<p>

A copy of this photo, one of a much

worse quality but in a wider perspective, was used as an illustration

in a book by Fedir Ernst entitled The

Contracts and the Contract House in Kyiv

(<i>Ернст, Федір. Контракти

і контрактовий будинок в Київі. К:

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

“Contracts! For a Kyiv resident, this word means quite a lot. The

month of February. On the ground, there is snow, crisp at first and

wet and dirty later. The square at Podil is filled with stalls, made

of boards. A dense crowd is hurrying and scurrying to and fro. Sazhen

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

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

tongues” are being sold there; heaps of Nechaiv honey cakes are

piled on there. There are shops selling small wares and all sorts of

various small things. One can hear annoying cries of vendors: “Twenty

five envelopes for five each, twenty five!” The grey, time-worn

Contract House with its four columns all plastered with

advertisements. Inside one can see “eastern men” selling shawls

and slippers, a Tatar selling Kazan soap, linen, Ural stones, huge

heaps of many-coloured textiles, galoshes, Vyazma honey cakes (which

have never been to Vyazma), turned things made by the blind and

postcards in sealed envelopes – “for married persons only”,

writes Ernst in the introductory paragraph.

</p>

<p>

In the center of the photo, there is

the dominant of the Contract Fair – the Contract House, standing

out due to its scale, height and shapes against the background of the

neighbouring houses, which have one or two floors for the most part.

The Contract House has a rather refined four-column portico with a

triangular pediment. One can see an advertisement of “Siberian

sarpinka” on the Contract House columns; sarpinka was a cloth like

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

<p>

In the background, the industry of

the Ploska area (now Podil and Lukyanivka) can be seen. On the

columns, there are billboards telling about goods offered for sale.

On the left wooden stalls can be seen, which are not too well

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