Lecture "Fair in Old-World Ukraine": worth attending if you love history without dust
On May 2 and 3 at 1:00 PM, there will be a lecture about the fairs of the Dnipro region in the 19th century. This is an opportunity to see the old fair not just as a marketplace, but as a whole world of goods, agreements, entertainment, and daily habits.
What will be discussed
The lecture will help imagine how diverse the assortment of Ukrainian fairs was. Among the goods mentioned are Greek wines, Dutch cloth, Canary sugar, tools from Austria and Britain, Yemeni coffee, and Chinese tea. There will be a separate discussion about items that sound unusual today: sandalwood shavings, "wooden oil," and Crimean Tatar "mamsi."
It will also be interesting for those who love the history of everyday life. You will learn what was bought from Armenian, Jewish, and Karaite traders, why feathers, manes, and horns were sold at fairs, and how the trade in prasol worked. The lecture promises to show the fair not only as a place for shopping but also as a space of social rules and acquaintances.
Not just trade
People went to fairs not only for necessary items. They watched bears and acrobats, bought sweets, and looked for fast food — the fair's fast food of the time. There will also be discussions about goods whose purchase was not without a mogorych.
The duration of the lecture is one and a half hours. The event will take place at the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine in Kyiv, so it can be conveniently combined with a walk outdoors and a tour of the museum exhibition.
If you are curious to find out what was sold, bought, and discussed at Ukrainian fairs two centuries ago, this lecture is definitely worth attending — will you go?
