Today, faceted glass is no longer in such demand and is gradually becoming a rarity, which is more likely to be kept for the collection. Faceted glass at one time was one of the most important attributes of life in the Soviet Union. But few people know who invented the faceted glass. Let's try to figure this out.
So who invented the faceted glass? It is rather problematic to answer this question. So, it is known that glasses with edges were produced under Peter I and were produced at one of the oldest glass factories in the city of Gus-Khrustalny. Many have no doubt that faceted glasses and glasses were produced even before the revolution.
In 1905, Carl Faberge exhibited his still life "Proletarian Breakfast". Interestingly, in fact, all this is made of fairly expensive materials. So a glass of vodka is crystal, a brick is made of jasper, the yolk is amber, a cigarette butt is made of a combination of quartz and silver, a fly is also made of silver, like a piece of newspaper. This work is valued at over $1 million.
In 1914, an automatic oven appeared at the Urschel glassworks, thanks to which they also set up production. faceted glass.
We can observe a faceted glass in the painting "Morning Still Life" by Petrov-Vodkin, which he painted in 1918. It can be seen that the glass has 12 faces.
The attentive reader will notice that after all, this is not quite the design that later became popular, so we can still assume that it was Vera Ignetievna Mukhina, the famous Soviet sculptor who created the monumental sculpture “Worker and a collective farmer. There are also rumors that Kazamir Malevich helped her to develop the design.
Vera Ignatievna Mukhina was fascinated by glass in the late 40s. She was commissioned to invent a new shape for the glass so that in canteens it would be convenient to wash them in a dishwashing machine, as well as make them more durable. You may notice that the Mukhina glass has an intensifying ring on the top, which you will not see on other faceted glasses before.
The first faceted glass was produced on September 11, 1943 at the same factory in the city of Gus-Khrustalny. A standard glass has 16 sides, but there are other variations of 12, 14, 16 and 18 sides, less common with an odd number of sides, for example, 17, because it was inconvenient to produce them purely technologically. The volume of a faceted glass is 250 milliliters to the edge.
The volume of glasses could be: 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 350 milliliters. The price varied from 7 to 14 kopecks and was indicated at the bottom of the glass by squeezing.
When there is something to drink, but there is no reason, our inventive people have been celebrating the day of the faceted glass for many decades. Meanwhile, such a date - the birthday of the glass - exists. Moreover, it should be celebrated, dear readers, on September 11, and only once a year.
The history of the origin of this date is not known for certain, but, according to some sources, it was on this day in 1943 that an updated faceted glass came off the assembly line of one of the oldest glass factories in Russia in the city of Gus-Khrustalny, Vladimir Region. Why updated? Yes, because granchaks existed long before this day, and then the glass only acquired a new form, which made it one of the symbols of the Soviet Union. Why update the glass in the midst of a war, you ask. To answer this and many other questions, and at the same time give you another legitimate reason to drink, we decided to look into the fate of the faceted glass.
Svetlana Yavisenko, a researcher at the Museum of the sculptor Vera Mukhina (Feodosiya), and Vera Kostina, head of the demonstration hall at the Experimental Glass Factory, told us about the history of this legendary product of the glass industry.
RODELESS "FORAN" LIKE THE KINGS
The faceted glass was not invented at all in the USSR, as many people think. The forerunners of the granchaks familiar to us were blown on the territory of Russia as early as the 17th century, and, according to Vera Kostina, quite a few examples of these dishes are kept in the Hermitage. In addition, there is a legend about how the well-known Vladimir glassblower Yefim Smolin presented a thick-walled granchak to Peter I, assuring the monarch that he was not fighting. The king liked the idea. Firstly, a fan of everything European, Peter gladly switched from wooden mugs to more fashionable glass, and secondly, the granchak did not roll around the table when rolling, and it held better in his hand. So, according to legend, after tasting wine from a vessel, Peter slammed it to the ground "for testing", and take it and break it. At the same time, they say, Peter shouted: “There will be a glass!”, And someone from the retinue heard this only as a call to “beat” the container, and supposedly since then in Russia a custom has appeared to beat the dishes for good luck. Although for the sake of objectivity, it must be admitted that by that time many peoples had similar customs and different utensils on different occasions they broke a lot.
Another confirmation of the "antiquity" of faceted glasses is their mention in a special army doctrine published by Paul I at the end of the 18th century. Trying to reform the Russian army, which at that time was very far from full combat readiness, the monarch limited daily allowance wine for the soldiers.
"Breakfast" by Velasquez. Granczak may be a foreigner
But to believe that faceted glasses were only in Russia is a mistake. To do this, just look at the picture of the Spanish painter Diego Velazquez "Breakfast" - it shows a faceted glass, although its edges differ from the vertical ones we are used to. And given that the picture was painted in 1617-1618, it may be that the faceted glass came to us from behind a hillock. This fact is also supported by the fact that the production of glasses by pressing (this technology was used to make faceted glasses in the USSR) was invented in the 1820s in ... the USA. Production using this technology in the United States was launched only in the middle of the 19th century, while this technique came to Russia only at the beginning of the 20th century.
MUKHINA: WORKER, COLLECTIVE WOMAN AND GRANCHAK
Mukhin. She worked not only with monuments, but also with glass
The "second" life of a faceted glass, full of popular recognition, also began mysteriously and there is not so much reliable information about its reincarnation. Rumor stubbornly attributes the authorship (more precisely, modernization) of the granchak to Vera Mukhina. The very one that we all know as the author of the monumental sculpture "Worker and Collective Farm Girl", for which she was awarded the Stalin Prize. Alas, today few people know that Vera Ignatievna was not only a sculptor and created not only multi-ton monuments. In various periods of her life, she was engaged in the creation of scenery and costumes for the theater and graphic design (drawing labels and posters), tailoring a collection of women's clothing (models created from simple fabrics, such as matting and cloth, were very well received in the capital of fashion - Paris), designed interiors, worked with porcelain and, of course, with glass. Moreover, Vera Ignatievna became an adherent of the so-called hollow sculpture (the sculpture was created inside a single bar of glass).
It is believed that Mukhina had to re-create the glass after industrial dishwashers began to be imported into the Soviet Union in the late 1930s. The problem was that these automatic dishwashers mercilessly beat the available glass containers, and the sculptor, according to legend, had to create a vessel that would "survive" after washing in foreign technology. According to one version, she spied on the design of the glasses from a mining engineer, professor of geology Nikolai Slavyanov, who once invented arc welding. He allegedly drew sketches of polyhedral glasses at his leisure, but he was going to make them from metal. And Mukhina outplayed everything and offered glass. According to another version, Mukhina worked on the glass together with the famous avant-garde artist Kazimir Malevich (the one who painted Black Square). But, I must say, all these versions do not stand up to criticism. Firstly, Nikolai Slavyanov died in 1897, Malevich died in 1935, and the canonical cut glass saw the light of day in 1943. Secondly, connoisseurs of Mukhina's work note that she began to work actively with glass only in the second half of the 40s of the last century, and besides, she staged her bold experiments with glass on the basis of the Leningrad Experimental Art Glass Factory. And, as you know, from 1941 to the beginning of 1944, Leningrad was under blockade and it is unlikely that the sculptor worked in such inhuman conditions. Moreover, there is no documentary evidence that the granchak we are used to is the work of Mukhina.
1918th. Petrov-Vodkin's glass seems to be modern
So, most likely, the classic faceted glass is the work of an obscure designer or technologist. But authorship is the tenth thing. The main thing is that the order was fulfilled, and the people received a convenient multifaceted vessel. By the way, those dishwashers for which it was modernized did not last long - the battle of dishes in them continued, only updated glasses held up well. The secret was probably in the technology of making the granchak. It was made of fairly thick glass. It was boiled at a temperature of about 1500°, fired twice and cut using a special technology. And yet, they say, for greater strength, lead was added to the glasses, which makes the glass stronger and more "playing" in the light. But, by the way, lovers of glassware of the Soviet period should not forget Mukhina, because it was she who created the design of the classic beer mug. And this, unlike the "glass" speculation, is a fact!
NEW LIFE OF A FACETTED GLASS
Today, the granchak, which used to be in almost every home, has fallen into oblivion. It is not so easy to find a faceted glass or glass now, and all because the products that were previously riveted in tens of millions a year, most factories have discontinued production. At the factory in Gus-Khrustalny, where the first Soviet granchak was produced, they now make glasses for IKEA. “Now we make mostly European dishes - transparent, in which the contents are clearly visible. You can’t say the same about a faceted glass. This is already exotic, which we only make to order,” said Vera Kostina.
Look for a barcode on the edges. Photo artlebedev.ru
Now the granchak has a new life - it has become an art object and a reason to become famous. For example, the well-known Russian design bureau Artemy Lebedev turned to the glass for inspiration twice during the years of its work. So, playing with the logo of the studio (a symbiosis of a barcode with the words art. lebedev), its designers played with the reflections of the glass edges and, as a result, the corporate barcode was easily read on the poster. The Lebedev team named the second project mysteriously - Latustridus. Having set themselves the goal of "eating with a faceted glass", they developed the design of a waffle cup for ice cream. According to the tradition of Soviet ice cream makers, a round piece of paper covered the product on top, cheerfully informing that there was a "delicious ice cream" inside. Alas, no one launched this creative into mass production.
Photo artlebedev.ru
Another design bureau, for fun, developed a special packaging for six faceted glasses - the packaging was designed in the Soviet style.
And for some, the glass has become an occasion to entertain the public and become famous for themselves. So, in 2005 in Izhevsk (Udmurtia, Russia) on the Day of the City, a pyramid was built from faceted glasses with a record height of 245 centimeters. The "construction" took 2024 glasses. So one of the local distilleries decided to become famous, breaking the record set six months earlier in Yekaterinburg. There, 2.5 thousand glasses were built into a pyramid one and a half meters high.
There are 2024 granchaks in this tower
WITH THE HELP OF GRANDCHAK...
LEPILI
Housewives used a faceted glass to cut out "blanks" for dumplings and dumplings from dough. Depending on the required size, large (200-250 ml) or small (100-150 ml) granchaks were taken. Many people still use this method, although now a lot of devices for sculpting dumplings and dumplings have appeared in stores.
MEETED
The glass has firmly established itself in the kitchens of Soviet citizens, becoming a universal culinary measure. Since the first edition of the classic "Book of Tasty and Healthy Food" (1939), not only water, sugar and flour, but also seeds, legumes, berries and much more have been measured with glasses, not grams.
"DRY"
Granchak was used not only in the kitchen. In houses where the windows were made of 2 separate frames, it was often possible to see a half-cup (100 ml faceted glass) with salt between them. So in winter they reduced the humidity of the air between the frames and prevented the formation of frost on the windows and their icing.
BREED
Summer residents and other garden lovers also took the granchak into circulation. It turned out that it is more convenient than in peat, a paper cup, and even more so in a box, to grow and dive (remove part of the root for the development of the root system) seedlings. They do not "litter" and do not spoil the look of the window sill if the seedlings are being prepared at home.
YOU DON'T INTEND ONLY
The Stakhanov movement, they say, could become Stakanov's. There is an opinion that the real name of the hero of labor was Glasses. It is clear that there could not be a hero with such a surname in the country of victorious communism, and the surname was "cleaned up".
The drinking phrase "can we figure it out for three?" owes its appearance to faceted glass. It happened in Khrushchev's times, when the authorities banned the sale of vodka on tap, and "bastards" (125 ml) and "chekushki" (200-250 ml), convenient for individual use, disappeared from the sale. A bottle of vodka did not fit in two glasses, but it was ideally divided into three. So they "thought".
When a Russian person has something to drink and there is a desire to do it, but there is no official reason, he often remembers the Day of the faceted glass and celebrates it at any time of the year. However, this day does exist. It happens, as expected, once a year and falls on September 11th. When did faceted glass appear, why is it called faceted and for what reason did it gain such popularity? Its history is entertaining and at the same time simple, many traditions and expressions that have come into use are associated with it. But there are many white spots in it, which are unlikely to ever be answered.
Simple as 3 pennies
Despite the fact that many associate this expression with satin family shorts, its history is connected with a faceted glass. The number of faces he had was different, and the price directly depended on this. The most expensive, called "luxury", had 20 facets and cost the most in this series - as much as 14 kopecks. A simpler version, with 16 side planes, was sold for 7 kopecks. And the simplest type of faceted glass, about 10 faces, cost those same 3 kopecks. In Khrushchev's times, prices have changed by about half.
The well-established stereotype that the "granchak", as it was often called, is an invention of the Soviet period, is not entirely correct. For example, it is presented in the canvas of Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, dated 1918 under the title "Morning Still Life". The immortalized copy has 12 faces. It became a classic of the Soviet era much later.
And not so Russian
In favor of the fact that the history of granchak did not begin in Russia, says another picture - "Breakfast", written by the Spanish painter Diego Velasquez. Appearance the edges are different from the usual vertical ones, but the idea is clearly visible. The canvas is dated 1617-1618. By the way, the glass pressing method used in the production of these containers was invented in the USA in the 19th century, while in Russia this technology was mastered 100 years later.
When did faceted glass appear?
Now no one will answer this question exactly, only one thing is obvious - in Russia it appeared before they began to mention it as a household item worthy of special attention. Its predecessors were blown in our area as early as the 17th century, as evidenced by a number of samples exhibited in the Hermitage. The legend, which is unlikely to be documented, says that the granchak was presented to Peter I by the Vladimir glassblower Smolin with assurances about the unusual strength of such a vessel.
The monarch liked the idea, if only because he was just introducing fashionable glass instead of antediluvian wooden mugs. The second undoubted advantage was that the wide edges did not allow the vessel to roll on the table, which was important for shipbuilders. Isn't that where the word "settle down" comes from?
The autocrat drank from the gift and immediately did not fail to test it for strength, slamming it on the floor. The fact that the vessel shattered into small fragments did not in the least annoy the king, and he loudly exclaimed "Glasses - to be!", thereby giving the green light to their mass production. The inner circle, however, heard the phrase as “glasses - beat!” and, according to history, it was from here that the custom of breaking glassware for good luck began. There are, however, great doubts about this, since the customs of breaking dishes existed from ancient times among many peoples, and by that time there were already quite a few broken dishes on various occasions.
Second Life
After the incident of Peter the Great, traces of the granchak were again lost in history, although evidence that it had not fallen into disuse appeared regularly. The reincarnation of the glass in the Soviet era is strongly associated with the name of Vera Mukhina, who is credited with authorship in many sources. Of course, there is no question of the authorship of the idea itself, but a woman sculptor who received the Stalin Prize for "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" could participate in the modernization project. It is known that she was an innovator not only in the field of monumental sculpture, but also in work with glass, graphic design and certain trends in clothing. And on the memorable date of September 11, 1943, an updated version of the glass came off the assembly line of the famous glass factory in Gus-Khrustalny, which became a symbol of its era. A slightly strange date, given the military events of that time, but the fact remains.
The need for a new development was caused by the beginning of the use at the end of the 30s of the first industrial dishwashers imported into the USSR, and which glassware mercilessly beat. It was necessary to come up with a vessel with increased strength indicators.
The main difference between the "Mukhinskiy" glass was a smooth rim in the upper edge, popularly called the "Maruskin belt". It was more convenient to drink from such dishes, it ideally suited the standards of dishwashers, and had a higher strength. Despite the fact that foreign technology did not take root, and its supply was stopped, the development turned out to be extremely successful and had a long and happy life.
How many types of faceted glasses are there?
It would be more correct to say - it existed, but there were many options. Why the glass is called faceted is obvious - its outer surface has flat edges, the number of which was almost always even and in different time changed from 10 to 20. There was a precedent with 17 faces, but their oddness created certain difficulties in technological process, and they were quickly replaced by the optimal 16. The strength of the dishes was ensured not only by the thickness of the glass, but also by the shape, and double firing at temperatures of 1400-1600C. At first, lead was added to the composition of glass for special strength, which was subsequently considered unreasonable from all sides. The types of faceted glasses also differed in volume. They were produced in different sizes, from 50 ml to 350 ml, but according to the same standards.
What did they do with it?
On the territory of the USSR, he firmly entered the life of a Soviet citizen and was indispensable in many areas. We did a lot with his help.
Sculpted
The diameter of the upper rim was ideal for cutting dough pieces for dumplings, dumplings and various flat cakes. For dumplings, they took a large granchak for 200-250 ml, for dumplings - its small counterpart for 100-150 ml (stoparik, named for its capacity). Many housewives still prefer this method today, despite the fact that household departments offer a lot of more convenient devices for making dumplings and dumplings.
measured out
To this day, seeing the designation “glass” in the recipe, experienced housewives know that it is the granczak that is the measure of accuracy in this respect. Those who do not have it select a measure of volume corresponding to it and save it for these purposes. Filled to a smooth rim, a large glass holds 200 ml, and to the very top - 250 ml. In the most famous culinary book of the time of the USSR “on tasty and healthy food”, the measure of volume instead of grams and milligrams is indicated in glasses for everything that can be somehow measured by capacity.
dried air
Before the invention of plastic double-glazed windows, in many windows one could see a faceted stopar filled with salt, standing between the frames. It was an ingenious life hack to prevent fogging and icing of windows.
planted seedlings
Since the price of these dishes was a penny, and paper and peat cups had not yet been invented, seedlings were often grown in glasses on window sills. It was practical, convenient (you can see how the substrate dries up) and neat. In addition, many have noticed that seedlings in such a container grow faster and stronger, despite the lack of a drainage hole. The ability of the vessel to structure the contents was discussed later.
Thought for three
The famous alcoholic phrase of stagnant times owes its appearance to the same boundary. When small bottles of vodka, scoundrels and chekushkas, convenient for individual drinking, disappeared from Soviet outlets, the male population was forced to unite in threes, because it was convenient for three to drink a standard half-liter bottle. It turned out 167 grams each, which was “just right” for one. To accurately divide the contents, it was customary to use a faceted glass, since it could always be easily found in street soda machines (by the way, even drunkards had a good habit of returning the container to its place). The bottle did not fit in two glasses, but it was ideally divided into three. They poured it under the “maruskin belt”, and this ruled out any injustice in the division.
Faceted glass care
He left along with his era, and not because no one needed him, but because of the change in technology and the transfer of enterprises to new economic tracks. The replacement of old equipment with new world analogues played a cruel joke on it, violating the manufacturing technology. The use of "stressed glass" resulting from these violations caused the glasses to explode en masse for no reason. The famous newsreel "Wick" even released a story on this occasion called "Do not touch with your hands!", But the glasses of that time scattered without any contact with hands. They could explode with poured hot tea or just cold water, or they could roar with a roar into the smallest fragments around the room, standing calmly on the table before that, completely empty. The reason turned out to be simple and it consisted in the new purchased equipment that did not correspond to the old technology. It was finalized, but the former confidence in the products never returned. In addition, it was a time when foreign goods poured into the country, for which our glass factories soon began to work. In particular, the enterprise in Gus-Khrustalny enthusiastically switched to the production of more popular products for IKEA.
Today, faceted glass in our country is an exotic, which glass enterprises produce only on special order.
Why is the glass called faceted
A faceted glass, with which many legends are associated, can hardly be called an exquisite masterpiece, but it has become a symbol of an entire era and to this day serves as a universal culinary measure for many housewives.
Story
When the faceted glass appeared in Russia, it is not known exactly - according to one of the versions, it was invented in Russia in antiquity. The ancestor of glass was wooden, which was made from boards tightly fitted to each other, resembling edges, and was called dostakan. The name "dostakan" itself is believed to have been borrowed from the Turkic language "dastarkhan" ( festive table) or "tustygan" (bowl).
According to another, they began to produce such dishes under Peter I for the needs of the fleet, since faceted glasses did not roll off the table if they overturned during pitching at sea.
According to legend, an improved prototype of the bowl was presented to Peter I by the Vladimir glassmaker Efim Smolin, who said that mechanical influences were not terrible for this type of dish. After tasting a glass of wine, Peter "to check" slammed it to the ground. And although the glass broke into small fragments, the sovereign did not get angry, but made a large order for the fleet.
© photo: Sputnik / Vasily Malyshev
They say that it was this incident that gave rise to the custom in Russia to break the dishes during the feast, since Peter shouted: “There will be a glass!”, And one of the close ones heard “Beat the glasses!”
The antiquity of faceted glasses confirms their mention in the special army doctrine, which Paul I published at the end of the 18th century, in which he limited the daily norm of wine assigned to soldiers to one faceted glass.
In fairness, it should be noted that faceted glasses were in the distant past, not only in Russia. For example, in the painting of the famous Spanish painter Diego Velasquez "Breakfast", which was painted in 1617-1618, a faceted glass is depicted.
So who designed the faceted glass will probably remain a mystery. It is authentically known that it was in the USA in the 1820s that the manufacture of glasses by pressing was invented - it was this technology that was used to produce faceted glasses in the USSR.
© photo: Sputnik / Andrey Stenin
Exhibits of the museum of the history of vodka, located within the walls of the "Izmailovsky Kremlin"
In the USA, production using this technology was launched in the middle of the 19th century, and this technique reached Russia only at the beginning of the 20th century.
The design of the already famous Soviet glass, according to unconfirmed reports, belongs to the sculptor Vera Mukhina, the author of the monumental sculpture "Worker and Collective Farm Woman".
The main difference between the new glass and its predecessors was the presence of a smooth ring that runs along the circumference of the edge. Experts explain that the appearance of this detail was due to the fact that the glass, first of all, was created for catering establishments and had to be very durable.
The classic faceted glass has 16 faces, which makes it much stronger and can survive a meter-high drop onto a concrete floor.
Faceted glasses are still produced and used in catering establishments, as well as in passenger trains, usually with a cup holder.
The phrase "let's figure it out for three" appeared thanks to a faceted glass in the "Khrushchev" times, when the authorities banned the sale of vodka on tap. At that time, "bastards" convenient for individual use - 125 ml and "chekushki" - 200-250 ml, disappeared from sale.
A half-liter bottle of vodka did not fit in two glasses, but was ideally divided into three - exactly 167 grams of vodka enters the glass up to the glass rim, which is a third of a half-liter bottle, so they began to "think".
At one time, the Soviet faceted glass was popularly called "Malenkovsky". By order of the Minister of Defense Georgy Malenkov, 200 grams of vodka were allocated for certain categories of servicemen, which were given out at lunchtime. Those who did not drink were allowed to exchange their ration in the volume of a faceted glass for a tobacco ration or sugar. This rule did not last long, but was very remembered by many who served at that time.
© photo: Sputnik / Dmitry Debabov
Sergei Eisenstein gives a lecture to students of VGIK (All-Union State Institute of Cinematography)
Glasses with 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 facets were produced. There were also 17, but the issue with an odd number of faces was more difficult, so we settled on the most acceptable and convenient - with 16 faces.
The cost of a glass depended on the number of faces - the first glasses were with 10 faces and cost 3 kopecks. Classic 16-sided - 7 kopecks, and more corrugated, with 20 edges - 14 kopecks. At the same time, the shape and volume of the glass remained unchanged: to the glass rim - 200 grams, to the edges - 250 grams.
In the USSR, in addition to the main sample, glasses were produced with a volume of 50, 100, 150, 200 and 350 grams.
The Soviet faceted glass was and remains for many housewives the main measure of volume and weight in recipes. A glass filled to the bottom edge of the ring can hold 200 grams of water or milk, 130 grams of flour, 180 grams of sugar, 210 grams of sour cream, 290 grams of berry puree.
The picture of the famous Russian artist Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin "Morning Still Life", painted in 1918, depicts a 12-sided glass with tea - the progenitor of the Soviet faceted glass.
© photo: Sputnik / Balabanov
Reproduction of "Morning still life" painting by K.S. Petrov-Vodkin
In 2003, a kind of record was set in St. Petersburg - a pyramid of two thousand faceted glasses one and a half meters high was built in the theater "Baltic House". This achievement was included in the St. Petersburg Book of Records.
In 2005, Izhevsk residents broke all previously set records and built a pyramid of faceted glasses with a record height of 245 centimeters. The "construction" took 2024 glasses.
The faceted glass is also immortalized in monuments. So, in Yekaterinburg there is a monument to a conductor who carries tea in faceted glasses in stainless steel coasters from the Khrushchev thaw.
The sculpture, two meters 60 centimeters high, made of glass composite: two bears stand on their hind legs and hold a glass in the manner of the sculpture "Worker and Collective Farm Girl" by Mukhina, was installed by the owner of the Alma-Ata tavern "Bear".
Everyone knows the traditions of raising a glass "for health" or "for peace", beating "for good luck", looking for the truth at the "bottom of the glass" and even allegorically comparing life with a "broken glass". And look for solutions to problems in which "you can't figure it out without a glass."
The expression "settle down" also appeared, that is, the problem will be resolved, get on the right track, decide.
Happy holidays and good mood!
Material prepared on the basis of open sources
This integral attribute of Soviet life was first made in 1943 at the oldest glass factory in Russia in the city of Gus-Khrustalny, exactly in the form in which we are accustomed to seeing it.
A classic of Soviet-era tableware, today a faceted glass is becoming a rarity. 
The Soviet faceted glass was created by the sculptor. At least, it is believed that the design for this glass was developed by the famous Soviet sculptor, the creator of the famous monument "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" Vera Mukhina. According to one legend, she created this "masterpiece" of glassware together with the author of "Black Square" Kazimir Malevich in besieged Leningrad in 1943. 
The cost of a glass depended on the number of faces. Glasses with 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 facets were produced. There were also 17, but the issue with an odd number of faces is more complicated, so we settled on the most acceptable and convenient - with 16 faces. The first faceted glasses had 10 sides and cost 3 kopecks. Classic 16-sided - 7 kopecks, and if more corrugated, with 20 edges, then 14 kopecks. But the capacity of the glass remained unchanged: to the glass rim - 200 ml, to the brim - 250 ml. 
The appearance of a faceted glass is due to scientific and technological progress. Such a shape and structure of the glass was dictated by production necessity, and not by the artist's imagination. Even before the war, Soviet engineers invented a miracle of technology - a dishwasher in which only dishes of a certain shape and size could be washed. It was such a glass that was very suitable for this unit, and besides, it was very durable due to the thickness and the special way the glass was made. 
The well-known expression “figure out for three” is associated with the Soviet faceted glass. During the Khrushchev era, it was forbidden to sell vodka on tap, and very convenient bottles called "scoundrels" - 125 ml each and "chekushki" - 200 ml each were removed from sale. Now a half-liter bottle of vodka did not fit in 2 glasses, but was ideally divided into three - “in good conscience”. If you pour into a glass up to the glass rim, then exactly 167 grams of vodka enters, which is one third of a half-liter bottle. 
The Moldavian historian calls the Soviet faceted glass as the reason for drunkenness in Moldavia. According to Veaceslav Stavila, until 1944, when the Soviet troops liberated Moldova from the fascist invaders, people in the country drank from small glasses of 50 milliliters. Soviet soldiers brought a faceted capacious glass, resistant to falling and durable. After that, the Moldovans began to drink more. 
The people called the Soviet faceted glass "Malenkovsky". This is due to the Minister of Defense Georgy Malenkov, by order of which 200 g of vodka was allocated for certain categories of military personnel, which was given out at lunch. Those who did not drink were allowed to exchange their ration in the volume of a faceted glass for a tobacco ration or sugar. This rule did not last long, but was very remembered by many who served at that time. 
In the 80s of the XX century, Soviet faceted glasses began to explode en masse. Rumors spread among the people about a new anti-alcohol campaign, about the intrigues of the capitalists, who encroached on the "holy" and chose the most successful object. But everything turned out to be much more prosaic. The plant was supplied with an imported line for the production of glasses and no longer took into account the exact manufacturing technology. As a result, the glasses began to crumble, burst at the seams, their bottoms fell off. One woman's table "exploded" laid for the holiday. This fact was noted in one of the issues of the satirical newsreel "Wick". 
Soviet faceted glass was widely used in catering. This is a well known fact. But few people know that this fact is recognized by experts as an unofficial cultural sign of the Soviet era, as a symbol of something public, public, uniting. And indeed it is. Common faceted glasses were in vending machines with soda water, in canteens with compote and kefir, with tea and jelly in kindergartens and schools. 
And on the railway they still serve tea in faceted Soviet-style glasses with a glass holder, which is surprisingly pleasant and cute. 
