Novgorod at 109 Novotovarnaya Street and the Armenian Vichat Stepanovich Atoyan opened the Atoyan Brothers shoe store at 111 Kitaiskaya Street.
Harbin had numerous men's tailors. I will list only a few: Rakhmiel Khaimovich Sandler, Ivan Matveyevich Dryazgov, Yan Fritsevich Goldman, and Pavel Andreyevich Voronin.
The harsh climate and the cold, snowy winters made furs, which were relatively inexpensive, quite popular. A resident of Harbin, Zuev, described the Harbin flea market:
Greatcoat! Greatcoat!' a Tatar called out in pure Russian. 'I'll sell it for seven rubles. It's not a soldier's greatcoat, it's a general's, with a red calico lining. Seven rubles.' 'Coat like a fur coat, with a fur collar!' cried an unshaven fellow with red eyes. 'A fur coat, as is, fur coat, I'm giving it away!'
Sure, a fur coat,' a wiseguy echoed and then added, 'Selling it cheap, practically giving it away. A fur coat without sleeves, without a back, with a hundred rubles' worth of repairs.' 13
Fur stores were located on Kitaiskaya Street as well, and notable among them were Balikoff and Grigorieff at number 174; the wholesalers the Bent brothers; and Boris Isakovich Palei. Felix Pisarsky recalls, «The fashionable fur ateliers were Palei and Bent, which gave exhibits of their works in the winter.»
There were also two fur stores on Mostovaya Street: Barnaul Society, at number 5, and Vinokurov and Sons at number 25. The store of Semyon Gurerich, on Mostovaya Street not far from Kitaiskaya, had a good reputation and was particularly well known for its karakul hats and collars. They sold fur coats, jackets, hats, collars, and pelts and had a workshop for retailoring furs. Not far from Churin's on Bolshoi Prospect was the fur store belonging to Khariton Maximovich Velikanov; at 4 Yamskaya, was the fur atelier of Solomon Moiseyevich Tsyngauz; and at 1 Mostovaya, the shop of Khaim Isaevich Trotsky. In the late 1920s dyed furs were popular, and Ivan Efimovich Terekhov opened the Condor atelier for dyeing furs at 2 Vtoraya Korotkaya Street.
Harbin was up on women's beauty, and its proximity to Shanghai assured it a ready supply of perfume, powder, and lipstick. Dozens of Russians opened manicure salons or hair salons. Apparently, the best known hair salon was Prima at 20/36 Bolshoi Prospect, opposite Churin's. Calling itself a Theatrical Hair Salon, Prima had many clients from Harbin's artistic world. Another famous hair salon was Malyshevsky's Universal at 19 Kitaiskaya Street. There were several smaller establishments and individual hairdressers.
The elegant women of Harbin were known for their beauty. Outstanding among the beauties of the 1920s was the prima ballerina Olga Pavlovna Manzhelei, who came to Harbin in 1928 to appear at the Apollo Theater. A student of Boris Romanov and Lavrenti Novikov, she was a soloist at the Odessa Theater of Opera and Ballet, and then toured China, Japan, and the Philippines with her partner, Boris Serov. They were popular in Harbin until the end of the 1930s.
Harbin also liked the ballet duos Gorskaya-Kazandzhi, Rogovskaya-Shevlugin, Ogneva-Davydov, and many others. The fame of the Harbin Ballet, founded by Elizaveta Vasilyevna Kvyatkovskaya, a choreographer from Moscow, and Nikifor Ivanovich Feoktistov, an artist of the Bolshoi Theater, was well deserved. It brought Harbin several young and talented ballerinas who were known for their beauty, including Serafima Chistokhina, Nina Kozhevnikova, Vera Kondratovich, Nina Nedzvetskaya, and Elena Trutovskaya, who later moved to Paris to perform at the Folies Bergres.
A group of pretty dancers-- Bashurova, Altayeva, Rozetti, and Kvasnitskaya--ornamented the stages of variety
Opposite: Advertisements in the magazine Rubezhfor fashion ateliers and hair salons in Harbin, 1930s.
reviews and cabarets, of which there were quite a few. Kozlovsky wrote about Harbin's nightlife: «One of the oldest cabarets was the Pompeii, which was distinguished by its mirrored room and 'living statues.' It was located in the New City; at the Wharf was the famous Fantasia cabaret, at the end of Offitserskaya Street next to the fire station. Those two cabarets were considered the most popular, known for their rich programs starring the best ballet and cabaret performers in the city, exquisite cuisine, and a variety of the best local and imported drinks. There was another cabaret, Aetna, which was in the house of Gibello-Socco in the New City. Aside from these fashionable cabarets, Harbin had lots of third-rate ones, say, for instance, Palermo, Sorrento, and Taverna.» 14
Among the most famous concert performers were the singers Sofia Reggi,
Clothing Accessories, Maria Sadovskaya and Elena Novitskaya. Harbin had a special love of operetta. The favorite prima donnas were the beauties Lystsova and Gaidarova. They performed at the Ves' Mir (the Whole World} Theater, and then moved to the Gigantic Theater, which was later renamed Asia.
The Harbin opera was strong, too. Feodor Chaliapin performed there at the end of his career, and the famous soprano from the Maryinsky Theater, Lidia Lipkovskaya, and bass Alexander Mosjoukine, brother of the film star, also sang in Harbin. Thanks to a handsome subsidy from Ivan Mosjoukine, an opera troupe was organized in 1926-28 under the aegis of the railroad. It was directed by Ivan Polikarpovich Varfolomeyev, a tenor from the Diaghilev enterprise, and starred the young Sergei Lemeshev, sopranos Sprishevskaya and Baturina,
Bedding, and mezzo-soprano Zelinskaya. The quality productions with sets and costumes by Zasupkin, Domrachev, and Smirnov guaranteed that the operas were a great success. The migrs founded their own costume shops for theatrical costumes; one belonged to Yevgeny Andreyevich Chapovetsky and was located at 3 Kommercheskaya Street, and another,