Symbols of America

[peacetraveler22]

For the past few weeks, Ilya Varlamov has published posts incorporating photos from Moscow in the late 1980's - early 90's. I love these! Amazing to see how the country looked right before the collapse of the USSR. In today's post, I saw this photo from 1990. A massive queue to enter the first McDonald's in Moscow! I can't imagine such a scene, or how this fast food chain symbolized so much to people at that time. In 1990, I was 17. A senior in high school, getting ready to graduate and enter university, and closely following events overseas.

What other places, items and things did Soviet citizens associate with America before the collapse? My aunt visited Russia in the early 1980's, and she told me stories about locals asking her for bubble gum and wanting to buy her Levi's, straight off her body. This is no joke.

This is what makes Russia so fascinating to me - very rich and diverse history, constantly shifting and changing. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Not sure how most Russians feel about the current direction in which Russia is moving...I hope you feel for the better, because it's depressing and sad to live in a place where you feel absolutely no hope or prospect for the future. I have never once felt this way about my life in America...

Comments

[sineglazzka2301.livejournal.com]

You are not right about vodka. Most Russian men drink it all right:) In total, much more than whiskey, cognac and all other strong spirits together.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I witnessed this in St. Petersburg, when I was the ONLY woman at a vodka bar. Scary, but interesting experience. Vodka bar - you know it's the national drink when there's a whole bar dedicated to it. :))

[sineglazzka2301.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I didn't know such bars exist. Not a common practice in Russia - to dedicate a bar to one kind of liquid. However, one may see anything in Moscow or St. Petersburg:)

Mussolini ha sempre ragione!

[onkel-hans.livejournal.com]

Russians hate vodka. But certainly, they drink it. Predominantly, they drink moonshine. They also drink various solvents and glues. They also drink eau de toilette. Not for nothing Putin puts on the bottles this warning not to drink -

Re: Mussolini ha sempre ragione!

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

This looks like apple cider. :)

Re: Mussolini ha sempre ragione!

[onkel-hans.livejournal.com]

This is a regular eau de cologne. Kind of similar to the famous 4711.