{"id":19760,"date":"2011-07-20T13:57:05","date_gmt":"2011-07-20T11:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebkmag.com\/?p=19760"},"modified":"2011-07-20T13:57:05","modified_gmt":"2011-07-20T11:57:05","slug":"when-vodka-lost-accent-babushkas-wore-kimonos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebkmag.com\/rebuild\/eclectic\/when-vodka-lost-accent-babushkas-wore-kimonos\/","title":{"rendered":"When Vodka Lost its Accent and Babushkas Wore Kimonos"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wise NASTYng Doll \u00a9 Rozenblyum Couture<\/a><\/strong><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

When vodka lost ze akcent and babooshkas wore kimonos\u2026<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
\n

-Dear, I\u2019m home!<\/span>
\n -Why so late?<\/span>
\n -The bear twisted his ankle on the way, so I had to give him vodka.<\/span>
\n -Please take a seat everyone, let\u2019s drink vodka.<\/span>
\n -Mom, I\u2019m going to go play with the bear!<\/span>
\n -Fine, but first, drink vodka<\/span>
\n -Where is grandpa?<\/span>
\n -He\u2019s been standing in line for bread ration tickets for two weeks already<\/span>
\n -It\u2019s good that he got to drink vodka before he went! And you, too, don\u2019t sit around doing nothing, drink some vodka!<\/span>
\n -Ok, son, go play now, and don\u2019t forget to send the daily report to KGB before you go to sleep!<\/span>
\n -Dear, it\u2019s so hot in here, please turn off the nuclear plant!<\/span>
\n -I will, just let me finish the vodka; and you, meanwhile, please play on balalaika!<\/span><\/p>\n

translated from a piece seen online \u201cWhat the world thinks of Russians\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course the above is not true. I hope. But stereotypes are carved into our minds. And from them some things arise that don\u2019t always hold true. Australians, don\u2019t always have kangaroos in the backyards, just like the English, don\u2019t always drink tea. But of course, there are always exceptions<\/p>\n

Vodka,\u00a0How much sense do people put in this word?\u00a0What comes first to mind to most of the people when they hear the alcohol filled, crystal clear, pleasantly flowing into throat word?\u00a0<\/span>Russians.<\/span><\/h5>\n

If we step away from mind embedded stereotypes, and look deeper into history a little, we\u2019ll, unfortunately, find out that vodka may be a not so much Russian invention, and that matryoshkas would originally prefer kimonos or a Buddhist monk clothing over the peasant peacock clothes.<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s a huge point of debates, lately for political, consumer and of course financial reasons(but we won\u2019t go in there) there is no set answer to the question of whom the vodka belongs too. There are, though, three candidates. Russians, of course, Polish and Persians. All we\u2019ll ever have will be a set of fact and guesses, that the favorable side believes in. No matter what but every side will be pulling the blanket onto its side.
\nStarting with the least pretty looking story: (and right off the bet, we\u2019re having the \u201cor\u201d) It is said that the first person to discover alcohol in IV century was perhaps an Arab alchemist. Then, many believe that the first prototype of vodka, was\u00a0 created by a Persian doctor in the XI century. And the story, pretty much, ends here, as alcohol is forbidden by Islam, and there is no happy end from such a potential great beginning.
\nNow, as an outcome from the above, for many centuries, all alcoholic spirits were used by doctors and apothecaries strictly for medical purposes. Sadly, no one tried to consume the medicine, to see how much fun that could be.<\/p>\n

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Vodka \u201cMatrioshka\u201d<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

A quick technical note, according to Britannica, and a number of other encyclopedias:
\nVodka,<\/strong>\u00a0distilled liquor, clear in colour and without definite aroma or taste, ranging in alcoholic content from about 40 to 55 percent.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Because it is highly neutral, with flavouring substances mainly eliminated during processing, it can be made from a mash of the cheapest and most readily available raw materials suitable for fermentation. Potatoes were traditionally employed in Russia and Poland but have largely been supplanted there and in other vodka-producing countries by cereal grains. Most of the times it\u2019s alcohol content is 40% by volume (U.S. 80 proof, as usual, of course the system has to be different). The word vodka itself, is originating from different ways of Slavic spelling of\u00a0 water, \u201cvoda\u201d in Russian, or \u201cwoda\u201d in Polish [as an extra point to Polish theory, the suffix \u201ck\u201d in wodka, adds a dimunitive meaning to word.]. In any case, the word itself, stood as general name for medicines based on alcohol, or, sometimes, even make-up.<\/p>\n

Distillation was first learned in Russia from Italians (specifically Valentius, a monk, who used Arabic distillation techniques) that\u2019s where the history of Russian vodka, that is closest to nowadays spirit, seems to begin. Yet, at the same the Polish say they\u2019ve discovered their vodka, and it was then exported to Russia. Either way, the citizens of both countries found the beverage to be a good one, and the governments, in their turn, found this also to be a great product to levy with a tax. Towards the end of XVI century the Polish King Jan Obracht imposed a huge tax on the sale and production of alcohol, only limited both to the wealthy. Peter the Great, of Russia, also saw a huge profit in the tax revenue coming from vodka, and it\u2019s said that the \u201cwindow to Europe\u201d was mainly built with the help of the \u201cvodka money\u201d.
\nMost of the differences at the time between the vodkas are the filtration and distillation processes. Polish advance with triple distillation in the XVIII\u00a0 century. Filtration was done not just with potatoes and grains, but also, sand, charcoal, and felt.
\nA further spread among Europe is being credited to Napoleon. During the invasion of Russia, which ended with fiasco, he, and, most probably the fighting soldiers, discovered the drink that became popular. Who would\u2019ve thought?
\nThe dark spot on the Russian vodka makers was put by the Commies, right after the October Revolution in 1917. All private distilleries were taken away by the government. (Beware, next time you vote, keep in mind, Communism is a direct threat to vodka!)
\nAnd so we have the battle of the vodkas. Cheers!<\/p>\n

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Social anti vodka poster from USSR<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

With the world famous full figured wooden dolls, it is a little easier. Although the birth certificate definitely lists nationality as Russian, she\u2019s of an Asian descent, Japanese, to be exact. The dolls were inspired by a set of kokeshi, Japanese wooden dolls, representing Shichi -fuku-jin, the Seven Gods of Fortune, specifically Fukurokuju (which happened to be the most outer doll), the god of Happiness and Longetivity. Back in 1890’s Sergey Malyutin, a painter from a folk crafts workshop visited the house of a wealthy patron of arts Savva Mamontov, where he saw the dolls. He, then, had Vassiliy Zvezdochkin carve 8 nesting dolls, which Malyutin painted.<\/p>\n

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Original set of nesting dolls painted by Malyutin<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Kokeshi, in their turn, most probably, were designed after the Daruma dolls, which were modeled after the founder of Zen Buddhism Bodhidharma. Both, kokeshi and daruma lack arms and legs, and have simplified facial features.<\/p>\n

Daruma, a papier mache doll originally comes with black eyes. One of the eyes is being colored in, while making a wish by the owner once received. The other eye is colored in once the wish is fulfilled, after that the doll is taken back to the temple where it was received and is burnt there.<\/p>\n

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DaruMAtryoshka \u00a9 Rozenblyum Couture<\/a><\/strong><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Among peasants the name Matryona was a very popular female name, Matryoshka is the dimunitive of it. It is said that\u00a0 name has a Latin root “mater”, which stands for \u201cmother\u201d. This name was associated with the image of of a mother of a big peasant family who was very healthy and had a, rather, large figure. Thus, the common name among non-Russians, \u201cbabushka\u201d (grandma or old lady) is quite erroneous, especially that it is mostly a younger girl that is depicted on the outer side.
\nMatryoshka is considered to be a symbol of motherhood and fertility. I prefer to see it as advancement, where something little grows into big. Whether it\u2019s a thought, a project, a person\u2019s life, or anything else.
\nImages on matryoshkas, depict anything one could imagine, from traditional folk oriented art, to politicians, musicians, cartoons, robots, and the list goes on and on.<\/p>\n

So next time, you see or imagine the usual stereotype of a Russian, walking the bear, while drinking vodka, and playing with matryoshka, don\u2019t be so sure that it isn\u2019t wodka he\u2019s drinking; and that the Matryoshka-san, wouldn\u2019t prefer a kimono over the sarafan (the traditional peasant dress).<\/p>\n

P.S. Babushka, is pronounced with the stress on the first a.<\/p>\n

P.P.S. And then, how Russian could a bottle of vodka inside a matryoshka box be?<\/p>\n

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Smirnoff Black<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vodka. How much sense do people put in this word? What comes to mind to most of the people when they hear the alcohol filled, pleasantly flowing word? Russians…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[47],"tags":[1033],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paG8MM-58I","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27400,"url":"https:\/\/thebkmag.com\/rebuild\/celebrities\/happy-50th-birthday-anniversary-sir-james-bond\/","url_meta":{"origin":19760,"position":0},"title":"Happy 50th Birthday Anniversary Sir James Bond 007","author":"Benjamin Kanarek","date":"October 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Benjamin Kanarek Blog are pleased to announce that today marks the 50th anniversary of the legendary and iconic Sir James Bond...","rel":"","context":"In "Celebrities"","block_context":{"text":"Celebrities","link":"https:\/\/thebkmag.com\/rebuild\/category\/celebrities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thebkmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/BOND-Post-Images-BDAY-560x365.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thebkmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/BOND-Post-Images-BDAY-560x365.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thebkmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/BOND-Post-Images-BDAY-560x365.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":524,"url":"https:\/\/thebkmag.com\/rebuild\/eclectic\/cow-stories\/","url_meta":{"origin":19760,"position":1},"title":""Cow Stories"","author":"Benjamin Kanarek","date":"July 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"TWO COWS A CHRISTIAN DEMOCRAT: You have two cows. 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