Mao Zedong in a coffin and mouse tails in sausage: 9 horror stories that Soviet people believed in

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The inhabitants of the USSR told each other strange legends. But there is a simple explanation for everything mystical.

1. Surprises in the sausage

In the early 1920s, a course was taken in the USSR to create a public catering system. The first canteens, kitchen factories and enterprises began to appear where food was made by conveyor belts. This gave rise to a lot of consumer rumors:

The remains of mice can be found in the sausage. Because the ingredients for the sausage are mixed in huge tanks, which are very difficult to wash and you won't get there at all. But mice get in there, and then they can't get out (high). And when the meat grinders start to work, there is a terrible squeak in the shop, because it chops up these mice and they end up in the "minced meat".

“Dangerous Soviet things. Urban legends and fears in the USSR A. Arkhipova, A. Kirzyuk

The emergence of such fables is explained by the culture of distrust. People contrasted food prepared in person or received from loved ones with food made out of their sight by strangers. It was believed that they could make a low-quality product, pursuing some of their own selfish goals, disregard and neglect the sanitary and epidemiological standards. And all because the final consumer was unfamiliar to them - there is nothing to try for him.

Some “acquaintances from the factory” also poured oil on the fire, who, with their insider stories, periodically confirmed the facts of negligence at work.

2. Secret Messages on the Pioneer Tie Clip

In the 1930s, pioneers used a metal clip to secure red ties. This device was used until, in 1937, someone spread the following legend:

On the clip for a pioneer tie, you can read the abbreviation TZSH, which means "Trotskyite-Zinovievskaya gang". The engraving depicting the flame shows Trotsky's beard and profile."

“Dangerous Soviet things. Urban legends and fears in the USSR A. Arkhipova, A. Kirzyuk

The emergence of the legend is due to the political situation of those times. It appeared just in the years of the Great Terror - a period of massive political repression, when enemies of the people, counter-revolutionaries, pests and other people disliked by the authorities and their relatives were actively arrested and exiled. Throughout the country, there was a system of forced labor camps, in which one could end up for any dissent.

Soviet people constantly heard on the radio and read in the newspapers that they were surrounded by enemies everywhere, both external and internal. Representatives of the authorities in every possible way initiated and encouraged the search for ill-wishers. And their calls were echoed.

One of the objects of such close attention was Leon Trotsky, a politician who was declared enemy number one by Stalin. It is not surprising that the beard and profile of Trotsky after that seemed to vigilant citizens everywhere: now on the clip of a tie, now on a matchbox, now in the folds of a worker's cloak from the sculpture "Worker and Collective Farm Woman".

3. Injections that infect an unknown disease

In 1957, the USSR hosted the World Festival of Youth and Students. It was attended by many foreign guests. After decades of repression, famine, war and isolation, foreign visitors have arrived in Moscow. Their visit spawned legends like this:

Foreigners from Western countries are trying to infect Soviet citizens with dangerous infections through injections, as well as citizens of other socialist states. There are rumors that infectious diseases will be delivered, and vaccinations have begun. At the same time, there were four cases of some injections committed in stores, when a girl was standing in line for groceries, a man came up and gave an injection into her hand. The victims are in the hospital, their condition is good. This is done by enemies to create panic instead of celebration.

“Dangerous Soviet things. Urban legends and fears in the USSR A. Arkhipova, A. Kirzyuk

The reasons for the emergence of stories about such "infectious terrorism" lie in the fear of bacteriological weapons and an external enemy who dreams of sowing disease and death on Soviet soil. This fear existed among the citizens of the USSR throughout the Cold War, and then found application in civilian life. It became a convenient way to express anxiety in front of strangers who suddenly appeared in unusually large numbers around.

4. Foreign guests spreading the infection

A similar vague anxiety once again swept over Soviet citizens before the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. The city was again preparing to meet the influx of foreigners. This time, fear of outsiders has transformed into a popular belief that some of the expected guests are carriers of unprecedented infections:

Representatives of the third world can be carriers of diseases, almost leprosy. Well, syphilis, of course. Children heard warnings like “it is especially dangerous to take something from black tourists in Red Square”. Both children and adults were told: "Blacks are especially dangerous from the point of view of infection."

“Dangerous Soviet things. Urban legends and fears in the USSR A. Arkhipova, A. Kirzyuk

The origins of this legend lie in an archaic fear of representatives of an alien group: these people are not like Soviet people, which means that their moral and behavioral norms are wrong and can be dangerous. One should be wary of "outsiders" because they themselves are different in nature, and their body is arranged differently.

5. Dangerous soda machines

In the 1960s, soda machines were an integral part of the urban landscape. Their device revealed a detail that confused Soviet consumers - a reusable glass cup. The machine had a rinsing system, but it was clearly not enough for high-quality disinfection. This "unclean" glass has given rise to many legends. Here is one of them:

My cousin told me that they were transporting a group of venereal patients, the bus stopped at the automatic machines, and the patients all began to drink from these glasses. My brother and I were forbidden to drink from such glasses, because, as they said, it was possible to contract syphilis or other diseases from the one who used it before.

“Dangerous Soviet things. Urban legends and fears in the USSR A. Arkhipova, A. Kirzyuk

Similar rumors were triggered by bouts of hypochondria. Any city consists of many common areas. They are filled with objects that thousands of strangers involuntarily interact with. The anonymity of these people gives rise to fear and logical questions: “Who is this stranger who drank from a glass before me? What if he is sick with tuberculosis or something else? Public places seem unclean to people and therefore unsafe.

6. Luminous Mao Zedong appearing on the carpet

During the years of Soviet power, various goods were supplied to the country from China: thermoses, clothes, shoes, towels and even carpets. The latter were a particularly valuable and scarce commodity. They were considered a sign of wealth and were used to decorate and insulate walls in apartments. Until the end of the 1960s, this decor item did not pose any threat, but then the following legend appeared:

On an imported Chinese carpet at night, a portrait of Mao Zedong, lying in a coffin or rising from a coffin, can be displayed and frighten to death.

“Dangerous Soviet things. Urban legends and fears in the USSR A. Arkhipova, A. Kirzyuk

The rise of stories like this is due to the spread of fear of the Chinese threat. Until the XX Congress of the CPSU in 1956, relations between the USSR and China were rather friendly. They began to heat up after Nikita Khrushchev made a speech exposing the personality cult of Stalin. Mao Zedong and his supporters accused the Soviet government of revisionism, that is, a deviation from the original ideological guidelines.

Tensions intensified even more with the beginning of the "cultural revolution" in China - a campaign organized by Mao Zedong to restore capitalism in the PRC and eliminate officials and intelligentsia that he disliked. In Soviet newspapers, materials began to flash frequently condemning the "cultural revolution." Such propaganda and the cooling of relations between the countries prompted people to think that an imminent war with China was planned.

In 1976, Great Helmsman Mao died. After that, the first legends about the carpet appeared. According to one of the versions, the luminous figure of the dead leader was supposed to remind the Soviet person of the threat of a Chinese invasion, according to the other - to serve as a hidden propaganda of the ideas of Maoism.

7. Jeans that bring disease

In the 1970s, American jeans were a fashionable and coveted piece of clothing. At the same time, many legends circulated about them, as well as about other imported things:

Wearing American jeans causes various diseases - infertility, impotence, compression of the pelvic bones, due to which later a woman cannot give birth, denim dermatitis.

“Dangerous Soviet things. Urban legends and fears in the USSR A. Arkhipova, A. Kirzyuk

Soviet consumers were highly dependent on the government procurement system. The choice of clothing and footwear with a modest salary and no cronyism was small. Therefore, many experienced difficulties in purchasing certain goods. It was theoretically possible to get jeans, but it would have to be confused: save money, come into contact with underground merchants and, perhaps, even get into trouble because of this. Some horror stories about jeans as moral compensation were invented by those who did not get them. In this way, they justified the lack of this thing and demonstrated that it didn’t hurt, and they needed it.

The danger in jeans was seen not only by potential buyers, but also by ideological workers. In the desire to possess a foreign thing, they saw a disregard for Soviet values, materialism, thoughtless admiration for the West. Praising and wearing jeans was often the subject of discussion at Komsomol meetings. To control the desire of people to acquire the desired thing, representatives of the authorities invented and disseminated propaganda legends - stories about how jeans harm the health of Soviet citizens.

8. Black "Volga" kidnapping children

There were legends about such a car among the generation of the 1970s-1980s:

One boy was walking in the street, and suddenly a black Volga stopped beside him. A black window came down, and a black hand stuck out from there, she held out the ball to the boy. The boy wanted to take him, and he was drawn to the Volga. No one saw him again.

“Dangerous Soviet things. Urban legends and fears in the USSR A. Arkhipova, A. Kirzyuk

Stories like these echo the fear of state violence that people experienced during the Great Terror. In those days, the NKVD officers moved on "black funnels" or "black Marusia", arresting citizens. The legends about the black car became the embodiment of all the most terrible things that happened during the years of repression in the Soviet state. This fear was indirectly passed on to members of subsequent generations.

9. Red tape "stripping" people

In the 1970s and 1980s, a story about red glasses or red tape, with the help of which it was possible to see the nakedness of people through clothes, was very popular among schoolchildren:

We had a red-film boom in the seventh grade. Boys with their father's cameras "Zenith", "Kiev" and "Smena" lay in wait for the girls at breaks and took pictures with a shout: "That's it, you're on red tape." Or: "Everyone will know what panties you have and what size your breasts!" The girls screamed and covered everything hidden behind the woolen school uniform and apron with their hands. We believed in it.

“Dangerous Soviet things. Urban legends and fears in the USSR A. Arkhipova, A. Kirzyuk

In the 1960-1980s, the image of a miracle device appeared in popular culture, allowing one to see through walls and clothes. This device not only showed the "essence" of people, but also violated their privacy. The disseminated images of spy tricks became the impetus for the emergence of various rumors.

The stories about the red tape are based on the fear of being visible and on the feeling that even the walls have ears. For many years Soviet people lived with the idea that they were constantly being closely monitored. The existence of the ubiquitous device did not seem so impossible to them.

The generation of children who frighten each other with a red tape inherited from their parents the idea that foreign spies and the KGB can violate privacy, interfere with it and control every step with the help of all-seeing devices, so they willingly believed in the legend.

We have listed not all the legends that existed in Soviet times. Stories about gum with crushed glass, the invasion of Colorado beetles, gypsy cosmetics, and many others remained outside the scope of the article. You can read about them in the book by A. Arkhipova and A. Kirzyuk "Dangerous Soviet Things". It tells why such fears arose, how they turned into rumors and urban legends, and how they influenced the behavior of Soviet people.