Comments on: Gigantic queue for first Moscow McDonald's, 1990 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:21:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: jneilnyc http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1216590 jneilnyc Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:58:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1216590 I was in Moscow in 1994 and was surprised (appalled, actually) that my host wanted to drag me to a big McDonalds one evening.  Apparently to young, hip, western-thinking muscovites the place was a night club in all but name, since it was open long after other places closed (I don't remember if you could get vodka with that quarter-pounder, but since you could at just about every other location where cash traded hands, I wouldn't be surprised). The other surprise was that there seemed to be an active after-market in Big Macs.  Entrepreneurs would buy them and resell them from their news kiosks blocks away, or even to motorists waiting at traffic lights. I was in Moscow in 1994 and was surprised (appalled, actually) that my host wanted to drag me to a big McDonalds one evening.  Apparently to young, hip, western-thinking muscovites the place was a night club in all but name, since it was open long after other places closed (I don’t remember if you could get vodka with that quarter-pounder, but since you could at just about every other location where cash traded hands, I wouldn’t be surprised).
The other surprise was that there seemed to be an active after-market in Big Macs.  Entrepreneurs would buy them and resell them from their news kiosks blocks away, or even to motorists waiting at traffic lights.

]]> By: GawainLavers http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1214879 GawainLavers Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:16:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1214879 Yeah -- Of course I'm sure Panama was an "International Policing Action by a Willing Coalition of One against Illegally Combative Defenders" or some such thing, but Russian McDonald's just jogged my memory. Yeah — Of course I’m sure Panama was an “International Policing Action by a Willing Coalition of One against Illegally Combative Defenders” or some such thing, but Russian McDonald’s just jogged my memory.

]]> By: weatheredwatcher http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1214607 weatheredwatcher Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:27:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1214607 My wife and I ate there right after we got married in 2000 (we were in Moscow getting her visa).  I don't know how it is now, but even in the Summer of 2000 it was still considered a big deal to eat at McDonalds.  People dressed up for it. My wife and I ate there right after we got married in 2000 (we were in Moscow getting her visa).  I don’t know how it is now, but even in the Summer of 2000 it was still considered a big deal to eat at McDonalds.  People dressed up for it.

]]> By: Shady Lane http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1214503 Shady Lane Fri, 16 Sep 2011 10:31:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1214503 Man at counter - "now what should I get?" Man at counter – “now what should I get?”

]]> By: Guest http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1214471 Guest Fri, 16 Sep 2011 08:28:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1214471 Pierogi... (drools) Pierogi… (drools)

]]> By: Jonathan Badger http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1214367 Jonathan Badger Fri, 16 Sep 2011 03:43:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1214367 Presumably you are referring to the discredited "No two countries with McDonalds ever fought a war" legend. You don't have to go as recent as the Russian/Georgian spat of a couple of years ago to discredit that. The US invasion of Panama to oust Noriega already invalidated it in 1989. Presumably you are referring to the discredited “No two countries with McDonalds ever fought a war” legend. You don’t have to go as recent as the Russian/Georgian spat of a couple of years ago to discredit that. The US invasion of Panama to oust Noriega already invalidated it in 1989.

]]> By: adamnvillani http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1214239 adamnvillani Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:49:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1214239 Confidential to people outside the U.S.: There are tons and tons of places in the U.S. that make much better hamburgers than McDonalds. Confidential to people outside the U.S.: There are tons and tons of places in the U.S. that make much better hamburgers than McDonalds.

]]> By: Moonshadow http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1214090 Moonshadow Thu, 15 Sep 2011 22:36:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1214090 Compare the opening of the first Krispy Kreme in Shinjuku, Tokyo, 2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU4MaPkMz9M Compare the opening of the first Krispy Kreme in Shinjuku, Tokyo, 2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU4MaPkMz9M

]]> By: niktemadur http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1214062 niktemadur Thu, 15 Sep 2011 22:15:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1214062 Same thing happened in Mexico City sometime around the mid-eighties. In a few years' time, McDonald's franchising had picked up speed and was all over the country.  Inevitably, the national burger chain (called Burger Boy) went out of business. Same thing happened in Mexico City sometime around the mid-eighties.
In a few years’ time, McDonald’s franchising had picked up speed and was all over the country.  Inevitably, the national burger chain (called Burger Boy) went out of business.

]]> By: gerardwhelan http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1214004 gerardwhelan Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:31:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1214004 this place was lined up for ages and ages - there were stories of people from towns and cities hundreds of miles away who would come and buy a hundred cheeseburgers and take them back home in the trunk and sell them on the corner, cold and days later, for profit. concerning the 'sense-of-freedom-becomes-just-more-junk-food', I'm reminded of a great Russian joke: what is difference between optimist and pessimist? Optimist does not have all informations yet. this place was lined up for ages and ages – there were stories of people from towns and cities hundreds of miles away who would come and buy a hundred cheeseburgers and take them back home in the trunk and sell them on the corner, cold and days later, for profit.
concerning the ‘sense-of-freedom-becomes-just-more-junk-food’, I’m reminded of a great Russian joke:
what is difference between optimist and pessimist?
Optimist does not have all informations yet.

]]> By: zombienietzsche http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213959 zombienietzsche Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:56:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213959 In Soviet Russia, Beef AMMONIATES YOU!!! In Soviet Russia, Beef AMMONIATES YOU!!!

]]> By: cazart http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213811 cazart Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:39:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213811 $15 Big Mac?!?! Selling ketchup packets!?!?! This can only mean one thing: In Soviet Union, Hamburglar robs YOU! (Can not buh-lieve you missed that Glorious Joke of the People, comrades.) $15 Big Mac?!?! Selling ketchup packets!?!?!

This can only mean one thing:
In Soviet Union, Hamburglar robs YOU!

(Can not buh-lieve you missed that Glorious Joke of the People, comrades.)

]]> By: Gary Flores http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213757 Gary Flores Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:08:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213757 I went to that same McDonald's two years later and my biggest surprise was that they sold the little ketchup packets.. and people used to cut the top of them and dip each fry on them. Definitely a shock when you are exposed to this little details for a young western. I remember a street vendor bartering a "White Sox" hat that my older brother was wearing for a lot of USSR Military memorabilia! I went to that same McDonald’s two years later and my biggest surprise was that they sold the little ketchup packets.. and people used to cut the top of them and dip each fry on them.

Definitely a shock when you are exposed to this little details for a young western.

I remember a street vendor bartering a “White Sox” hat that my older brother was wearing for a lot of USSR Military memorabilia!

]]> By: GawainLavers http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213732 GawainLavers Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:46:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213732 Someone please find a picture of a McDonald's in Tbilisi and then send the two to Thomas Friedman. Someone please find a picture of a McDonald’s in Tbilisi and then send the two to Thomas Friedman.

]]> By: Brian Huntington http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213702 Brian Huntington Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:16:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213702 No one's commenting on that awesome roof? With the split and the glass pyramid "breaking" through it? Good shot at 1:16.  No one’s commenting on that awesome roof? With the split and the glass pyramid “breaking” through it? Good shot at 1:16. 

]]> By: Alex Gorman http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213646 Alex Gorman Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:44:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213646 It was really good. But then, we'd been eating a lot of questionable Russian food over the past few weeks. You never knew what you were going to dredge up from the bottom of your bowl of borscht. It was really good. But then, we’d been eating a lot of questionable Russian food over the past few weeks. You never knew what you were going to dredge up from the bottom of your bowl of borscht.

]]> By: kartwaffles http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213638 kartwaffles Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:39:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213638 Missed this grand opening, but was there for the first Moscow Pizza Hut. Missed this grand opening, but was there for the first Moscow Pizza Hut.

]]> By: Vitaly Ivachin http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213592 Vitaly Ivachin Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:11:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213592 "It used to be a matter of no small pride to me that Moscow got its first McDonald's some years before Northern Ireland did. " Is that because McDonalds was seen as something just for the 'health nuts' in Ireland? “It used to be a matter of no small pride to me that Moscow got its first
McDonald’s some years before Northern Ireland did. ”
Is that because McDonalds was seen as something just for the ‘health nuts’ in Ireland?

]]> By: Navin_Johnson http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213584 Navin_Johnson Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:09:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213584 Probably better off on bread and vodka. Probably better off on bread and vodka.

]]> By: John Edgar Park http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213575 John Edgar Park Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:06:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213575 I ate there that year; it was a sight to behold!  It tasted nearly the same as a US McDonald's. The Russian (Soviet) clientele treated it more like a special occasion meal. I remember marveling at the size of the place, it was huge, something like 30 registers wide. I ate there that year; it was a sight to behold!  It tasted nearly the same as a US McDonald’s. The Russian (Soviet) clientele treated it more like a special occasion meal. I remember marveling at the size of the place, it was huge, something like 30 registers wide.

]]> By: ill lich http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213494 ill lich Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:17:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213494 If there was a fast food joint here in the US that sold holubtsi and pierogi and blini, I'd eat there all the time. If there was a fast food joint here in the US that sold holubtsi and pierogi and blini, I’d eat there all the time.

]]> By: ill lich http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213490 ill lich Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:15:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213490 "Wow, freedom tastes. . .greasy." “Wow, freedom tastes. . .greasy.”

]]> By: Brainspore http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213462 Brainspore Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:03:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213462 If the U.S. really wanted to end the Castro regime we should have just ended that silly embargo and sent in the meat clown. (Philosophers may debate which approach would ultimately prove more humane.) If the U.S. really wanted to end the Castro regime we should have just ended that silly embargo and sent in the meat clown. (Philosophers may debate which approach would ultimately prove more humane.)

]]> By: Jamie Sue http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213420 Jamie Sue Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:47:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213420 I remember footage of that on the news.  How odd.  I also remember a McDonalds ad involving chopsticks celebrating something, but I can't remember what now. I remember footage of that on the news.  How odd.  I also remember a McDonalds ad involving chopsticks celebrating something, but I can’t remember what now.

]]> By: hassenpfeffer http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213390 hassenpfeffer Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:32:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213390 Reminded of the "Burgers 'n' Borscht" (name?) restaurant at the end of "Watchmen," the restaurant that takes the place of the Gunga Diner. Reminded of the “Burgers ‘n’ Borscht” (name?) restaurant at the end of “Watchmen,” the restaurant that takes the place of the Gunga Diner.

]]> By: krake http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213368 krake Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:19:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213368 "And the feeling of having a Big Mac in Moscow at the time was priceless" buying a BigMac wasn't: It cost the equivalent of $15... “And the feeling of having a Big Mac in Moscow at the time was priceless”

buying a BigMac wasn’t: It cost the equivalent of $15…

]]> By: Metlin http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213356 Metlin Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:12:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213356 Pleasantly or unpleasantly? Pleasantly or unpleasantly?

]]> By: $1207948 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213341 $1207948 Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:00:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213341 I was there only a couple of weeks after the store opened. Police guarded the doors and let us in one by one. It may seem crazy to Americans, but this first Russian store was a symbol of freedom - at the time. I am a Norwegian, living in Oslo, and when the fist Scandinavian McDonalds opened in Gothenburg in Sweden, we drove 350 km to get a burger! How crazy is that! At the time, it was simply - wicked and wonderful. Americans has to realize that so much happened in Europe and USSR or now Russia, at that time - 1980/90. The arch US symbol (freedom, capitalism, free speech, liberty and love and happiness and everything else...) represented by McDonalds was something entirely new, exciting and - ideological.  Of course.... things has changed. We all grow fatter and there is a McDonalds on every street corner and the excitement has gone, completely gone... it is crap and it is soooo yesterday. But at the time it represented something good and it gave a good feeling. Funny enough. And the feeling of having a Big Mac in Moscow at the time was priceless. Uncle Joseph was kicked  over... I was there only a couple of weeks after the store opened. Police guarded the doors and let us in one by one. It may seem crazy to Americans, but this first Russian store was a symbol of freedom – at the time. I am a Norwegian, living in Oslo, and when the fist Scandinavian McDonalds opened in Gothenburg in Sweden, we drove 350 km to get a burger! How crazy is that! At the time, it was simply – wicked and wonderful.
Americans has to realize that so much happened in Europe and USSR or now Russia, at that time – 1980/90. The arch US symbol (freedom, capitalism, free speech, liberty and love and happiness and everything else…) represented by McDonalds was something entirely new, exciting and – ideological. 
Of course…. things has changed. We all grow fatter and there is a McDonalds on every street corner and the excitement has gone, completely gone… it is crap and it is soooo yesterday.
But at the time it represented something good and it gave a good feeling. Funny enough.
And the feeling of having a Big Mac in Moscow at the time was priceless. Uncle Joseph was kicked  over…

]]> By: Alex Gorman http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213329 Alex Gorman Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:54:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213329 My fifteen year old self stood in this line in 1990. I was on a student exchange trip there for three weeks. We wanted something other than borscht. It could be just the fog of memory, but I recall that everyone was surprised by the quality of the food. My fifteen year old self stood in this line in 1990. I was on a student exchange trip there for three weeks. We wanted something other than borscht. It could be just the fog of memory, but I recall that everyone was surprised by the quality of the food.

]]> By: Scott Reed http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/gigantic-queue-for-first-moscow-mcdonalds-1990.html#comment-1213323 Scott Reed Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:48:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=117621#comment-1213323 Too bad the same lines and enthusiasm weren't repeated when the first House of Borscht opened up in the U.S. Too bad the same lines and enthusiasm weren’t repeated when the first House of Borscht opened up in the U.S.

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