 'USSR' Sizes: á M (Medium), L (Large), XL (X-Large) Metric: á 46-48, 48-50, 52-54 Consists of: á 100% cotton Availability: á ships within 5-7 business days Origin: á Russian Federation Product Details á This is an original Russian T-shirt. Screen printed in Moscow, Russia. Manufactured of 5.1 oz. fabric - luxuriously soft 100% cotton ring-spun yarn with double-needle coverseamed neck. The print is eloquent: red letters 'CCCP' on white background. 'CCCP' is a world-known Latin graphical rendition of the Russian acronym for the Soviet Union. 'CCCP' has now become a brand of its own, similar to that of 'Che Guevara'. á MORE INFO / RELATED STORY: á 'CCCP' or 'USSR' 'CCCP' is Latin graphical rendition of the Russian acronym for the Soviet Union, reading as 'Soy·z SovTtskikh Sotsialistfcheskikh Resp·blik' (SSSR) or 'The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics'. Commonly known as the Soviet Union (SovTtsky Soy·z), it was a state in much of the northern region of Eurasia that existed from 1922 until 1991. The list of republics in the Soviet Union varied over the time. In its final years it consisted of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics (S.S.R.'s). Russia was by far the largest Republic in the Soviet Union, dominating in nearly all respects: land area, population, economic output, and political influence. The territory of the Soviet Union also varied, and in its most recent times approximately corresponded to that of the late Imperial Russia, with notable exclusions of Poland and Finland. The political organization of the country was defined by the only recognized political party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Brief History Revolutionary activity in Russia began with the Decembrist Revolt, uncovered in 1825, and although serfdom was abolished in 1861, its abolition was achieved on terms unfavorable to the peasants and served to encourage revolutionaries. A parliament, the Duma, was established in 1906, but political and social unrest continued and was aggravated during World War I by military defeat and food shortages. The February Revolution and October Revolutions (see also Russian Revolution) were followed by a period of civil war (see Russian Civil War), after which communist control was complete under the Bolsheviks who soon renamed themselves the Communist Party. The collapse of Tsarist rule was followed by the eviction of the landlord class and the subdivision of land among peasant families. Poor and middle peasants generally did not benefit from the latter until Lenin announced the New Economic Policy (NEP), which saw an end to government requisitioning of food during the civil war. Peasants marketed most of their produce at free prices during the years of the NEP. After the death of the Soviet Union's revolutionary founding figure Vladimir Lenin (1924), Joseph Stalin finally emerged as uncontested leader, defeating Leon Trotsky and ultimately having him exiled from the Soviet Union in 1929. Under Stalin, who replaced Lenin's NEP with five year plans and collective farming, the Soviet Union (established 1922) became a major industrial power, but with effective political opposition eliminated during the 1930s by purges. World War II established the Soviet Union as one of the two major world powers, a position maintained for four decades through military strength, aid to developing countries, and scientific research, especially into space technology and weaponry. Growing tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States, its former wartime ally and the other superpower, led to the Cold War. Communist Party General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev promoted Soviet glasnost (openness) and perestroika (economic restructuring). A U.S.-Soviet summit meeting in 1986 and 1987 and a meeting of U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev in late 1988 brought a reduction in arms in Europe. The disintegration of Communist allies in Eastern Europe heralded the dissolution of the Soviet Union. As the Russian republic's Boris Yeltsin eclipsed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in power, the Soviet Union was peacefully dissolved in December 1991. Most former Soviet republics joined the Commonwealth of Independent States. ¬ Copyright Wikipedia.org
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 'Views of Moscow' Sizes: á M (Medium), L (Large), XL (X-Large) Metric: á 46-48, 48-50, 52-54 Consists of: á 100% cotton Availability: á ships within 5-7 business days Origin: á Russian Federation PRODUCT DETAILS: á This is an original Russian T-shirt. Screen printed in Moscow, Russia. Manufactured of 5.1 oz. fabric - luxuriously soft 100% cotton ring-spun yarn with double-needle coverseamed neck. The print shows various Moscow cathedrals located in the city center. The central place in the print is, of course, occupied by the world-famous St. Basil's Cathedral that stands on the Red Square in Moscow with a bronze Statue to Minin and Pozharsky in front of it (read the story below for more details). The sun is shining from behind the cloud, symbolizing the victory of light over darkness. á MORE INFO / RELATED STORY: á St. BASIL'S CATHEDRAL The famous St. Basil's Cathedral was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible and built on the edge of Red Square between 1555 and 1561. Legend has it that on completion of the church the Tsar ordered the architect, Postnik Yakovlev, to be blinded to prevent him from ever creating anything to rival its beauty again. (He did in fact go on to build another cathedral in Vladimir despite his ocular impediment!) The cathedral was built to commemorate Ivan the Terrible's successful military campaign against the Tartar Mongols in 1552 in the besieged city of Kazan. Victory came on the feast day of the Intercession of the Virgin, so the Tsar chose to name his new church the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin on the Moat, after the moat that ran beside the Kremlin. The church was given the nickname 'St. Basil's' after the 'holy fool' Basil the Blessed (1468-1552), who was hugely popular at that time with the Muscovites masses and even with Ivan the Terrible himself. St. Basil's was built on the site of the earlier Trinity Cathedral, which at one point gave its name to the neighboring square. St. Basil's is a delightful array of swirling colors and redbrick towers. Its design comprises nine individual chapels, each topped with a unique onion dome and each commemorating a victorious assault on the city of Kazan. In 1588 the ninth chapel was erected to house the tomb of the church's namesake, Basil the Blessed. The church's design is based on deep religious symbolism and was meant to be an architectural representation of the New Jerusalem - the Heavenly Kingdom described in the Book of Revelation of St. John the Divine. The eight onion dome-topped towers are positioned around a central, ninth spire, forming an eight-point star. The number eight carries great religious significance; it denotes the day of Christ's Resurrection (the eighth day by the ancient Jewish calendar) and the promised Heavenly Kingdom - the kingdom of the eighth century, which will begin after the second coming of Christ. The eight-point star itself symbolizes the Christian Church as a guiding light to mankind, showing us the way to the Heavenly Jerusalem and it represents the Virgin Mary, depicted in Orthodox iconography with a veil decorated with three eight-pointed stars. The cathedral's star-like plan carries yet more meaning - the star consisting of two superimposed squares, which represent the stability of faith, the four corners of the earth, the four Evangelists and the four equal-sided walls of the Heavenly City. The extravagant and brightly colored domes of the cathedral's exterior mask a much more modestly decorated and somewhat less spectacular interior. Small dimly lit chapels and maze-like corridors fill the inside of the church and the walls are covered with delicate floral designs in subdued pastel colors dating from the 17th century. Visitors can climb up a narrow, wooden spiral staircase, set in one of the walls and discovered only in the 1970s during restoration work, and marvel at the Chapel of the Intercession's priceless iconostasis, dating back to the 16th century. There was so little room inside the church to accommodate worshippers, that on special feast days services were held outside on Red Square where the clergy communicated their sermons to the milling masses from Lobnoye Mesto, using St. Basil's as an outdoor altar. The church has narrowly escaped destruction a number of times during the city's tumultuous history. Legend has it that Napoleon was so impressed with St. Basil's that he wanted to take it back to Paris with him, but lacking to the technology to do so, ordered instead that it be destroyed with the French retreat from the city. The French set up kegs of gunpowder and lit their fuses, but a sudden, miraculous shower helped to extinguish the fuses and prevent the explosion. Early in this century the cathedral almost fell prey to the atheist principles of the Bolshevik regime. In 1918 the communist authorities shot the church's senior priest, Ioann Vostorgov, confiscated its property, melted down its bells and closed the cathedral down. In the 1930s Lazar Kaganovich, a close colleague of Stalin and director of the Red Square reconstruction plan, suggested that St. Basil's be knocked down to create space and ease the movement of public parades and vehicle movement on the square. Thankfully Stalin rejected his proposal as he did a second plan to destroy the cathedral. This time the courage of the architect and devotee of Russian culture, P. Baranovsky, saved the church. When ordered to prepare the cathedral for destruction he refused and threatened to cut his own throat on the steps of the church, then sent a bluntly worded telegram to the leader of the party himself relating the above. For some reason Stalin cancelled the decision to knock the church down and for his efforts Baranovsky was rewarded with five years in jail. An extensive program of renovation is still being carries out on both the exterior and interior of the church, but will not spoil that essential visit to St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow's moat famous and arguably most beautiful ecclesiastical building. In the small garden outside St. Basil's stands an impressive bronze Statue to Minin and Pozharsky, who rallied Russia's volunteer army during the Time of Troubles and drove out the invading Polish forces. They were an interesting duo - Dmitry Pozharsky was a prince, while Kuzma Minin was a butcher from Nizhny Novgorod. The statue was designed by the artist I. Martos and erected in 1818 as the city's first monumental sculpture. It originally stood in the center of Red Square in front of what is now the GUM Department Store, with Minin symbolically indicating to Pozharsky that the Poles were occupying the Kremlin and calling for its liberation. The Soviet authorities felt that the statue had become an obstacle during parades and after the construction of the Lenin Mausoleum Red Square, its position was considered rather ambiguous and was eventually moved to the garden in front of St. Basil's in 1936. ¬ Copyright Moscow-Taxi.com
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 'Silver Coat of Arms' Sizes: á M (Medium), L (Large), XL (X-Large) Metric: á 46-48, 48-50, 52-54 Consists of: á 100% cotton Availability: á ships within 5-7 business days Origin: á Russian Federation PRODUCT DETAILS: á This is an original Russian T-shirt. Screen printed in Moscow, Russia. Manufactured of 5.1 oz. fabric - luxuriously soft 100% cotton ring-spun yarn with double-needle coverseamed neck. The print displays a silver-looking picture of the Smaller Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire composed in 1882 and approved in February 1883. The meaning of this coat of arms is beautifully described by RussianLegacy.com heraldic researcher below. Right under the description you may also find the Larger Coat of Arms of 1882, as well as St. Andrew's Order that we deem you'll find interesting as well. á MORE INFO / RELATED STORY: á SMALLER COAT OF ARMS OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE (approved on 23 February 1883) The Smaller Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire of 1882 represents a double-headed eagle (one head watches the East, while the other one watches the West of the Russian Empire) crowned with two emperor's crowns, above which there is yet another Tzar's crown with St. Andrew's Order ribbon flying under it. The eagle is holding the golden scepter in his right talon, while the golden imperial orb is in his left talon. Some say that the double-headed eagle coat of arms was adopted in 1497 by Tsar Ivan III, who took the Byzantinian two-headed eagle and improved it with the arms of Moscow. The arms on the breast of the Smaller Coat of Arms double-headed eagle is indeed the famous arms of Moscow of St. George killing the dragon. The chain around the shield of St. George is the chain of St. Andrew's Order. St. Andrew's Order (or the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First Called) was the highest decoration in the Russian Empire. It was established on 10 March 1699 by Peter the Great, and re-established in modern Russia on 1 July 1998. The arms on the wings of the eagle are (clockwise starting from the heads): á á1. Kingdom of Astrakhan á á2. Kingdom of Siberia [or the arms of current Novosibirsk] á á3. Kingdom of Georgia á á4. Grand Duchy of Finland á á5. Grand Duchies of á áá áá áKiev, á áá áá áVladimir, á áá áá áNovgorod (all in one arms) á á6. Kherson and Taurida á á7. Kingdom of Poland á á8. Kingdom of Kazan ¬ 2004 Copyright Evgenii Prussakov (M.Phil., University of Cambridge)
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 'McLenin's' Sizes: á M (Medium), L (Large), XL (X-Large) Metric: á 46-48, 48-50, 52-54 Consists of: á 100% cotton Availability: á ships within 5-7 business days Origin: á Russian Federation PRODUCT DETAILS: á This is an original Russian T-shirt. Screened printed in Moscow, Russia. Manufactured of 5.1 oz. fabric - luxuriously soft 100% cotton ring-spun yarn with double-needle coverseamed neck. 'McLenin's' is what the T-shirt says on the front of it, while the back print is quite equivocal: 'The Party is Over' (with a Soviet hammer and sickle star frying). Will make a great gift to anyone interested in either McDonald's« or Soviet history. á MORE INFO / RELATED STORY: á SOVIET PROPAGANDA Lenin created the first truly modern propaganda machine, and its most colorful, dramatic and original form was the poster. Although posters were produced in Russia before the Revolution, they were overshadowed by the remarkable propaganda posters of the Soviets. Lenin takes responsibility for creating the first truly modern propaganda machine, from postage stamps and Mayday parades to monumental sculptures. Perhaps its most colorful, dramatic and original form was the poster. Through it, the greatest artists of the time proclaimed government policies, asked for support, and demanded greater efforts -- all with the goal of building Soviet power. ¬ 1998 Copyright Jim Lapides & Clive Foss
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 'Stolichnaya, the Russian Vodka' Sizes: á M (Medium), L (Large), XL (X-Large) Metric: á 46-48, 48-50, 52-54 Consists of: á 100% cotton Availability: á ships within 5-7 business days Origin: á Russian Federation PRODUCT DETAILS: á This is an original Russian T-shirt. Screen printed in Moscow, Russia. Manufactured of 5.1 oz. fabric - luxuriously soft 100% cotton ring-spun yarn with double-needle coverseamed neck. 'Stolichnaya' is probably the most popular brand of Russian vodka worldwide. It is known as a smooth premium Russian vodka distilled from winter wheat. The print on this T-shirt is self-explanatory as it is one of very few originally English prints on our T-shirts. á MORE INFO / RELATED STORY: á VODKA HISTORY Vodka is derived from the Slavic word 'voda', or as the Polish use 'woda', meaning water. The history of Vodka is ancient, the first documented production of vodka was in Russia at the end of the 9th century, but the first known distillery at, Khylnovsk, was about two hundred years later as reported in the Vyatka Chronicle of 1174. Although Poland claims to have begun distilling vodka earlier, in the 8th century, the first documented Polish vodkas appeared in the 11th century and were called 'gorzalka'. During the Middle Ages, distilled liquor was used mainly for medicinal purposes, as well as being an ingredient in the production of gunpowder. It wouldn't be until the 14th century that Vodka would be recognized formally as a 'drink'. A National Drink In the 14th century a British Ambassador to Moscow first described vodka as the Russian national drink and in the mid-16th century it was established as the national drink in Poland and Finland. In Russia as well, vodka was used frequently as a medicine. In these ancient times, Russia produced many different varieties of 'vodka' or 'hot wine' as it was called. There was 'plain wine' (standard), 'good wine' (improved) and 'boyar wine' (high quality). In addition stronger types existed, distilled two ('double wine') or more times. And since their production methods were crude, vodka often contained impurities, so to mask these the distillers flavored their spirits with things like fruit, herbs or spices. The 15th century saw the first appearance of pot distillation in Russia. Prior to that, seasoning, ageing and freezing were all used to remove impurities, as was precipitiation using isinglass ('karluk') from the air bladders of sturgeons. Distillation became the first step in producing vodka, with the product being improved by precipitation using isinglass, milk or egg white. Around this time (1450) vodka started to be produced in large quantities and the first recorded exports of Russian vodka were to Sweden in 1505. Polish 'woda' exports started a century later, from major production centers in Posnan and Krakow. By 1716, owning a distillery was exclusively saved for the nobility and in 1751 they were granted special rights that entitled them to said ownership. In 1771, the Liebig condenser was invented by German chemist Christian Ehrenfried Weigel, vastly improving production and purity. This is very close to the condensing process of today. It was also around the eighteen century that a professor in St. Petersburg discovered a method for purifying alcohol using charcoal filtration. Up to that point, purifying was primarily done with felt or sand. Growing Demand The awareness of vodka continued throughout the 19th century, helped by the presence in many parts of Europe of Russian soldiers involved in various wars on the continent, including the Napoleonic Wars. To meet the growing demand, lower grade products were produced based largely on distilled potato mash. Between the years 1860 and 1890, attempts were made to control production by reducing the number of distilleries from 5,000 to 2,050, but these efforts failed. But in 1894, a law was enacted to make the production and distribution of vodka in Russia a state monopoly. This was both for fiscal reasons and to control the epidemic of drunkenness which the cheap, mass-produced 'vodkas' imported and home-produced, had brought about. It is only at the end of the 19th century, with adoption of a standard production technique and a guarantee of quality, that the name 'vodka' was officially and formally recognized. Vodka Comes to America After the Russian Revolution cerca 1918, the Bolsheviks confiscated all private distilleries in Moscow. As a result, a number of Russian vodka-makers emigrated, taking their skills and recipes with them. One such exile revived his brand in Paris, using the French version of his family name - Smirnoff. Thence, he set up the first vodka distillery there in 1934. This was subsequently sold to a US drinks company. From this small start, vodka began in the 1940s to achieve its wide popularity in the Western World. Vodka is made from neutral spirits, (which are distilled spirits produced from any material at or above 190¦ proof). Usually it is distilled from grain or potatoes. The end result is ethanol. It is then charcoal filtered, rectified or distilled again to ensure all congeners and taste is removed. In the United States, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms' law states that 'Vodka is neutral spirits so distilled, or so treated after distillation with charcoal or other materials, as to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color.' The exception to this law is flavored Vodkas. ¬ Copyright Vodka.com
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