The Red square in sneakers: when the Gum was communal

With the advent of capitalism, the State Department store on red square has changed its status. Now there outfit the most creamy cream of society, and in Soviet times it was perhaps not the most popular Department store in the country. To GUM come not only for shopping, but also to listen to a concert or simply stroll through beautifully decorated galleries.

And once among visitors it was possible to see people in home clothes. Up to 50-ies of the second and third floors of the Gum was a communal apartment, inhabited by ordinary Muscovites.

In 20-ies of housing in the capital lacked. Therefore, the storage space on the upper floors of Gum (he opened with the Imperial government in 1893) decided to convert under communal. Life was not so sweet. During the parades, the residents were forbidden to approach the Windows. Common dishes were prepared directly in the rooms. If someone came to visit, we had to report it to the office.

However, the residents feel in a privileged position. They could enjoy the view of the fountain in the center of the building and the sounds of a brass band. In the hall for the workers of the CPSU Central Committee were often held concerts and movie. Residents of Gum were among the guests of these events. In addition, they were able to walk through red square and Alexander garden at any time and every minute to enjoy the feeling of living in the heart of Moscow.

Eleanor Garkunov, Spanish teacher, lived in a communal apartment in Gum the first 25 years of his life, from 1928 to 1953. Her story is given in the book "Main universal store".

"In the 1930-ies and 1940-ies of the Gum as something common did not exist, it was a set of completely different formations, gathered under one roof. First, trade shops always were, but they were located only on the 1st floor of the second and third lines. Traded different materials (textiles), office supplies, side Nikol was a grocery store, half of it was occupied by the nomenclatura distributed, and the other half in a regular store.

At 8 a.m., when the doors were opened, the whole GUM was heard the tramp of feet, on duty with the night people hurry to take place in the departments — even in our room it was audible. For this noise, we determined the time (and even on the Kremlin chimes, which were visible from the window). But the crush of the Gum was not there. After the war much at all you can buy without any queue.

On the second and third floors of the premises produced the most different organisations — there was, for example, foreign language courses (when I entered the faculty of foreign languages, I even visited them to pull up your Spanish), about the clinic I said, it was a print shop on the ground floor at the corner of Ilinka and Vetoshny.

With the beginning of spring has started to work on the fountain and on the balcony above it a brass band played, as in city parks. By the way, one of the shops near the fountain was a Commission, with all sorts of products from precious metals. According to rumors, it sold off the property of "enemies of the people". I was there once bought my mom a silver spoon in the usual shops such things was not.

The showroom floor was a meeting hall, and there is quite often arranged concerts and movie, in these cases, we, the residents of Gum is also allowed to. When in 1932 was the funeral of Nadezhda Alliluyeva, the residents of Gum something perepalo. I then our neighbors saw the most beautiful flowers in pots and my question is, where are, I was told that after the coffin Alliluyeva was taken to the cemetery, flowers from the audience were allowed to dismantle the rooms.

The proximity to the Kremlin, I did not particularly care, it all seemed natural. Ilinka was the government's track, at night I sometimes woke up to the fact that Spassky gate rang the bell signal and the Kremlin had left the government machine, under our Windows they come in the direction of the Central Committee on Old square, or heard the clatter of hooves of mounted police. So on the street always on duty "comrades in civilian clothes," I knew in person, and they — me. One day my mother put out to dry on the windowsill of my felt boots, and they blew down, who immediately ran with validation frightened "friends", my mom even had to write explanations.

Since 1936 during parades on the red square, there are a few times a year, in our room certainly sat a military man, his job was to watch, that none of the adults came up to the Windows. But I was a little girl, I was always allowed to peep: I lay on the windowsill and looked into my eyes, both from the Spassky gate leaves Voroshilov on a white horse.

Nobody wondered about the fact that I live in Gum. In 1930-e years, and especially after the war in Moscow where people lived, everything. Housing in Gum one was no surprise. My friends liked us to visit, my mom had such an interesting evening. And visitors are not bothered that the public toilet and the owner requests there is also a bucket of water grab".

In 1953, when GUM decided to give a Department store, the building housed 22 families — no less than 85 people. All of them were resettled in other houses.