2024 Author: Adelina Croftoon | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 02:07
At the beginning of 1915, when it became clear that the world war was acquiring a protracted nature and its end was not in sight, the morale of the Russian population began to drop incredibly quickly, and along with this, various kinds of negatives of their nature inherent in people began to emerge more and more on the surface of life.
In particular, there was a flourishing of gambling games, which, despite the most energetic measures to combat them by the authorities of all levels, flourished among all segments of the population, both in clubs and in apartments - dens of townspeople.
Petrograd newspapers of that period were full of reports about ever new disclosures of underground gambling establishments, arrests of the leaders of the gambling industry, about huge losses and ruin of rich and famous people who were considered the color of society.
As you know, superstitions and omens have long been held in high esteem in the card game, and players could never do without them. So, some of them, before leaving the house to play for a "sure win", pulled their left shoe on their right foot, and the right shoe on their left, put on underwear and socks inside out.
For a long time there has been an aphorism about the "happy shirt". The shirt that was on the player who “hit” a big jackpot at the green table and abandoned this occupation was considered lucky.
There were rumors in the capital that one famous actor had won 30 thousand rubles in gold terms at cards overnight. Having fallen ill and stopped playing in this connection, he began to rent out his shirt for 25 rubles for one evening. The players assured that the shirt helped the most on Fridays, especially from 7 pm to 2 am. This shirt, as they wrote in the newspapers, could not withstand the regime of intensive use and completely fell into disrepair.
It was also argued that there is no such gambler who would not be superstitious and who would not be pursued by this superstition at every step. All players undoubtedly understand that winning depends largely on skill, on the so-called “gambling school”, but superstition has always reigned among them. There were even tables of happy days for the game, depending on the date of birth.
Superstition was not complete without amulets, among which items related to the suicide of people enjoyed special confidence among the players. For a piece of suicide rope, superstitious players were ready to give up their last shirt. This is confirmed by many examples.
At one of the winter dachas in Ozerkov, a suburb of Petrograd, one man hanged himself because of his wife's betrayal. In the neighborhood of the dacha there was a house in which the sharper kept a gambling brothel. Upon learning of what had happened, he and the players who were with him descended into the suicide's room when his corpse was still warm.
Everyone wanted to have a piece of the "precious" rope. Before the police arrived, enterprising players cut the rope into small pieces and stuffed them into their pockets. Then these small pieces were sold for 100 rubles apiece, and sometimes more expensive.
The "enterprising" doorman of the house near the Kalinkin bridge in Petrograd sold to gamblers - in pieces - two meters of strangled lodging rope, receiving at least 400 rubles for this.
In Moscow, an undertaker sold the rope he inherited from a strangler for 100 rubles in gold. Subsequently, the undertaker "complained" to the newspapermen: "Now the people are not stupid, they hang themselves on such a piece that there is almost nothing to profit from."
A rather curious incident was also recorded in Moscow. A certain cheat was lucky enough to get a rope-amulet, on which, as witnesses established, the suicide hanged himself.
He could only play with such an amulet, but due to dishonest play, the entrance to all clubs was closed. for safety - another 25 rubles. And so that no one changed the piece of rope, he hung a wax seal on both ends.
There was another funny incident. Once a famous gambler was unlucky enough - he lost all his money. Since no one lent him money, he had to bow to the sharper and beg him for a "lucky" rope on account of the future winnings. Obviously, the authority of the high-stakes gambler influenced the sharper, and he gave his "jewel" for the evening without money or collateral.
The player was lucky that evening, and he decided to appropriate the lucky amulet. The indignant sharper, not receiving back his property, sued the player, accusing him of losing the rope from the stranglehold, and estimated his claim at 200 rubles. The court, given the absence of material losses and the presence of only superstition, of course, dismissed the claim.
Another amulet, widely recognized among Petrograd players at the beginning of 1915, was an ordinary banknote of ruble denomination. According to the newspaper "Petrogradsky leaf" on January 24 and February 5, among the players there was a rumor about a lucky ruble signed by the cashier Brutus, who recently committed suicide in a fit of insanity.
This rumor, which instantly flew around all the hot spots of the capital, was caused, as was supposed, by a large win that fell to the player who put such a ruble on the line.
The motley Petrograd players, with their characteristic ardor and passion, rushed to look for "Brutus rubles" in the money changers and other shops. This, of course, caused the ruble to rise in price, and since the demand for it did not diminish, enterprising swindlers-swindlers brought the cost of a ruble credit note to a fantastic value of 20-25 rubles. At the same time, they spread a rumor that rubles with Brutus's signature are very rare and cannot be obtained for any money at the State Bank.
Brutov ruble
All this caused such a stir that the Ministry of Finance was forced to come up with an article entitled "For the information of those who buy up Brut's rubles" and published in the "Petrogradsky leaf" on February 5, 1915. The article, in particular, said: "Contrary to the assurances of speculators, the State Bank still issues such rubles in cash and does not take a single extra penny for them."
However, this explanation for a long time could not cool the ardor of gamblers in search of not so “happy” as expensive “Brut's ruble”.
In conclusion, we note that passion and the associated superstition have always made it possible to "take out" a lot of money from the pockets of deceived gullible people.
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