses, faces of saints, the Austrian coat of arms, and flowers.

Vessel. Eastern Galicia, p. Pistyn. End of the 19th century. Ukrainians are Hutsuls

The decoration of the stove fireplace was consistent with the “mysnik” - a cabinet of three or four shelves, placed in the partition between the door to the hut and the side wall, and the “mysnik” - a shelf above the door where pottery stood: “gleki” (“dzbanki”), “chersaki” (pots), bathhouses, vessels for drinks - rolls, “pleskanki”, bowls, etc. The most elegant bowls, serving exclusively as interior decoration, were placed on the “mysnik”, which for the same reason was decorated with carvings and burnt patterns.

Clay products attracted attention with the perfection of their forms, variety of decor and colors - brown, yellow and green. All products were covered with glaze, which glittered, creating an atmosphere of festivity and elegance in the house even on cloudy days.

The production of ceramics was carried out by Hutsul potters from Kosovo and Pistyn. The most famous of them: I. Baranbk, O. Bakhmatyuk, P. Tsvilik, P. Koshak. As a rule, they were all hereditary potters who embodied in their products not only best achievements predecessors, but, of course, revealed their individuality.

Despite the fact that the main occupations of the Hutsuls were cattle breeding and, first of all, sheep breeding, as well as logging and rafting of timber, many of them were also engaged in trades, especially those who lived in towns and had neither land nor livestock. For a Hutsul girl there was nothing more honorable than to marry a craftsman.

Ukrainian fair

Fair in the village of Yankovtsi. Poltava province, Lubensky district. Ukrainians.

In most Ukrainian villages there were fairs on major temple holidays. The busiest of them took place in the fall, after the harvest. The marketplace was located on the temple square or on a pasture outside the village.

The fair for peasants was a kind of “club” where social connections and acquaintances were maintained. The fair rows were located in strict sequence: in one row they sold pottery, factory utensils and icons, and there were also grocery and tea shops; in another row - textiles, haberdashery, caps, women's scarves, shoes; in the next - wood products - wheels, arches, chests, etc.; in the latter - tar and fish.

There were separate places where cattle and horses were sold. Here the gypsies acted as intermediaries. After a successful purchase and sale, drinking magarych was a common thing: “The beggars exchanged crutches, and even then they drank magarych for three days,” that’s what people said.

At fairs, people were entertained by traveling gymnasts or comedians, but more often by performers of folk songs to the accompaniment of the lyre or blind musicians playing the harmonium. The trade lasted three to four hours, then everything was cleared away, and by evening there was not a trace left of the motley noisy crowd and crush except the fair's litter. The big fair lasted two or three days.

Petersburg — Head of Russia, Moscow— her heart, and Nizhny Novgorod- pocket.
19th century proverb

The origin of the All-Russian fair in Nizhny Novgorod dates back to the first half of the 17th century. Since 1641, it began to be called Makaryevskaya, as it moved under the walls of the monastery of St. Makaria, located 90 versts from Nizhny Novgorod down the Volga.

Makaryevsky Monastery

The fair steadily acquired a truly all-Russian scale. One foreigner, who visited it at the beginning of the 19th century, wrote with amazement: “The Frankfurt and Leipzig fairs barely deserve the name of insignificant gatherings in comparison with the one that happens in this place... You need to see it in order to get an idea of ​​​​the countless a crowd of horses, carriages, carts, which for a space of several miles cover the entire surface of the earth around the town of Makariev...” (life physician Reman, 1804).

Chinese fair rows. Watercolor from a photographic print. Authors A. O. Karelin and I. I. Shishkin

The Makaryevskaya Fair flourished until August 18, 1816, when a severe fire completely destroyed Gostiny Dvor and commercial buildings.

The national importance of the Nizhny Novgorod fair was so great that Alexander I decided to postpone the reconstruction of the Winter Palace, and “release the one and a half million rubles allocated for this to the fair.” The Committee of Ministers decided to transfer it to Nizhny Novgorod, to the meadow side of the Oka River at its confluence with the Volga.

The first fair opened in Nizhny on July 20, 1817 and surpassed Makaryevskaya in trade turnover: 24 million rubles in silver (versus 14.5 million rubles). After so successful start a grandiose construction of a stone shopping complex with an area of ​​500 thousand m2. It was headed by the outstanding engineer A. Betancourt, who reported to the sovereign: “The new place for the fair is extremely convenient. From here it is easy to send goods to both capitals and abroad; if this place is improved, canals are dug, the square is raised here and there, then a small Venice can be made from this place.”

Lieutenant General A. Betancourt

In just four years, Gostiny Dvor grew opposite Nizhny.— a real fair city, which included the Main House, side administrative buildings, 48 ​​trade buildings and a pier. A half-kilometer bridge was thrown across the Oka— the longest at that time in Russia.

Perspective trade fairs VNizhny Novgorod. 1822

On July 15, 1822, the fair welcomed guests in new stone buildings. Since then, this day has become the traditional opening day of the Nizhny Novgorod fair.

A.S. Pushkin, who visited here in 1833, described his impressions of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair as follows:

Makariev is fussing about,
It boils with its abundance.

An Indian brought pearls here,
European wines are fake,

Herd of defective horses
The breeder brought it from the steppes.

The player brought his decks
And a handful of helpful bones,

The landowner - ripe daughters,
And the daughters are last year's fashions.

"Eugene Onegin"

Entrance to the pontoon bridge from the fair side, 1896,

TO end of the 19th century century, the Nizhny Novgorod Fair has turned into the largest shopping center in Europe, with a “population” of 200 thousand and an annual turnover of half a billion rubles. Here All-Russian annual prices for bread, textiles, leather and other important goods were established. Throughout the 19th century, Nizhny Novgorod was the world's largest grain trading center.

View of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.

Geography of foreign trade relations of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. looks like this: USA, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Bulgaria, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, Belgium, Turkey, Greece, Persia.

Krasnoyarsk merchants onNizhny Novgorodfair

Wherein Russian manufacturers and traders were constantly crowding out foreigners. In 1914, the share of foreign firms at the fair was only 4%.

Main fairhouse 1890s

The Nizhny Novgorod fair played a prominent role in the cultural life of Russia.
It had its own theater, which, according to A. Ostrovsky, was not inferior to any in Moscow. Concerts were held in the hall of the Main House. Nizhny Novgorod residents listened to operas performed by the best Russian (Chaliapin, Sobinov) and Italian singers. At the beginning of the twentieth century. The first cinemas appeared.

Fair theater Figner

To protect the fair from fires, there were 2 steam and 10 hand pumps, 12 barrels and 11 horses, which were served by 1 fire chief, 4 non-commissioned officers, 64 privates and 74 volunteers. Order at the fair was monitored by a special fair police force consisting of 276 people. The medical staff of the “medical committee” consisted of 29 doctors, 16 medical students, 32 paramedics, a pharmacist and one veterinarian, who examined up to 15 thousand people per season.

View from the main house to the fairgrounds, 1890s

The Revolution and Civil War caused a long pause in the work of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair. It was revived by the NEP. At this time, it still had quite large turnover, although it was inferior to pre-revolutionary ones: from 1922 to 1928, trade turnover increased almost tenfold— from 31 million rubles to 300 million rubles. The Nizhny Novgorod fair again acquired an all-Union character and began to establish international connections. More than 2,500 people took part in the 1928 fair various companies from all regions of the USSR, as well as Iran, Iraq, China, Afghanistan, Turkey and Mongolia.

However, over the years, the face of the fair gradually changed. The former All-Russian market quickly turned into a fair and exhibition of samples. It no longer covered everyone retail premises, concentrating in separate rows near the Main House. The destruction of empty fair buildings began.

In 1929, it employed 171 trading firms, including 34 state-owned, 19 cooperative, 18 foreign firms and 6 joint stock companies. This was the last year of the fair.

On February 6, 1930, a government decree was adopted to close the Nizhny Novgorod Fair as a socially hostile phenomenon. This decision effectively ended the campaign to eliminate the NEP.

“Russia’s Pocket” was not just turned inside out, but completely torn off.

Soon after this, a campaign began to rename Nizhny Novgorod. The city has lost not only its glory as the country's largest shopping center, but also its historical name.

The architectural complex of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair died gradually, over many decades. In the 1930s, the fair buildings were converted into residential premises, which led to the formation of a slum area. Numerous churches, with the exception of two cathedrals, were destroyed. In the 1940s - 50s, the fair, like the Colosseum once, became a kind of “quarry” for newly erected residential buildings in the city. The main house became an administrative building. In the 1970s it was reconstructed and housed " Child's world" Multi-storey residential buildings were erected on the site of Gostiny Dvor and the Betancourt Canal. The main fabric of the historical buildings was almost completely lost.

Modern view of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair

To date, only the Spassky and Alexander Nevsky Cathedrals, as well as the Main House, have been preserved on the territory of the fair - silent witnesses of its former greatness.

Original article on my website

"Photos of old Moscow"
Among the trading establishments of Russia at the end of the 19th century, the Upper Trading Rows occupied a special place. This largest shopping passage played an important role in the economic life of the country. The location of shopping arcades in the very heart of Moscow, in the ancient center Russian trade, predetermined their rich history.

The pre-revolutionary guidebook about this fragment of Red Square says the following: “The shops in the rows were the property of guests. There were large and small, sometimes reaching the size of one arshin in width. Overcrowding, frequent fires and a crowd of buyers forced the Moscow government to take more than once measures to streamline this So, after a big fire, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich issued a long decree on the regulation of all row trading with a detailed schedule of the location of the corresponding rows.

Plans of Moscow, official materials (deeds of sale, lawsuits, etc.), archaeological sites - everything indicates that already in the 17th century almost all retail and wholesale Moscow. The place that is now occupied by GUM, Vetoshny Proezd and the opposite row of houses along it has long been a vibrant shopping center of the city.

The ancient buildings of the 17th century existed until Catherine II, when they were demolished and replaced with new ones. According to the project of the famous Quarenghi (1744-1817), the restructuring was conceived on a grandiose scale, but was not completed; Moscow city architects Selekhov and Karin hastily completed the building, which still exists today under the name of the Old Gostiny Dvor. This slender white building, with an elegant colonnade, unfortunately, completely inflated with signs, is located between Ilyinka and Varvarka, next to the Exchange.

Only from the side of Red Square, and even then from afar, did the former Upper Trading Rows, crowded with people and carts, look more or less decent. There, from Nikolskaya to Ilyinka, opposite the monument to Minin and Pozharsky, which at that time stood in the center of Red Square, an entire block was occupied by a two-story building, slightly reminiscent in architecture of the current Gostiny Dvor: two central turrets, eight columns, large rectangular windows on the first floor, semicircular windows of the second.

The stone building blocked the view of a swarm of small wooden shops that were always burning. Fires happened several times a year, especially often in winter - due to the stoves that were used to heat clerks who were not resistant to frost. But the biggest fire in 1812, during the days of the French invasion, bypassed the shopping arcades.

Upper city rows (top view from the back)

In 1815, according to the design of the architect O. I. Bove, a new building of the Upper Trading Rows was erected. The building, which occupied an entire block, was divided among private owners, and they could not be persuaded to at least undergo major repairs. The building was collapsing before our eyes, one day a layer of plaster fell on customers, and another time a lady, trying on a velvet dress, fell through the rotten floor, broke her leg and was taken to the hospital straight in an unpaid replacement - the owner was afraid to remind her of this, glad that she did not apply for recovery of her loss. However, in the second half of the 19th century, when the rapid growth of industry and trade began in Russia, shopping arcades no longer met the requirements of the time, scale and modern forms trade.

Upper city rows (view of the right side from Red Square)

“The old city rows were dark ruins. The passages in them were not clean, there were many steps and various steps; one could only walk along such rows with great caution.” From the memoirs of the merchant I.A. Slonova.

Upper city rows (view of the middle part from Red Square)

Once there was such a case. I walked with the children's boots behind the respectable gentleman and, going down the stairs, as usual, described the extraordinary qualities of the children's boots he had chosen and little by little lowered the price for them. The buyer walked in silence. In the middle of the stairs we met a senior clerk and asked me: “What’s the matter?” I answered him: “I assigned two rubles seventy-five kopecks, they give me a ruble fifty kopecks.” The clerk said: “Pin it up,” and went to the top. The buyer quickly turned around and, advancing on me, asked menacingly: “Whom to pin?” I chickened out and told him that there was no one. The buyer got angry, loudly expressed his displeasure, wanted to call the police and draw up a report. The owners and clerks tried to calm the formidable buyer and explained to him that the word “pin” in our jargon means “sell.” The buyer called us all fools and left the store without buying the boots.

Instead of the words “give” and “sell,” we said, on the orders of the owner, “favor” and “pin.” He came up with several more intricate words, with the help of which the employees explained themselves to each other in front of the customers, and the latter, unfortunately, did not understand these words.

Upper city rows (view of the left side from Red Square)

Between the “verbs”, along the entire length of Red Square, was the most lively original part of Gostiny Dvor - the Knife Line. On one side there were shops with fashionable goods, on the other, between the outer doors facing Red Square, numerous cabinets were placed in stone walls. Each cabinet occupied a space three arshins long and two arshins wide. The merchants who traded in them were always on the outside of the counter, that is, they stood with the customers. The lockers for trading were extremely inconvenient and certainly harmful to the health of traders; there was always a through wind around them; In winter, during a blizzard, they were covered with snow. In the summer it rained slantingly. Therefore, most of the merchants who traded in lockers often caught colds and were sick. In the cabinets they sold cheap lace, fringe, buttons, needles, various trimmings, etc.

Old Red Square

The passage between the benches and lockers was four arshins wide. The exhibitions in the shops were small and bad; they were replaced by merchants and their clerks, who stood near their shops and loudly invited the passing public to come to them. Pointing their fingers at their shops, they shouted: “Please, we have satin, rosin and other silk goods for you.” Dealers in boots and shoes were not content with simply inviting customers to their shops; For a more visual understanding of their product, they gave their boys a pair of boots under their arms and sent them to Red Square to invite buyers. All day long the boys walked along the sidewalks in rows and offered to buy boots for everyone they met. Having found someone who wanted it, the boy brought him to the shop and handed him over to the clerks, and he himself again went to the square to catch buyers, who were called “square”. It was very difficult to sell to them, since these buyers always offered half the price, and sometimes even less.

Upper city rows (view along Nikolskaya Street from the northeast corner)

There were still wandering shoemakers, the so-called booters, walking along the rows and along Red Square; they had with them small pieces of leather, a knife, nails, a hammer and a thick wooden stick with an iron claw. With the help of these tools they are in the most prominent and active places behind cheap price repaired old boots. To do this, the owner of thin boots, no matter what the weather, took off his shoes on the street and stood barefoot while the shoemaker repaired his boots. Such scenes and types are no longer found on Moscow streets.

Upper city rows (view along Nikolskaya from the Historical Museum)

In the Knife Line, among the merchants and their employees there were many Ostrovsky types. For example, not far from Zaborov’s shop, a short, shaven old man, Chervyakov, was selling haberdashery in a cabinet. He dressed in a lionfish coat in the summer, and in a raccoon coat with a stand-up collar in the winter. He always had a tall top hat on his head, which he did not part with in the winter, even in severe frosts. In general, the figure of Chervyakov was extremely comical. He was such a suspicious person that he did not trust not only strangers, but also himself. Every evening he locked and sealed his locker for over an hour. Having finished typing, he took off the top hat from his head and began to pray in all four directions, first to the ordinary icon, then to his locker, to the neighboring bench and to the fruit “verb”. After that he left. Having walked 200-300 steps away from his locker, he returned and began again to inspect and feel all the locks and seals in the locker. Then he again prayed in all four directions and left, but after a few minutes he appeared again for the same thing... Thus, the old man inspected the locks and seals several times daily. He stopped this activity when the guards took the chained dogs out of the dungeon and let them go. them to the Knife Line all night.

Upper city rows - Nozhevaya line (2nd row from Nikolskaya street)

Another original, a certain Batrakov, who sold ready-made clothes, went to the “Bubnovskaya Hole” every morning, from where he always returned in the evening, red as boiled crayfish. Entering the shop, he loudly asked the clerks: “What, were they selling?” The senior clerk answered: “They sold it, sir.” The merchant walked behind the counter to the “revenue”, opened an empty box... “Where is the money?” - “But they sold it, but they didn’t sell it,” the merchant silently approached the clerk and whispered something for a long time and impressively in his ear.

Upper city rows (view along Ilyinka from Red Square)

Another interesting neighbor was Eremkin, who sold tea, although he was not involved in trade at all. His profession was “to intercede everywhere and everywhere, for everyone and everything.” For this purpose, he had acquaintances in various courts, offices, boards, etc. He never refused any business, he took on everything, the possible and the impossible. His main specialty was to get merchants medals, orders, the title of honorary citizen, etc. He charged inexpensively for Svan services and therefore always had a large clientele among merchants.

Middle city rows (view from Moskvoretskaya street)

There was still a rather elderly merchant named Korolev, who sold shoes. This guy was a big fan of fires. He always went to every fire, no matter where it was, day or night, it didn’t matter, and he was always the last to leave when the fire was extinguished.

Middle city rows (view along Khrustalny Lane from Ilyinka)

But the most striking and typical figure in the Knife Line was our owner, old man Zaborov. He always sat on a high stool at the entrance to the shop; on the other side of the door stood a group of his clerks and in chorus called everyone passing into the shop, offering them to buy shoes and boots. Zaborov traded wholesale and retail; its annual turnover was slightly more than 100 thousand rubles.

No matter how many customers there were in the shop, all the clerks could not leave. There was a constant duty here; the duties of the duty officer were to “call in” customers. Many people passing by did not like this bartering; they responded to the barker by saying: “What a watchdog...” In the remaining rows, barking was practiced on a smaller scale.

Middle city rows (view along Khrustalny Lane from Varvarka)

The icon row was very typical. One half of it was occupied by icon shops, and the other by women selling handmade lace in small cabinets. In icon shops, icons were not sold, but “exchanged.” It was done this way. The buyer, entering the store, said:

I would like to exchange the icon.

The seller, in response to this, quickly removed the cap from his head and put it right there on the counter. The buyer followed the example of the seller and also stood with his head uncovered. The icon is selected. Buyer asks:

How much does it cost to exchange an icon?

The merchant set a fabulous price for it. The bargaining began. To be more convincing, the seller said that he set a divine price, because it is a sin to bargain for icons. The buyer agreed with him and bought the icon for a “divine price.” The icons were mostly exchanged by Rogozh and Zamasvorets merchants. More intelligent buyers did not agree with the “divine prices” set by the merchant. They asked him to cover his head with a cap and take half the “divine price” for the icons. The seller quickly made concessions and sold the icon for the offered price.

Middle city rows (view along Varvarka from Moskvoretskaya street)

The merchants and clerks who sold icons were all ardent alcoholics. They were considered the most honored guests at the “Hole of Diamonds” and enjoyed special respect. Some of them, who had been drinking incredible amounts of wine there every day for decades, were given a significant discount. The merchants were very proud of this well-deserved privilege.

Middle city rows - view along Ilyinka from the north-eastern corner

As you know, all stores and shops have their own special marks that mark the goods. To do this, the merchant chooses some word that has ten different letters, for example “M e l n i k o v”; With these (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0) letters he writes units, tens, hundreds and thousands.

Middle city rows - view along Ilyinka from Red Square

One day I witnessed the following interesting scene. IN icon shop two merchants came, an old and a young one, and with them three women to bathe three icons for the wedding. They chose them for quite a long time, then asked how much it would cost to exchange these icons. The seller charged 150 rubles for them. The merchants found this price too expensive and began to explain their mark to each other in the following way: a young man, obviously the groom, turning to his father, said: “You can give the Artsy, like him, rest.” The old man replied: “No, it’s expensive, it will be quite hard, he,” and, turning to the seller, said: “If you want to take 90 rubles, we won’t give you more than a penny, otherwise we’ll buy it somewhere else.” The seller quickly made concessions, and the ICONS were sold to merchants for “firmly.”

Average city rows. View from Lobnoye Mesto

In the center of Gostiny Dvor there was a number of so-called “money changers”, most of them were Japanese. They exchanged money, sold and bought series and coupons. The money changers were placed in benches one and a half arshins wide; In front of each of them on the counter were stacks of small silver coins. One of the money changers, a certain Savinov, was distinguished by great eccentricity. A very rich man, always sober and stingy, he often went on rather strange and ridiculous sprees. So, for example, during the winter he hired a luxury troika 8-10 times and rode it alone from morning to evening back and forth across Red Square.

Harmful city rows (view of Varvarka from the Church of Varvara the Martyr)

In the summer, Savinov walked differently: he dressed up in a white suit, covered his head with a white cap in the form of a skufia, and put a gold ring with a huge diamond on the index finger of his right hand. In such a buffoonish form he sat on the bench all day long. Tverskoy Boulevard, and the index finger with the diamond was on display all the time. Savinov was a fat 55-year-old, rather cheerful old man. The passing public looked at this monster with great surprise and chuckled good-naturedly.

Upper city rows - Isterian Passage (the beginning of the Bolshoi Vetoshny Row from Nikolskaya Street)

In the old days, beggars exchanged small coins on Red Square; they took three kopecks for change from each ruble. This is where the so-called money changers and money changers originate; the latter are now called bankers' offices, and the money changers - bankers.

Upper city rows - Middle Transverse Passage (from the monument to Minin and Pozharsky)

Many poor merchants had neither a clerk nor a boy, but they went to the tavern carefully every day twice and sat there for quite a long time. When leaving for the tavern, the merchant did not lock the shop or even close it, but simply placed a broom across the door and left calmly. If a buyer came in his absence, then, seeing a broom at the merchant’s door, he resignedly went back, leaving the purchase until another time.

Upper city rows - Silver row (1st spinning mill from Ilyinka)

In winter, during severe frosts, the owners sat in the tavern all day, and generously left the clerks and boys to freeze in the shops. The latter especially suffered from the cold, as they were dressed very poorly. Frosts sometimes reached 30 degrees or more; the birds froze and died in flight. In such severe frosts, it used to be that you would become completely numb, everything would freeze, both outside and inside. When you drank hot tea in the cold, it produced the effect of molten lead in your stomach, and the next day a large tumor appeared under your chin and it was painful to swallow. This disease was called “chushka”. In severe frosts, thick ropes were stretched along all rows to keep traders warm; They were pulled by a lot of people screaming, and this warmed them up. Then, in severe frosts, we also played “Ice Ice” - we kicked a large piece of ice along the rows. At night, in severe frosts, large bonfires were burned on Theater Square and at the intersections of central streets to warm the poor people. Returning home from daily “hikes,” often with frostbitten feet and hands, since we were not given warm boots and mittens, I often warmed up by the fire on Teatralnaya Square in the company of coachmen and cab drivers who were waiting for the theatrical departure...

Upper city ranks. Silver Row (2nd spinner from Ilyinka)

In Gostiny Dvor it was strictly forbidden to smoke tobacco or light a fire, so on dark autumn days the shops were locked at three o'clock in the afternoon.

Life in the ranks was family-patriarchal. As soon as the shops were opened, the neighbors gathered in groups in a row and reported various news, or simply told each other how they spent their time yesterday. Such neighborly conversations were called “cheska” - the group went to a tavern to continue it, where they sat over tea for two to three hours. Then they went to their shops. After staying in them for a short time, they gathered in groups in a row and went back to the tavern. In this way, the merchants spent their time quietly and cheerfully.

Upper city rows - Panskoy row (1st spinning mill from Ilyinka)

From early morning until late evening, a lot of people, buyers, suppliers, artisans, artel workers, cab drivers, beggars and others wandered through the rows. The shops everywhere showed a flurry of activity: various goods were being sold, bought, and shipped. In general, there was a lot of life and movement throughout the diverse and noisy crowd. Among the public, numerous peddlers walked along the rows, carrying on their heads in long trays covered with warm blankets, fried veal, ham, sausages, pies, sausages, etc., while all the peddlers different voices loudly shouted the names of their products.

Upper city rows - Small Cloth Row (view from Ilyinka)

Each peddler had his own nickname. Some of them were called “Goat”, “Rooster”, “Master”, “Snail”, etc. Then there were also interesting types of ordinary cooks. They carried in one hand a large clay pot of cabbage soup, wrapped in a warm blanket, and in the other hand a basket with bowls, wooden spoons and black bread. A bowl of hot, delicious cabbage soup with meat cost ten kopecks. After eating, the merchants placed bowls with the remains of cabbage soup and bread on the floor in the rows near their shops, where they were eaten by stray dogs running through the rows. Then the cook came, collected the bowls, immediately wiped them with a dirty and greasy towel and again poured hot cabbage soup into them for those who wanted them.

Upper city rows - Great Cloth Row (view from the middle of the rows)

Many beggars and holy fools walked along all the rows, among them there were many burned-out merchants, drunken and expelled clerks, officials and others. Their degrees Tit Titychi often forced former people sing and dance around their shops. Pryanishnikov beautifully depicted such a scene in his painting located in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Traveling musicians also walked along the rows and entertained the merchants with unwise music. IN New Year Many military musicians came, who after the music congratulated the merchants on the New Year. Clerks and boys amused themselves by pinning humorous figures cut out of paper on the backs of beggars and holy fools, and various inscriptions on them, with which those already offended by fate walked through the rows, arousing laughter everywhere with their appearance.

Upper city rows - Lapotny row

Then they threw boxes with live mice, carefully wrapped in paper, at busy places; passers-by willingly picked up such finds and quickly disappeared with them.

There was also the following amusement in big use: a small silver coin was placed on the floor in the middle of the row, a thin black thread was glued to it, which was pulled along the floor into the shop; the end of the thread was in the hands of the employee. A passerby, seeing a silver coin lying on the floor, quickly bent down to pick it up; At that moment, a thread was pulled from the shop and the coin flew away from under the nose of the surprised passerby. This trick was always accompanied by Homeric laughter from the merchants.

In winter, during severe frosts, this fun was done a little differently. The coin was not tied, but frozen to the floor. The finder first tore off the coin with his fingernail, but was unable to do so; then he began to vigorously chip away at her with his heel. The merchants laughed and said to the finder: “Try it with your hoof...” The finder scolded the merchants and left. The coin remained in place.

Upper city rows - Narrow row

The game of checkers was common in Gostiny Dvor. To do this, merchants sat in a row near their shops on stools or boxes and played all day long. Among the players there were real virtuosos, whose game many curious people gathered to watch, sometimes placing large bets on the players. During Foma’s week, a “cheap shop” was held in Gostiny Dvor, for which various defects and worthless things were specially prepared. To do this, temporary counters were placed on the outside, near the shops, with large piles of various goods lying on them, and customers were digging through them like chickens.

Upper city ranks. Bolshoi Vetoshnoy row (1st spinning mill from Ilyinka)

Sale "on the cheap" was arranged special rules. So, for example, a product purchased “on the cheap” was not replaced, they were not responsible for its quality, and they did not give money back under any pretext. In shoe shops there was an additional rule - it was not allowed to try on cheap shoes. The shoes, tightly tied in pairs, were mostly different, that is, one was larger, the other was smaller, or they were very identical - two shoes, both on the same foot. Customers brought such shoes back and asked to change them, but they were categorically refused, citing the fact that “on the cheap” they were not responsible for anything.

On this occasion, quite unpleasant incidents often occurred between buyers and sellers. At night, all the numerous entrances to the Gostiny Dvor were closed with shabby, thin doors knocked together from thin boards and splints. Inside Gostiny Dvor was guarded by row guards and many angry dogs. Moreover, each row was covered with torn tarpaulins and matting across its entire width.

Upper city ranks. Large Icon Row (view from the middle of the rows)

Night thefts in the ranks were quite rare and exceptional. Despite the fact that it was certainly forbidden to smoke tobacco and light a fire in Gostiny Dvor, fires sometimes occurred there, as usual “from an unknown cause.” Since horse-drawn firefighters could not get into the rows, to extinguish fires in the rows there was a special foot fire brigade in the City part, which always came to the fire very late, and each barrel of water was carried by three firefighters. This turtle team was of very little use when putting out fires; She was usually sent on duty during performances at the Bolshoi and Maly theaters.

Upper city ranks. Small Vetoshnoy Row

Every year on Saturday in the sixth week of Lent there is a palm market and festivities on Red Square. To do this, along the Kremlin wall, opposite the Gostiny Dvor, linen tents and chests are arranged in several rows, in which they sell children's toys, artificial flowers, defective dishes, popular prints, old books, mostly with torn out sheets (used bookstores sell them at a choice of 10 -20 kopecks) and many other things of the same kind.

Average city rows. Transverse passage from the frontal place

Average city rows. Mirror row (1st spinning wheel from Ilyinka)

Average city rows. Bottom vegetable row

This ends the first part. There will be a big sequel coming soon. By clicking on the photos you can view them in good quality and see the place from which it was made. You can also leave your comments and take part in the discussion of each photo. When preparing the material we used:

I.A. Slonov: “From the life of trading Moscow”
- Naydenov: Moscow Cathedrals, Monasteries, Churches
- Alexey Dedushkin
- GUM website
- Website "Photos of old Moscow"
Also, special thanks to all users who uploaded photos.

Other photo stories:

MKAD. website. Also, I will be very grateful if you post information about this project in your journal.

Leonid Kolgushkin

KOSTROMA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE XX CENTURY

TRADE RALLS, FAIRS, BAZAARS

View of the central part of Kostroma from the fire tower. Photo beginning XX century

If we were transported to Kostroma at the beginning of the 20th century, then first of all we would be surprised by the desire and ability of Kostroma residents to bargain before buying goods. This could be observed especially clearly in ready-made dress shops, of which there were many in Gostiny Ryad and at the flea market. The small rooms were completely covered with various outerwear low quality with a view to the rural buyer. Such stores were mainly owned by Jews Gutman, Mashtaler, Shtabinsky and many others. U entrance doors usually the owner or a member of his family sat, rarely the clerk; They tempted customers to the point that they dragged some of them into the store by their sleeves.

Trading Red and Tobacco rows. Photo beginning XX century

One day, a village priest passing by was grabbed from two adjacent stores at once and each pulled in his own direction until the sleeve of his cassock was torn off. Not wanting conflict and undermining authority trading enterprise, the owners persuaded the priest to enter the store, where they carefully sewed up his sleeve and gave him plenty of tea with sugar and bagels. “Father” was extremely pleased with the treatment, and the sellers, taking advantage of his complacent mood, handed him the goods at a great profit for themselves. Both sides were satisfied.

The Dombek perfumery and optical store offered an interesting benefit when purchasing perfumery products. Sellers attached special coupons indicating the price to the goods sold, and if the buyer had enough of them for the amount of 10 rubles, then he was given the right to choose “free” perfumes worth one ruble.

Even large trading companies cared about attracting buyers. So, chocolate factories produce figured chocolate in the form different cats, bears, bombs and cones, they put various copper trinkets wrapped in thin paper, such as rings, earrings, keychains, etc., and large beautiful pictures on thin cardboard. The worse the chocolate was, the larger and more beautiful the picture was. This was what distinguished the Ding and Co. confectionery factory. Case factories "Katyk" and others also put souvenirs in the form of cigarette holders, cigarette stuffing machines, and even penknives into boxes with cartridges.

Flour rows and collective farm market. Beginning XX century

Shop windows, signs, posters, advertisements wherever they could promoted goods, trying to outdo their rivals with their inventiveness. Modern man has a vague idea of ​​the purchasing power of the people of that time. Of course, supply has always outweighed demand. The sale of all kinds of goods for books on credit in factory stores, as well as in all small shops, which was practiced at that time, distracted the bulk of the working buyer from the general market.

Trading in front of the Big Flour Rows. Beginning XX century

The product advertisement was interesting. So, under the sign of the bakery there was always a gilded pretzel. Above butcher shops Dementiev, Smirnov, Veselov and others always had beautiful gilded bull heads shining, and on the doors there were bundles of inflated cow bladders. On the shelves of shoe stores, depending on the season, there was a huge leather or felted boot. Even on the doors of stationery stores there were dummies of colored pencils no less than a meter in size and a metal writing pen the size of a baby's cradle.

Kostroma. Shopping arcades. Photo beginning XX century

Signs of taverns and teahouses were full of crudely painted teapots, cups and other utensils. Beer houses or, as they were called then, porter houses were distinguished by two-color painted signs in the form of longitudinal green and yellow stripes, which indicated trade in drinking and takeaway. A red crayfish was often painted on windows and door sashes. Such visual propaganda helped every illiterate person find what he needed.

There were a huge number of state-owned wine shops, taverns, porter houses, and “Rensky” cellars (trade in grape wines). And there those who fell into the power of the “green serpent” forgot their grief, grievances and poverty, ending in beggary, illness and crime.

Hotels with salons, private offices and rooms, as well as restaurants were available only to moneyed people, and the “working people” almost did not use their services. There were few of them in Kostroma. The most luxurious was considered the “Bolshaya Moskovskaya” - Gagarin’s hotel. There were also the “Old Dvor” hotel at the beginning of Rusinaya Street, “Kostroma” on Voskresenskaya, between the Government Building and the Church of the Resurrection, Gorbachev’s “Passage” on Susaninskaya Square and several other small hotels with inns.

Gostiny Dvor from Voskresenskaya Square. Beginning XX century

The shopping arcades have always been considered the center of the city, although they were located on its edge. Even their names have remained the same: Living rooms or Red, Flour, Oil, Tobacco, Gingerbread, Fish, Green, Meat. True, most of them no longer live up to these names. In Mukhnye they do not sell flour, in Gingerbread - gingerbread, in Tobacco - tobacco, in Maslyany - butter. Meat rows in those distant times were wooden and were replaced by stone ones around 1910.

The external design of the rows and the trading system itself were of a completely different direction. Everything was subordinated to product advertising. Respectable signs with the names of merchants, decorated in large raised font with gilded letters, were installed. Such signs were in the living room at the G. A. Klechenova", "Br. Opatovs", "Akatova", "F. G. Monakhov" and others, and in the Flour Rows - large wholesalers "M. M. Chumakova with her sons", "P. N. Stoyunina", "N. A. Tolstopyatov" and many others. Trade affairs were supported and sanctified by the church.

Large flour rows. Late 1910s

In the gaps across each row, large icons in gilded icon cases were hung, and on the opposite side of the center from the center of the Gostiny Rows stood the Church of the Savior, built in the last century exclusively at the expense of merchants. Every day, merchants ordered thanksgiving prayers here and placed thick wax candles in front of the icons of revered saints. This was done every time after the completion of a profitable trade deal. Prayers were served especially often on fair and market days.

Gostiny Dvor and Tobacco Rows. Beginning XX century

There were large chapels at both ends of Gingerbread Row and a red stone chapel at the end of Tobacco Row. During the NEP, a beer hall was built in this room, which its visitors called “Krestiki”. In every store, except Jewish and Tatar ones, icons with lit lamps always hung in the most prominent places.

In all the shopping arcades there were clouds of pigeons, and there was a custom among the martyrs: when opening the doors of shops and storehouses, each of them, making the sign of the cross, threw out a scoop of grain to the pigeons.

Elderly merchants at that time still adhered to the habits, customs and clothing almost from the times of the Zamoskvoretsky merchants of the last century, described by A. N. Ostrovsky. They loved to wear well-groomed, combed beards, dress in jackets, Russian bottle boots, and vests with heavy gold chains attached to the same watches. The young merchants adhered to European costumes, wore only mustaches, and their habits, customs and entire way of life retained almost the same - their father's.

It was noisy in the city on market days on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as well as during fairs and on the eve of Christmas and Easter. During these days, hundreds of peasant carts came to the city, which were located on Resurrection Square, as well as behind the Linen Rows, opposite the old Dnastasiinsky convent (in its place multi-story residential buildings were built) and on Sennaya Square. Even in the evening and at night, peasants approaching the city were met on all roads by resellers who bought all the products in bulk at a cheap price, and then all this was sold in stalls and shops. The peasants themselves sold only cucumbers, turnips, cabbage and potatoes, and the rest of the food products reached the consumer only through intermediaries.

Green Bazaar from Sobornaya Square. Photographer A.A. Makarevsky. Beginning XX century

On market days, everywhere in the city one could meet bearded, long-haired peasants in their usual clothes. If it is winter, then in a short fur coat, a hare or wolf hat with earflaps and bast shoes, rarely in felted boots. The women were dressed in the same way as the men, in sheepskin coats and differed from the men in having a beardless face and a rough sheepskin shawl on their heads. Barking and talking loudly, they complemented the noise from the neighing of horses, discordant factory whistles and the ringing of bells of numerous churches.

Fairs in Kostroma were held twice a year: on March 14 there was the Fedorov Fair, which lasted only 3-4 days, and the longer Ninth Fair. It opened on Sunday in the ninth week after Easter and ended on Saturday in the eleventh week. During the Fedorov Fair, the most interesting thing for horse lovers was the Podtorzhe or horse fair. On the eve of Fedorovskaya Square, Sennaya Square was flooded with hundreds of horses of different breeds, ages, colors and qualities. Along with the horses, many gypsies and visiting horse dealers appeared, among whom there were many horse thieves.

Hay market. Photographer N.A. Karjakin. Beginning XX century

City horse lovers, teenage boys, despite the muddy roads, impassable mud and knee-deep water, stood for hours in the square, admiring the graceful running of purebred trotters and the powerful gait of heavy draft horses, Clydesdales, Percherons and Suffrols, trained by specialist horse breeders.

Any peasant horse, be it at least 25 years old, if it has been in the hands of a gypsy or a horse dealer for a week, temporarily becomes unrecognizable - it acquires an external gloss, agility on the move and even some grace. This preparation consisted of filing the teeth and burning false dimples in them, by which experts recognize the age of a horse up to 8 years old, specially adding stimulants to the food, including vodka, and even inflating the intestines with air. An inexperienced peasant could buy such a horse, but in the morning it would be unrecognizable, since it would turn into a real nag, good for nothing.

The guttural speech of the gypsies, screams, cursing, blasphemy, praising the horse's articles by the horse dealers - everything indicated the beginning of the bargaining. The buyer meagerly added to the price he offered, and the seller even more stingily subtracted from his own. Finally, having agreed, the seller passed the reins to the horse in the buyer’s jacket through the half of his undercoat. The bargaining ended, and they went to the nearest teahouse or tavern to make payments and drink “litkas”.

Fedorov Fair in Kostroma. Gypsies. Photo by N.A. Karjakin 1908

There were also large buyers at the fair, purchasing horses in batches for trading companies. They were more interested in heavy trucks.

Landowners and the urban bourgeoisie bought few horses at the fair; they preferred to take them directly from stud farms, with a rich pedigree and well-trained. Young but weak horses, as well as foals, were bought by local Tatars to be fattened for meat.

On the same day, on the parade ground between the Gostiny and Flour rows, the equipment of the fair shelves for the trade in toys, sweets, industrial and household goods, but at the Fedorovskaya fair trade was not as rich as at the Ninth, and therefore we will better describe the latter.

Fedorovskaya Fair on Susaninskaya Square. Beginning XX century

If the Fedorovskaya fair took place in early spring, at the very time of the mud, then the Ninth was always at the beginning of summer, with the onset of hot, fine days. This fair was timed to commemorate the day natural Disasters- fires that befell the city of Kostroma in the last and century before last.

In memory of these events, religious processions were established around the city over the next three Sundays, starting from the ninth after Easter. Each time we walked around a third of the city. After the church service in the cathedral, the entire composition of the clergy with icons, banners in brocade vestments, and the singing of prayers gathered on Cathedral Square with a large crowd of worshipers, mainly peasants from the surrounding villages, and slowly headed along a certain route. The clergy of churches located along the route of the religious procession joined it. Along the route, by order of the police, homeowners were obliged to bring out tubs of water and mugs to quench the thirst of pilgrims. At the same time, no, even the most basic rules of sanitation were observed, and on the unpaved streets, from the movement of such a mass of people, whole clouds of dust rose, which immediately settled on tubs of water, and on food and sweets that were sold by hand by enterprising hawkers.

The lower part of the green bazaar. Beginning XX century

The peasants had been preparing for these solemn days for a long time and, tying their best summer clothes in a bundle, throwing leather shoes over their shoulders, walked barefoot to the city outskirts, where they washed at the nearest water pump, put on shoes and a festive dress, and went to the religious procession.

Women and teenagers predominated. It was not surprising that peasants wore one pair of shoes for decades: they wore them more on their shoulders than on their feet. After the procession ended, everyone went to the city center, where the fair flag had already been raised.

In the first row they were selling children's toys brought from Sergiev Posad, Palekh, Semenovsky, etc. There was a lot of stuff here: dolls, sabers, drums, pipes, wooden nesting dolls, children's pistols, accordions, board games, etc. Crowds of children stood in front of these “shops” from morning to evening, envying the lucky ones whose parents had the opportunity to buy an expensive, beautiful toy.

Right there they sold balloons of bright colors, which, rustling against each other, tried to escape into the blue, cloudless distance. There were often cases when a merchant who had been on a spree bought up the entire bunch and immediately released it into the air, bringing pleasure to himself and the visitors of the fair. It could be worse, when a gang of thieves arrived and did the same thing. Then many people were missing wallets and purses.

The same merchant sold rubber inflatable “devils”, which, releasing air from themselves, made a sharp squeak. Both children and teenagers loved this toy.

Trading from stalls in the city center. Beginning XX century

Other peddlers sold "mother-in-law's tongues," paper balls stuffed with sawdust, and large spiders with coiled wire legs. Thin rubber was attached to them, when twitched the balls jumped, and the spiders, in addition, moved their wire legs terribly. These toys were the most affordable. For some reason, only at the fair could one see the so-called “sea inhabitants” - a toy made on the basis of the well-known laws of physics. There were two types. One of these toys was a glass tube made of thick glass, 25-30 cm long and 3-4 cm in diameter, sealed at both ends. A small round hole on the side was closed with thin rubber. Water was poured into the tube and a small yellow or green glass “devil” was placed, hollow, with a white tail wrapping around its figure and having a hole at the very end. It was necessary to place the tube vertically, press the rubber, and then the “devil,” based on Archimedes’ law, began to rise and fall, while it quickly rotated around its axis. They were always sold with various sayings, like: “I dug potatoes for three years, but on the fourth I ended up in a bottle!” The second toy was also a glass tube, but made of thinner glass and smaller in size, with a thickening at the bottom. The tube was sealed tightly. Colored alcohol was poured into it, sometimes a “devil” was also placed, and the air was pumped out. You had to clench the pipe in your fist, and then the alcohol in it began to boil quickly and the “devil” began to jump. Those who know physics would immediately say that this is a “Franklin boiler”, which is based on the boiling of a liquid in a rarefied space. These toys were in great demand among inquisitive teenage boys.

Yaroslavl confectioners Lopatins, Sapozhnikovs and Petrovs in their glassed pavilions sold delicious gingerbreads - Vyazemsky, Tula, Gorodets in the shape of rectangles, large fish and dragons, white and pink koshalva, Turkish delight, candied fruits and all kinds of candied nuts and fruits. There were also small stalls where Caucasians, in front of the customers’ eyes, made cotton candy using a centrifuge, and baked waffles, crumpets and donuts in special ovens. Nearby they were selling beautiful-looking yellow and bright red kvass and other non-alcoholic drinks.

Persians, Armenians, Georgians, Tajiks, Sarts (Uzbeks) and other eastern merchants traded in dry fruits, nuts, rice, raisins, Turkish horns, “divine honey” and all sorts of oriental sweets.

Kostroma residents looked with surprise and curiosity at the Persian merchants dressed in fancy National costumes, with beards dyed red and blue. The children were terribly afraid of them. Closer to the Flour Rows there were tents with textile scraps, wooden utensils, icons, agricultural implements and saddlery goods.

Trade at the fair was not only retail, but local merchants and owners of “colonial” shops bought goods from eastern merchants in large wholesale. Chips and saddlery goods, as well as icons and church utensils, were sold wholesale.

Provincial fair on Susaninskaya Square. Photo by A.A. Makarevsky.

On the linen site, where the park is currently laid out, between the Flour Rows and the Anastasiinsky Convent, on the site of which multi-story residential buildings now stand, entertainment enterprises grew up. Two carousels and swing boats were always installed. Sometimes there was a circus tent, that is, temporary, under a canvas dome. Booths were placed in two rows, where various magicians, illusionists, hypnotists, gymnasts, sword swallowers, strongmen lifted large barbells and weights, sometimes cardboard or wooden. There were also tamers of wild animals, and various human deformities were also demonstrated in the form of hairy “dog people”, bearded women, dwarfs, giants, but most of all the common people liked Parsley. This puppet show was the forerunner of puppet theaters. The audience especially loved the scene when Petrushka, having encountered a policeman, showered him with sarcastic jokes in her squeaky voice, and then even rewarded him with blows.

Entertaining Maslenitsa town with swings and carousels. Beginning XX century

Students willingly attended the panopticon, which sometimes took place in Kostroma. It was a wax museum that had two departments - historical and anatomical. In the historical department one could see life-size wax figures of famous statesmen past, as well as objects and instruments of torture of the Inquisition. Some figures, using winding mechanisms, performed breathing movements. Children under 16 years of age were not allowed into the anatomy department; people of different races and all kinds of physical deformities and diseases were demonstrated there.

A high school student at the Fedorov Fair. Beginning XX century

Fairs and city celebrations have long been a part of Russian culture and history. They became widespread in the mid-18th and 19th centuries; up to 3,000 events of this type were held annually in Russia. Fairs could be forest, hop, horse, or steppe fairs. In those days, there was practically no trade in villages and villages, so fairs became very important for the common people. convenient place, where you could sell your surplus agricultural products, buy new clothes and other necessary goods, finally take a break from exhausting agricultural work, have fun and, as they say, “show yourself and see others.”

The largest fairs in Rus' were:

• Mologa fair. Venue: Upper Volga region of the 14th-16th centuries. It was distinguished by a wide multinational composition of traders; merchants from Russia, Poland, Greece, Germany, Armenia, Persia, Asian countries and Turkey traded here;
• Makaryevskaya Fair. Venue: Makaryev Monastery on the Volga near Nizhny Novgorod at the end of the 16th century. The convenient location helped attract a large number of traders, both local and foreign. After a fire that destroyed most of the buildings, the auction was moved to Novgorod;
• Nizhny Novgorod Fair. Replaced Makaryevskaya, from the beginning of the 18th century it began to take place in Nizhny Novgorod. A special Fairground was built here, where one could purchase a very wide range of different types of products: salt, wine, fish, cotton, furs, metal products me and much more;
• Irbit Fair. Held in the Urals in the 17th century, it was distinguished by a variety of goods, both local and from far abroad: China. Central Asia.

People's Fair

A fair is a market in the center of a city or village, where merchants, traders and artisans came from both surrounding villages and villages, as well as from remote areas, to sell their goods and see others. It was at the fairs that the most profitable and large trade agreements were concluded, because businessmen came here not only from local cities and villages, but also overseas guests from distant countries. During the fair, various sweets, fruits and drinks were sold everywhere, both in tents and trays and by special peddlers, to entertain and treat guests and customers.

(Modern fair in Moscow, Red Square)

At such fairs, everyone sold what they wanted; the goods could be bagels and sugar pretzels, as well as livestock, poultry, objects of pottery and weaving art, and much more. It was a real paradise for artisans (coopers, blacksmiths, potters, weavers), who spent a whole year preparing to show buyers real masterpieces of their craft. Also here, masters of various trades offered their services: shoemakers repaired shoes, barbers shaved beards and cut hair, tailors repaired clothes. In order to attract buyers, jesters and buffoons walked around the market and made people laugh with various advertising jokes.

Fair Theater

In addition to various types of auctions, various theatrical and musical entertainment events were usually held at fairs, booths, nativity scenes, performances and skits with the participation of live bears were organized, competitions and various amusements were organized.

(Kustodiev "Balagany")

One of the main obligatory heroes of fair performances was the finger puppet Parsley. She had the appearance of a cheerful and broken joker and a merry fellow, with a not very pretty appearance (he had a hump, a large nose, sharp facial features, a squeaky, sharp voice), but with a very perky and mischievous character, an excellent sense of humor, which sometimes crossed all boundaries , so very often this character found himself in various awkward situations and was beaten more than once for his very long tongue. But Petrushka never loses heart, the oar lifts up its long and humped nose and continues to joke around and make people laugh, either with his matchmaking, or getting a job, and other funny adventures.

Folk festivities

Any fair was a real holiday for ordinary people, which helped them escape from the hard work of everyday life and allowed them to relax both soul and body. There was always an atmosphere of celebration and fun, music played, actors performed, folk songs and children's laughter sounded. The whole family went there, dressed up in beautiful holiday clothes, watched colorful interesting performances, had fun from the heart, took part in various competitions and games, rode on carousels and swings, bought various goods, sweets and gifts.

One of the most ancient entertainment activities at the fair has long been driving round dances. Participated in them a large number of people, the fun was accompanied by cheerful music, singing, and the participation of buffoons and actors. The leisurely movement of round dances could be interrupted by the daring Russian dance, in which dancers competed with each other in making various intricate figures and knees.

Often, various strength competitions were held at fairs, such as fist fights, which were especially popular on Maslenitsa; usually physically developed men of any age, regardless of their position in society, took part in them. The fight could be carried out one-on-one, wall-to-wall, or in the form of a “hook-and-shovel” (reminiscent of the type of original Russian martial arts in which the fight took place with the help of throws and grabs). For men, this pastime was one of their favorites, because it allowed them to show their strength, dexterity and courage, “let off extra steam” or even “knock the crap out of their heads” that had accumulated there during the daily routine.