Soda machines

You can’t do without this attribute of the USSR. For some reason, it is considered to be the most striking and typical thing from the Soviet past. Soda machines.

Soda machines at VDNKh in 2022 (Unsplash License)

It is believed that one of the developers of the first Soviet soda machines was a student of the Odessa Technological Institute of Food and Refrigeration Industry, Gary Gamulya – this was his diploma work.

The machine offered a choice of drinking water without syrup for 1 kopeck or with syrup for 3.

For some reason, no one was particularly concerned about the safety (hygiene) of reusable cups. Rinse the cup and drink.

But I don’t remember those machines from my childhood very well. Or maybe there just weren’t many of them in my city. But I remember another thing well. Juice from cone-shaped containers with taps. They poured juice from three-liter jars into them. I remember going to the movies with my family on weekends. And before the show, they offered me a choice of juice (there were usually several types, I remember apple, tomato, and birch) and a cake (also a choice: a basket, shortbread, or eclair).

Soda Machine (Unsplash License)

Materials used:

https://rg.ru/2017/09/21/kak-60-let-nazad-pridumali-znamenityj-avtomat-gazirovannoj-vody.html

https://id77.livejournal.com/1924259.html