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To be honest, I don’t remember the times of the “dry law” – I was small. When I was preparing this article for you, I asked my mother what she remembers about forced sobriety in the USSR.
She answered me with a smile that at the mention of “dry law”, colorful pictures of her cousin’s merry non-alcoholic student wedding come before her eyes. Cheerful, as she said, because the painted teapots that stood on the tables were filled not with hot tea, but with various strong drinks.
This is how the bans are bypassed. I decided to delve into this issue and understand what the Russians drank during the Prohibition.
When and why was the dry law adopted in the USSR
In May 1985, the Central Committee of the Party of the Soviet Union adopted a resolution “On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism.” This decision was popularly called “dry law”. The initiator of the innovation, limiting the consumption of alcohol, was the mouthpiece of perestroika – Gorbachev M.S.
The official reason for the adoption of the law was the excessive alcoholization of the people. Although, according to statistics, per capita consumption in the USSR was no more than in European countries. And according to WHO data, published in 2018, after Prohibition in our country they began to drink even more.
There is a version that in fact the task was to bring down the economy and lead to the collapse of the USSR. Which is what happened in 1991. Like it or not, we are unlikely to ever know.
There is also an opinion that it was the anti-alcohol campaign that contributed to the spread of alcohol, no matter how paradoxical it may be. Indeed, if earlier many simply did not buy wine and vodka products as unnecessary, then with the introduction of the law they were forced to purchase “forbidden” products in the prescribed amount for each family member. Don’t waste good!
How much alcohol was legal
The ban on alcohol only led to its increased demand, despite the almost doubling of the price. Queues began to form at wine and vodka shops not only from drinkers, but even from those who had never even held a bottle in their hands before. Deficit!
The sale of alcohol was carried out at a limited time from 14.00 to 19.00, and no more than two bottles with an alcohol-containing substance were dispensed to one hand.
People began to take for the future – for birthdays, weddings, funerals. The whole family queued up to get a strategic supply.
Vodka at that time became – “hard currency”. She was paid for various services. From repairing plumbing to getting a pair of boots.
How people managed to drink alcohol even during Prohibition
Didn’t have to try. First of all, because “from under the counter”, that is, through an acquaintance, you could buy anything: from French cognac to Georgian wine. Of course, overpriced, but still possible.
Alcohol could get hold of not only in pharmacies and medical institutions. At the factories, workers were given alcohol to clean their hands, but almost no one used it for its intended purpose. Everything quietly drained and carried the precious moisture home. Someone used it himself, and someone resold it. Naturally, this was illegal.
And, of course, the symbol of the “prohibition” – the moonshine still – rescued people. In many apartments, houses, sheds, bathhouses, there were bottles of mash and “greetings to Gorbachev” – gloves inflated with the gas released during fermentation.
Strong, burning the soul and stomach, the alcoholic drink was made from beets, grains, potatoes, and grapes. It is more difficult to list from what they did not drive. High-quality pervach was cleaned of fusel oils, flavored with herbs, insisted on everything you could, resulting in:
- birch;
- honey;
- spottykach;
- knockdown and much, much more…
Most Popular Drinks During Prohibition (Alcoholic)
Undoubtedly, there were alcohol-containing liquids popular in a certain environment, which can hardly be called drinks. Because drinking them was life-threatening:
- brake fluid – brake fluid;
- Boris Fedorovich – diluted BF glue;
- denatured alcohol – a mixture of drinking alcohol with kerosene;
- braga – drinks obtained during the fermentation process;
- triple cologne – a cosmetic product, in theory, not intended for ingestion.
On the topic of unusual “drinks” there were a lot of jokes. For example, this one: two people in a store buy two Triple Colognes and one Lily of the Valley, because they expect a lady for dinner.
In commercial stores, without any restrictions, it was possible to purchase Royal alcohol in a branded bottle with a beautiful label. In Holland, the manufacturing country, Royal was used for technical purposes, in Russia for the most gastronomic ones.
And of course, they prepared a huge number of different tinctures, liqueurs at home. Probably, every housewife had a recipe for alcohol, which was prepared for the holidays. I will tell you about the recipe for making cognac from moonshine, which was used in my family. Mom told the recipe:
- In a three-liter jar of moonshine, you need to pour ¼ teaspoon of potassium permanganate – in those days you could buy it for a penny at any pharmacy.
- After three days, strain through a filter – several layers of gauze or cotton wool.
- Add 1 glass of milk, 1 tablespoon of instant coffee, ½ sachet of vanilla, 3-4 peas of allspice.
- Close the lid and put in a cool dark place.
- After three weeks, strain again through a filter.
Such a drink of pleasant cognac color with a light vanilla aroma, poured into elegant decanters, was not ashamed to put on the table even in a decent society. By the way, during the Prohibition period, many people preferred to drink home-made moonshine, fearing to be poisoned by counterfeit alcohol.
Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health. Take care of yourself!
Agree that categorical prohibitions have never led to good. Perhaps it is better not to ban, but to instill a culture of drinking. How do you think?