What is "Russian poison" and why triangular bottles were produced in the USSR: an excursion into history
In Soviet industry, everything was foreseen in case of a major war: the diameter of a cigarette was equal to the caliber of a rifle cartridge; the pencil was fitted to a 5.45 mm caliber; pasta was made in the form of gunpowder; the soap was cast in the form of a TNT block; a 0.5 liter bottle with a cross section of 73 mm - suitable for the 2A28 gun and the projectile for the LNG grenade launcher. Even the size of the buttons was not taken from a French fashion magazine, but strictly corresponded to the calibers of the cartridges and shells. With the transition of the country to a military track, factories and factories could begin to produce ammunition within a matter of days. And everything seems to be thought out, but there is one interesting fact - in our country, three-sided bottles were also produced! Really under some secret superweapon? Let's figure this out!
Triangular bottles for "Russian poison"
This form of glass containers was chosen precisely for the seasoning popular at all times - vinegar essence. Why is it so? The answer is simple and even banal, if you know a little about the state of affairs at that time. But we will return to them a little later, and now some modern statistics. The infographic shows the causes of toxicological poisoning in the Kirov region in 2016. If we raise the statistics throughout the country, then the numbers will be approximately the same. That is, 7% of patients are poisoned with acetic acid! According to statistics, about half of them - "vinegar" - people trying to commit suicide with vinegar.
Interesting fact! Acetic acid is generally called "Russian poison", since nowhere else in the world is it poisoned in such huge quantities.
And the other half are alcoholics, who confused the coin hidden by his wife with a bottle of vinegar essence. So, if this is happening now, then imagine what happened before, in the 20s and 30s ...
Alcoholism and illiteracy
Alcoholism was, is, and, unfortunately, will be. At least for the foreseeable future, this contagion will not be overcome by a single ban on night trading. A person who is addicted to a green snake and is in the stage of severe intoxication or a hangover does not particularly smell and may well mistake a vinegar bottle for vodka. So they poison themselves ...
And imagine that even a good part of the population cannot read! What is written on the bottle - vinegar or something else? Yes, the devil only knows - "the pipes are burning" - we must have a drink soon! In general, in those days there were many times more vinegar poisoning. And in order to somehow reduce the statistics, save the population and not occupy scarce beds for the "illiterate" alcoholics, they decided to make a special, triangular glass container, intended specifically for vinegar. According to doctors of those times, the special shape of the bottle was supposed to stop a person from a rash act. That is, a person who cannot read and cannot distinguish smells should have understood by touch that the container is far from lemonade. That's the whole story of a purely "Russian poison" and a three-sided bottle!