12-21-2007, 04:54 PM
I believe the period of the fire sales was early to mid Yeltsin era. From my experience the Museum of Political Movements (formerly known as "The Museum of the Revolution") went into an active "deacquisition" period where they also reduced their soviet inventory either to fund continued operations or to acquire later democratic movement items.
The Museum of the Revolution sold off duplicate or excess materials with documentation including certification as to payment of duties and taxes so that such material could be exported. I believe the duty was 100 percent at that time. I was in their museum shop which was more of an antique shop rather than selling T shirts of the Museum.
A friend then resident in Moscow was an active participant in the funding of the Museum's transition (that is he bought a lot of what they were selling) Now for duplicate here I mean they had three Provisional design Supreme Soviet badges maked on the accompanying cardboard sheet "one of three, design not accepted," which he acquired. They apparently decided that they did not need all three rejected samples.
The best T Shirt I bought was from the Red Army Museum for the ruble equivalent of $.42 -right fourty-two cents at the then exchange rate!). We bought their entire inventory! Big red circle (NOT sign) over an SS-20 and legend in Russian/English "fairwell to Arms!"
So, yes I remember those days. Some referred to those days as "pure capitalism" or "looter economy" when everything was for sale.
There were similar allegations that the "museum" at lubyanka sold of some off the materials in their safe, confiscated items of former non-persons and that that was where a lot of the expired Lenin badges (Gold head, Silver head) came from.
And whatever you could not get at the museums was available on Arbat before it was closed down. That seemed to mark the end of unbridled capitalism.
Most of that era had ended by 1999 - 2000.
The Museum of the Revolution sold off duplicate or excess materials with documentation including certification as to payment of duties and taxes so that such material could be exported. I believe the duty was 100 percent at that time. I was in their museum shop which was more of an antique shop rather than selling T shirts of the Museum.
A friend then resident in Moscow was an active participant in the funding of the Museum's transition (that is he bought a lot of what they were selling) Now for duplicate here I mean they had three Provisional design Supreme Soviet badges maked on the accompanying cardboard sheet "one of three, design not accepted," which he acquired. They apparently decided that they did not need all three rejected samples.
The best T Shirt I bought was from the Red Army Museum for the ruble equivalent of $.42 -right fourty-two cents at the then exchange rate!). We bought their entire inventory! Big red circle (NOT sign) over an SS-20 and legend in Russian/English "fairwell to Arms!"
So, yes I remember those days. Some referred to those days as "pure capitalism" or "looter economy" when everything was for sale.
There were similar allegations that the "museum" at lubyanka sold of some off the materials in their safe, confiscated items of former non-persons and that that was where a lot of the expired Lenin badges (Gold head, Silver head) came from.
And whatever you could not get at the museums was available on Arbat before it was closed down. That seemed to mark the end of unbridled capitalism.
Most of that era had ended by 1999 - 2000.
