MOSCOW GETS A SCENT SHOP

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 232, 2 October 1935, Page 16

MOSCOW GETS A SCENT SHOP

Sweet Smells of 5-Year Plan

Moscow has had a great day. After the public in the Red capital had been raised to high tension by weeks of advertisements in the papers and big posters in the streets, an extremely elegrant luxury scent shop has been opened in the heart of the city at No. 90 Gorki Boulevard. There was such a rush on the opening day that traffic was completely held up for some time. When the great moment of unveiling finally arrived, the enthusiasm of the gathered crowd knew no bounds, and cries of admiration and astonishment were heard on all sides. And rightly, for the shop they saw gleaming with mirrors and crystals was really a little miracle, and would certainly have roused admiration in any Western capital.

imagined that the severe “Pravda” would chastise Soviet citizens for suc-

cumbing to such bourgeois temptations and would pour the vials of its wrath over the delinquents. On tho contrary, “Pravda” was in a thoroughly good temper, and absolutely enthusiastic about it all. On the very next day after the opening a longarticle appeared, containing compre-

hensive statistical data showing that demand for soap, cosmetics, powder, lipstick, eau do Cologne and other scents has been constantly increasing. In the future production, it said, must be doubled and trebled, and Moscow will have to supply the whole gigantic Union as far as the most distant provinces, as well as Central Asia and the peninsula of Kamtschatka. The opening of the scent shop in Gorki Boulevard has not been Moscow’s only sensation. A short while afterwards another luxury business, selling men’s and women’s clothes, appeared close by. The words “Atelier des Modes” appear in large letters over the shop, and the side windows bear the announcement: “Moscow’s best tailors work here. For Ladies and Gentlemen. Elegant evening dresses. Gentlemen’s evening clothes and dinner-jackets with the latest cut. Luxury furs.” Moscow papers recently contained advertisements . of a dancing and amusement hall —Sokolniki,” which is opening shortly. “Dancing every evening from 10 o’clock. Evening dress must be worn,” read the notice

Looking at the beautifully designed land decorated interior and at the pretty, elegant saleswomen expectantly awaiting their customers, it was hard to realise that this was the capital of the Proletarian State. It seemed more like the Rue de la Paix. Old Rond Street, or the Kurfurstendamm. Strange names and descriptions are borne by the goods—many of them very expensive—which are displayed in exquisitely cut crystal bottles. Among them are “Heroes of the North,” I ‘Bulwark of the Soviet.” “Stratosphere,” “White Sea Canal,” “Five Year Plan,” “Icebreaker Krassin,” “The 100,000 th. Tractor,” while one extra large and expensive bottle of scent bears the name “Uyitch Lenin.” Disappointment awaited anyone who