Why a Cup Holder?

It is a well-known fact that tea was a favorite beverage in pre-revolutionary Russia. Confirmed, however, by the father himself under the authority of Alexander Dumas, who wrote many novels as well as The Culinary Dictionary.

The author of “Kitchen Dictionary” mentions that “the best tea is drunk in St. Petersburg and all over Russia in general.” All of this was simply explained: during transportation by sea, and tea tends to lose its taste and valuable properties. Tea was imported directly from Russia to China.

In the same kitchen dictionary, A Dumas says of another amazing Russian custom of drinking French tea: “Men drink tea from glasses, while women use cup porcelain.”

A Dumas could have written fiction. However, the writer and traveler A. Dumas wrote the pure truth. Confirmed a check of paintings by Russian realist artists: Absolutely! If a couple is shown behind a cup of tea, a woman is standing with a porcelain cup and saucer and a glass cup in front of a man. In the cup holder.

We know that the cup holder in the form it appeared in Russia in the late eighteenth century. Its work was originally perfectly technical. It heated a hot tea glass – you can’t touch it. So they supplied the glass with a handle, which was serrated without actually looking at the device. However, in the opinion of the time, it was extremely polite for rude male fingers. And the charm of such a porcelain shade, compressed by a delicate female handle. Or the allure of a gentle female pen crushing a thin porcelain cup. Oh, I’m really confused!

A cup holder, it would seem like a pristine thing. But necessary in daily life. Thus, by the end of the 19th century, the subject had become widespread in the vast Russian Empire. He was rich in almost every household and was not an aristocratic and ordinary man. If glamorous magazines were published at the time, they would no doubt have named the cup holder after the first men’s accessories, including the cup cigarette case. And they will strongly recommend readers to give coasters to their familiar men. However, public opinion came to such a thought without such a recommendation. Coasters, especially silver ones, were a popular gift.

Creates demand-supply. The number of cup holders produced in pre-revolutionary Russia is hardly considered by anyone. But the amount was very significant at the “Bros and Copper-Rolling Plants in Vladimir Province in the late nineteenth century. Colchugin Association of Associations” – At the end of the nineteenth century, at least thirty percent of profits came to the tableware manufacturing workshop, whose main products were only glass holders. However, only the cup holders were not released in Russia! However, the decoration of this subject has become a kind of application industry exclusively by Russian art. In other countries, cup holders are rarely used as a subject for tea table setting.

“Cup holders, this is a particularly Russian subject, they don’t drink tea anywhere like Moscow.” (L. Ulitskaya. Kasas Kukoske)

Coasters were stamped or cast. This has made it possible to diversify their look and make it easier to change designs as fashion changes. In the late 19th century, the Old Russian style came into fashion in Russia. And the cup holders appeared in the form of barrels, wicker tweezers, and even worked in the form of Russian log hats. Cast or stamped ornaments on the body of the cup holder depict warriors and Russian beauties in Coconix. A hunting scene was popular where dogs hit a pig or a bear sharply and trio threes. These three, however, became terribly stiff, adorning the cup holders, which had already been produced during the Soviet period.

Famous jewelers made gold and silver with the same Faberz gilt cup holders. So that the handles of these cloth holders do not burn their fingers, they are made of less expensive than gold but less metallic metal. The handle is covered with beautiful enamel so that the “cheap thing” product does not spoil the overall luxurious look. After being fascinated by Wagner’s “Lohengreen” opera, which tells of the swan prince, the cup holders appeared as swan figures. Even later, already in the early 20th century, coasters appeared in the Art Nouveau style.

And then, the revolution started, and accordingly, the production of cup holders ended. As an object, the proletariat would seem unnecessary. However, each family had several cup holders and ample pre-revolutionary supplies for a long time. In terms of the deficit, cup holders, which used to be valuable, have become particularly valuable. At least in the 1930s, they appeared in the offices of the great masters and the people’s committees as a symbol of Soviet luxury. Capacities were allocated to produce these poor resources, even at the People’s Commissar of Color plants. The same non-ferrous metal processing center in the town of Kolchugin stamped shell casings for shells and cartridges and cup holders. In general, During the Soviet era, cup holders included plans for 30 plants and metallurgical plants. And even outside of planning, coasters are “sculpted” in all sorts of territories and defense ventures.

After World War II, another mass consumer of cup holders appeared in the Soviet Union – rail transport. A secret of popularity was a wide, huge cup holder made the glass more stable.

Now many collect coasters. And most of these collections are made up of Soviet-era coasters. They were made of brass, caproncall, and even silver. And one can write a research paper on the plots that adorn their surface. In addition to the Russian troika that survived the revolutionary and military uprisings, other proud things began to stamp on them:

• Red Moscow
• Glowing with festive salutes
• Monuments to Yuri Dolgoruki and Bohdan Khmelnitsky, as well as a satellite orbiting the earth

“Dare,” Spiridonov sighed and walked away, carrying the Jubilee Cupholder, on which three silver satellites orbited the earth pea with a single country on its convex side. “(T. Tolstoy. Limpopo)

Some collectors collect stamp-like cup holders as in the series: USSR cities, monuments, flowers, festival dates, space rockets, and satellites. Victory Museum, and much more!

Seeing this enormity, you may even forget that in the “good old days,” a glass of tea was Georgian “Georgian,” second class. And besides, it was boiled in soda solution by a cunning conductor to make the tea leaves thicker and thicker.