They say that Soviet citizens had a terrible habit and a characteristic feature at once: as soon as they got on the train, they immediately began to eat!
As soon as they loaded, they opened the bags and knocked eggs on all accessible surfaces.
Particularly intelligent citizens still remember those very terrible times - the smell of boiled eggs and, oh horror, chicken in all its forms - from boiled to fried, mixing with the aroma of cucumbers (by season).
- It seems that people went to eat! - one aristocratic lady wrinkled her nose on Facebook, recalling those really awful times.
By the way, tea was a separate construction site in her claims.
The same tea, which was served on almost all trains, was poured into faceted glasses, and they were placed in metal) or, they say, once - cupronickel) cup holders.
I did not find the times of cupronickel cup holders.
But the tea of my Soviet childhood I remember and, as my older relatives said, in those days it was exactly the same as fifty years earlier - strong. With a slight bitterness, bright saturated color.
I don’t know where this amazingly delicious tea came from. Although, maybe it seemed amazingly tasty to me? Indeed, in fact, there was a problem with really good tea in the USSR for a long time. It was never possible to know exactly what was hiding in a box with Georgian or Krasnodar tea. That is why they were chasing after the Indian "with an elephant", and even more so for the Ceylon one.
However, it is unlikely that the railway used Indian or Ceylon ...
Several times I heard that the secret of the "travel" tea was in the soda. They say that in order for the tea leaves to give color and taste, the conductors poured soda into the water.
I don't know if this is true or not ...
But I want to remind you of history and say that tea on the train is, in fact, also an achievement of civilization, and there is no need to scold it. As well as tradition, there is after planting. And there is no need to despise.
After all, all this, in fact, is connected. I'll tell you how.
For a very long time, even first class cars did not have such a service. Rather, how - tea, most likely, could be taken from the guide - dry. This assumption was expressed by Aleksey Borisovich Vulfov in his book "Everyday Life of Russian Railways", but it is based solely on circumstantial evidence - he managed to find a certain document - "On the prohibition of tea trade for conductors of passenger wagons ".
And boiling water could only be obtained at the stations. According to the article of the first Charter of Railways No. 170, there was a rate for pouring boiling water: a penny - a glass. By the way, there was no cold water in the carriages either (although I think there was in the first class).
But how many passengers were traveling first class? In 1896, out of 50.5 million. Class I passengers carried 0.7 million. people, II class - 5.1 million, III class - 42.4 million. Human.
And here, in fact, the origins of the habit of eating immediately after planting are drawn.
At the station - no way, bustle, and restaurants, they are not for third-class passengers. And the station is still nearby. On it - boiling water, you can brew tea. And, in order not to eat in dry water, but with tea, they took up a meal after landing.
I think that this is how something that became almost a tradition was born - whether it is good or bad, I don’t know, but which should definitely not be despised.