The saying "you can’t deceive - you can’t sell" was coined long before the 1917 revolution. Most of the merchants followed corporate ethics, the main principle of which was honesty: a good name was the key to the success of a business. But there were exceptions when unscrupulous sellers showed a rare ingenuity, promoting their seedy goods. Some tricks were used later, and even apply now. All modern visitors to markets and supermarkets should know about them.
Inflating geese
Poultry in Russia was enough, and it was inexpensive. But even in those distant years, a goose for a nickel was considered profitable, as they would say now, with a promotional offer with an average worker salary of 37 rubles. Apparently, the appearance of the product corresponded to the price, and therefore measures were required to improve it.
The method invented by the merchants was simple: a tube was inserted into the guzka, through which air was pumped into the goose’s abdominal cavity. A similar technique was described by Mikhail Sholokhov in “Virgin Soil Upturned, ” but in this novel the horse was the object of a swindle (in the most literal sense).
As a result, the bird became more well-fed by appearance, and consumer activity sharply increased. The taste of meat remained the same, weight, too, and as for the presentation, its improvement has always been the goal of sellers. Therefore, this “marketing technique” should be recognized as almost harmless. Unlike some others.
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Dyes for candies
In the Russian Empire, there were well-known brands of caramels, under which the majority of high-quality confectionery products were produced. The basis, as now, was melted sugar. A significant proportion of the cost accounted for giving a translucent substance of cheerful shades that create color diversity, so pleasing to children.
Some artisan manufacturers decided to save on this cost of production. They tinted Montpensier with red cinnabar, blue azure, green jar-copper and blue copper sulphate - substances not intended for the food industry. Green peas served as the most harmless dye, but other additives were very harmful, as they contained heavy metals and other poisons.
Despite the lack of a consumer protection society, fraudsters were exposed and convicted of lengthy hard labor. Hundreds of people suffered from their goods, and unfortunately, mostly children.
Oil color
Shoppers have long had stereotypes according to which brown eggs are tastier than white, and butter, the yellower the better. And although in reality such dependencies are not confirmed by anything, trade actively exploits misconceptions. The cheapest dye is regular carrots. In addition, it is very easy to use technologically. This orange root crop quickly transmits completely natural yellowness to the oil.
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By the way, this method is still in use today by market traders. Carrots give a "home" look not only to butter, but also to vegetable oil.
Thickening milk, cream and sour cream
The viscosity effect was achieved by adding slaked lime to the product. For greater density, dishonest milkmen mixed chalk into the cream. Compared to modern technologies that came to us from Western countries, such methods seem naive.
Tea
The practice of mixing low-quality varieties with more expensive ones was also adopted at Soviet tea-packing factories. Georgian or Azerbaijani leaves were mixed with aromatic raw materials imported from southern countries, but the ratio was regulated by state standards.
In tsarist Russia, counterfeit goods were made rougher. The basis was most often taken asleep and dried tea (it was collected in taverns), then this horror was painted with anything and everything, right down to the ground. The calculation was made on the fact that poor people do not understand the taste of the drink. In addition, it was believed that real Chinese tea "gives away dust." It is possible that such rumors were deliberately spread by unscrupulous traders.
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Crimean wines
At the end of the XIX century, Moscow residents drank an average of 900 thousand pounds of grape wine annually. This figure would say little by itself, if you do not take into account that only 460 thousand pounds of this noble drink were imported into the city. In other words, almost half of the product was produced locally. It is well known that the Moscow region is not the best climatic zone for viticulture.
The technology was simple, and is used, unfortunately, to this day. Burnt sugar and some other additives were mixed into the alcohol-containing liquid. Inspections by the police in the 1890s did not reveal the presence of any grape raw materials in many samples adorned with proud Massandra and foreign labels. In other Russian cities, things were no better.
So, the ironic reference in “The Bride” by A. N. Ostrovsky of “foreign wines of Yaroslavl production” is justified. A significant part of the counterfeit was manufactured in Kashin and Yaroslavl.
Other products and technologies
It is difficult to separate the deliberate misrepresentation of the buyer regarding the quality of the product from the real measures to improve the presentation. In the sugar industry, blue is indeed often used now to give snow-white refined. But the addition of copper sulfate to peas for its "gardening" is a prohibited method.
