Despite the fact that the cup holder is just a piece of tableware, it causes romantic associations for many people. The long road, the clatter of wheels, the conductor brings tea in cupronickel cup holder. Or: an old manor, a puffing samovar, a vase with freshly brewed jam, a cup holder with fragrant herbal tea. This seemingly utilitarian object has its own personality and character, which turns a simple tea party into something special.
Cup holder history
In the mid-nineteenth century, Alexander Dumas wrote in his “Great Culinary Dictionary” that in Russia, traditionally men drink tea from glasses and women from Chinese cups. To explain this fact, he gives an amusing legend: the owners of coffee houses often made tea so weakly that through it was visible the bottom of a cup with Kronstadt depicted on it (because at that time cups were made in this city). Noticing that “Kronstadt is visible”, the men began to accuse the owners of cheating, so the owners of the cafe decided to pour the men tea in glasses, at the bottom of which it was impossible to see anything.
Another possible explanation for this fact could be the frequent trips of male soldiers: to carry porcelain dishes with them because of its fragility was inconvenient and expensive. One way or another, men began to drink tea, mainly from glasses, and in order not to burn themselves on hot glass, a removable metal stand with a handle was invented. The fact that the cup holder was originally designed exclusively for the male hand explains its massive shape and wide handle. Most likely, cup holders appeared in Russia at the end of the eighteenth century and at first performed a utilitarian function, without demonstrating any kind of artistic refinement.
Cup holder in the nineteenth century
In the second half of the nineteenth century, the cup holder ceases to be just a subject of utensils and becomes an object of art. The best jewelers work on them; various techniques are used in their manufacture: casting, embossing, stamping; wealthy people order cup holders, decorated with multi-colored enamel or stones. There is a huge variety of forms of cup holders and the plots depicted on them, reflecting the existing fashion and interests of people.
Probably, a close connection of cup holders with the railway occurs even then: they appear on Russian trains at the end of the nineteenth century, and, continuing this tradition, in Soviet times, their main wholesale buyer is the Ministry of Railways. Most likely, the reason is that with them the glass becomes more stable, which helps a lot while the train is moving. However, then these were not cupronickel coasters habitual for us: at that time they were most often made of brass - for the common people, and silver - for the aristocracy, and in special cases - of gold.
Coasters in the Soviet Union
In the USSR, the production of cup holders at first ceased, but in the twenties began again, and the utensils found a new birth. Perhaps this was due to the large distribution of glassware instead of porcelain or earthenware. Cupronickel cup holders begin to be produced after the end of World War II. Cupronickel is an alloy of copper and nickel that looks like silver, but is more resistant to temperature fluctuations. In the USSR cupronickel cup holders were quite expensive and were considered a luxury. A characteristic feature of the appearance of Soviet cup holders is their ideological charge. Often they are decorated not with neutral floral ornaments, but with Soviet symbols, faces of party leaders, paintings of everyday life: workers and peasants, tractor drivers; thematic series dedicated to famous personalities or significant events were also produced. In the era of space exploration, cupholders depicted space satellites, rockets, and astronauts.
Cup holders today
Coasters are now collectibles. For some, this is a nostalgic souvenir from the Soviet past, for some it is a subject of traditional Russian life, and someone is attracted by their appearance, a variety of shapes and images. Cupronickel cup holders can be presented as a souvenir to an antique lover or a foreign friend, to use them in the interior of a kitchen or just to drink tea from a glass in them. They can be found in antique stores, flea markets, as well as mezzanines and closets. The price of cupronickel cup holders of the Soviet period can vary from several rubles to tens of thousands, depending on how rare this is.
How to care
Cupronickel is not the most capricious metal, but in order for it to please with its brilliance, it needs to be looked after. After use, cupronickel cupholders are preferably washed in a solution of soda (two tablespoons of soda per liter of water), and after washing, they must be wiped dry so that dried drops do not leave dark spots on the surface. Over time, cupronickel darkens, and it is necessary to remove the upper layer of oxidized metal so that it takes its original form.
To clean cupronickel cup holder, it is better to take a special jewelry paste to restore the luster of silver. If there is no opportunity to purchase it, then you can use one of the methods that were used in everyday life when these jewelry was not yet invented.
One of the oldest ways to clean cup holders is to rub it with a piece of suede soaked in vodka and sprinkled with chalk. You can also hold them in water with dissolved ammonia (or vodka, or vinegar). Another way is to boil the cup holders in a potato broth. Cupronickel should not be rubbed using abrasive products (for example, tooth powder and paste, soda), because of this, small scratches will appear and the corrosion process will go faster.