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Have you ever had to drink vodka by pouring it from a teapot into a bowl? A strange question, you say, why pour vodka into a kettle? Nevertheless, there was a time when vodka was served at weddings in many Central Asian republics in them.
In the Soviet years, our weddings were easier than now. Instead of a restaurant, they closed a part of the street in front of the house where the celebration was planned, set the tables and put on them delicious pilaf, homemade cakes, fruits, salads.
And, of course, drinks and alcohol. As they say, the rich, the happy. They helped with everything they could – they brought dishes, tables and chairs from all around. Weddings were celebrated by the whole world, together and fun!
Neighbors, friends and relatives were involved in the preparation process
Story from my subscriber Kemal.
Why was it illegal to put alcohol on wedding tables during Prohibition?
And in the second half of the eighties, prohibition broke out. The fight against drunkenness began in the Soviet Union. We will not talk for a long time about how much harm this decree brought to the great country, but at one end it also hit various celebrations.
According to the circulars, lowered from above, it was forbidden to put alcohol on the wedding tables. Representatives of the authorities strictly followed this, and if this rule was violated, then the organizers of the celebration could be punished.
At first, the weddings were sober. We drank only lemonade and mineral water. But then one smart and resourceful person came up with a brilliant idea: what if vodka is poured into teapots and served on the table?
How did our people find a way to keep weddings fun?
Why teapots? Yes, because it is a brilliant example of disguise. The fact is that in Central Asia a guest will definitely be offered a teapot with hot tea. It would never occur to anyone that there is not freshly brewed green tea, but real vodka.
The original idea was quickly picked up, and everyone began to use it. The guests poured vodka into bowls and drank as if they were drinking tea. Weddings began to take place in a more familiar setting.
Responsible officials from the party organs did not know about this secret, but everything secret will someday become clear. Soon they learned the “secret” of teapots, but they did not punish them for it. After all, the main condition was observed – there were no bottles of alcohol on the wedding tables.
And how many curious cases there were, especially at the very beginning, when this “technique” was just being used.
He sits, say, at the table of a yashuli (in the East, a respectable, respected person), a person from the attendants (usually one of the relatives of the owners of the house) approaches him and puts a kettle of vodka in front of him.
Yashuli pours “tea” into the bowl and looks in surprise. Then he calls the unfortunate waiter and says:
“Well, what did you bring me?”
“T-t-tea,” the confused waiter replies.
“What kind of tea is this?” Yashuli insists.
“B-b-white,” he replies.
This is how the phrase “white tea” came into use. But now they have already asked, so as not to get into trouble, because there are those who do not drink alcohol. For example, a waiter approaches a new guest and asks:
– What kind of tea do you want, dear, white or green?
“White,” he replies. Green I can drink at home with my wife.
There were even some very funny cases. Honored guests from the district committee or the chairman of the collective farm come to the wedding. They are seated in a place of honor in a separate room. The owner of the house is confused, what to bring in the teapot?
Here the guests themselves help him:
– Yes, bring what you have there, what you think, honestly.
Then the cheered up owner of the house brings a kettle, only with branded cognac or capital vodka.
Where did they get alcohol during Prohibition and how much did it cost
In those years, “getting” vodka was a big problem. It was brought to stores in small batches, and people lined up in advance.
Those who were going to hold the wedding agreed in advance with the store manager or with the head of the RaiPO (district consumer society) in order to buy several boxes of Russkaya. Of course, the trade worker received a reward for this.
In the store, a bottle of vodka then cost 9 rubles 10 kopecks, but in order to buy it at this price, one had to stand in line. And from the hands it was already 10 rubles. “Married” and their parents had to overpay.
Many years have passed since then. Now it has become fashionable to hold weddings in expensive restaurants, outside the city, in luxury hotels. And the amount of alcohol and its variety on wedding tables will not surprise anyone.
That’s just the feeling of unity and warmth of the soul that was at various celebrations in Soviet times, whether it was a wedding or seeing off to the army, is no longer there. Or so it seems to me, what do you think?