Funny holidays - Checkushka Day

"Shall we figure it out for three?" - those wishing to drink asked those passing by a wine and vodka store in Soviet times. If there were like-minded people, a bottle of spirits of 500 or 750 ml was bought together. Experienced drinkers, based on the number of gurgles, 7 per glass, could pour half a liter of vodka for three people in one go. The number of spontaneously appearing friends in misfortune was explained by the high price of the “little white one”. The tradition of thinking for three is more than 60 years old. After the monetary reform of 1961, 500 ml of strong drink cost 2 rubles. 72 kopecks Therefore, those who did not have the required amount looked for comrades with the help of a raised hand with a ruble and the catchphrase that became “Will you be the third?” Like-minded people chipped in a ruble, bought vodka, and took processed cheese or other snacks as change. A 250 ml bottle was purchased when there was no need or money to buy strong alcohol in larger quantities. In everyday life, this type of glass container for vodka was called a chekushka, before the 1917 revolution it was called a swindler. During Khrushchev's time, there was a ban on the sale of vodka in canteens and snack bars. The checks disappeared from store shelves, but this did not erase them from people’s memory. A holiday has been established in honor of the 1/4 liter bottle of vodka. Every year on June 16 in Russia and some countries of the former USSR a funny Check Day is celebrated. In Rus', strong drinks were measured in buckets, ladles, shtofas ​​and octopuses. The smallest container for dispensing alcohol, the scale, held 61.5 ml. The ancient Russian unit of liquid measurement before the introduction of the metric system was called chetushka and was equal to 249 milliliters. It consisted of a pair of glasses - vessels with a spherical stem, from which they drank alcoholic beverages. 249 ml was equal to 1/50 of a 12.3 liter bucket. During the Soviet Union, the name of the volume was transformed into “chekushka” - a quarter of a liter of vodka, or less often - wine. Glass containers of 100 and 50 ml, as a rule, were found in gift sets. This volume of vodka was not sold in stores during the Soviet period. And the checks were in use. It was this volume of vodka that Venechka, the intellectual and alcoholic from V. Erofeev’s poem “Moscow-Petushki”, took with him on the road. The history of the origin of the unusual holiday celebrated on June 16 is unknown. In honor of Checkushka Day, it is customary to gather in the company of friends at a set table, the hostess of which is a small bottle of traditional strong drink. The celebration invites memories of the Soviet past, heart-to-heart conversations with friends and acquaintances over a glass of vodka. According to established tradition, the national drink is eaten with sauerkraut, potatoes, pickles, herring, dumplings and other meat dishes.