<p><br />

A copy of this photo, one of a much<br />

worse quality but in a wider perspective, was used as an illustration<br />

in a book by Fedir Ernst entitled The<br />

Contracts and the Contract House in Kyiv<br />

(Ернст, Федір. Контракти<br />

і контрактовий будинок в Київі. К: <br />

Всеукраїнська академія наук, 1924. С. 76).<br />

“Contracts! For a Kyiv resident, this word means quite a lot. The<br />

month of February. On the ground, there is snow, crisp at first and<br />

wet and dirty later. The square at Podil is filled with stalls, made<br />

of boards. A dense crowd is hurrying and scurrying to and fro. Sazhen<br />

long fishes are set out in front of shops just here, on the square.<br />

Waffles are smoking there; “little devils” and “mother’s-in-law<br />

tongues” are being sold there; heaps of Nechaiv honey cakes are<br />

piled on there. There are shops selling small wares and all sorts of<br />

various small things. One can hear annoying cries of vendors: “Twenty<br />

five envelopes for five each, twenty five!” The grey, time-worn<br />

Contract House with its four columns all plastered with<br />

advertisements. Inside one can see “eastern men” selling shawls<br />

and slippers, a Tatar selling Kazan soap, linen, Ural stones, huge<br />

heaps of many-coloured textiles, galoshes, Vyazma honey cakes (which<br />

have never been to Vyazma), turned things made by the blind and<br />

postcards in sealed envelopes – “for married persons only”,<br />

writes Ernst in the introductory paragraph. <br />

</p><br />

<p><br />

In the center of the photo, there is<br />

the dominant of the Contract Fair – the Contract House, standing<br />

out due to its scale, height and shapes against the background of the<br />

neighbouring houses, which have one or two floors for the most part.<br />

The Contract House has a rather refined four-column portico with a<br />

triangular pediment. One can see an advertisement of “Siberian<br />

sarpinka” on the Contract House columns; sarpinka was a cloth like<br />

printed calico made by German colonists of the Volga region.</p><br />

<p><br />

In the background, the industry of<br />

the Ploska area (now Podil and Lukyanivka) can be seen. On the<br />

columns, there are billboards telling about goods offered for sale.<br />

On the left wooden stalls can be seen, which are not too well<br />

protected from winter’s bad weather.</p><p>Olga Martyniuk</p>