Here is a twee col­lec­tion of paint­ings by var­i­ous Russ­ian artists pic­tur­ing break­fast time in Rus­sia of dif­fer­ent peri­ods, from 1918 through­out to late 1970s. It pro­vides some insights into an every­day life of sim­ple peo­ple and their meals on the go, before work, very low key and casual.

Just like many, Rus­sians liked their eggs, bread and sausages — a hearty start of the day.  The brass item pic­tured is samovar — a metal water boiler which has been around for cen­turies. These samovars have always been pop­u­lar as part of tea  mak­ing process — even nowa­days you can find a mod­erninsed ver­sion of one in almost every house. It is also a pop­u­lar wed­ding gift and a tra­di­tional Russ­ian sou­venir, as it sym­bol­ises hos­pi­tal­ity and qulaity fam­ily time.

Appar­ently there is a con­cept of Russ­ian Tea that exists in the West: strongly brewed black tea with a wheel of lemon and gen­er­ous amounts of sugar. This sweet and sour con­coc­tion is indeed pop­u­lar in Rus­sia, how­ever, nobody calls it “Russ­ian tea”.  Just tea with lemon.

In sum­mer there were health­ier alter­na­tives avail­able: freshly picked straw­ber­ries and cream in a jug would be enjoyed just like any­where else in the world. Please note the fine lace of the table­cloth — very pop­u­lar in Rus­sia of all times.

Another coun­try life illus­tra­tion; please note a slighly dif­fer­ent shape of the samovar. Also — bagels, extremely pop­u­lar Russ­ian wheat snack. Sugar cubes, a fre­quent sub­sti­tute for reg­u­lar sugar, which was hard to buy at times. A tra­di­tional tea glass, with an iron glass holder, an icon of those times and a well sought after col­lec­table item now.

Another model of samovar and a more com­mon break­fast alto­gether: eggs, but­ter, bread.

To fin­ish off, a few paint­ings which do not exactly pic­ture break­fast times, but still appear very Russ­ian and full of ambience.

Alcohol-inspired paint­ings tend to have lots of zest for life, too.

Related posts:

1. Russ­ian Ice Cream In Win­ter  —  Bring It On!
2. The Book on Tasty and Healthy Foods: Una Dolce Vita, Soviet Style
3. Sign­boards of Soviet Stores
4. Queues
5. Exper­i­men­tal Soviet Home­made Photography