ABSTRACT

The central place of alcohol in Russian culture and society is explored in a rich body of scholarship, showing the extent to which vodka and other strong drinks have lubricated social, economic, and state relationships for centuries. This chapter focuses on a particular advertising campaign for cognac that ran intensively in the St. Petersburg working-class daily newspaper, Gazeta-kopeika (Penny Gazette), from late 1910 through much of 1912. The Shustov company is subverted and capitalized upon the intelligentsia's mission to spread knowledge of Russian classical culture among the lower classes. In a sweeter depiction of childhood (but one still rooted in drink), a young son eagerly awaits Christmas so that he can see his father's happiness when he presents him with the gift of a Shustov bottle.