Belomorkanal (cigarettes), whose photo is in front of you, is known to all people who lived during the existence of the Soviet Union. Contemporaries are also familiar with this tobacco product, but from a slightly different perspective.
As soon as cigarettes of this brand are called - “Belomor”, “Belomor Camel”, “Bel Amur Chanel” ... Every second Soviet smoker smoked them, it was the most famous Soviet tobacco brand that was present everywhere: on store shelves, in anecdotes, in movies ... This is the most recognizable brand in the history of tobacco production during the Soviet era. Appearing in the distant thirties, "Belomor" continues to be produced in our days - both as a cigarette and as a souvenir.
History of creation
In the early thirties, Joseph Stalin uprooted private business and gave rise to the era of industrialization. This transition was painful for the people and was accompanied by links and executions. In order for Soviet citizens to work more efficiently, propaganda was delivered at the highest level in the country. The era of large construction projects was displayed in everything. Films were made about them, books were written, poems, songs were composed, and even cigarettes were named after these great projects.
One of the largest projects was the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal (LBC). To implement, the construction required large financial investments, but Stalin, in order to reduce costs, employed prisoners as free labor. These people did not have to pay, and the number has never been reduced. According to reliable facts, it is known that a huge number of people died in the construction of the Belomorkanal (according to various sources, from 60 to 180 thousand).
Although this powerful project took many human lives, the Soviet people perceived it as a triumph of the USSR, confirming the status of the Great Country. The new Belomorkanal brand (cigarettes) was a stunning success. Tobacco products with such a legendary name have become almost a symbol of labor heroism and great construction. The release of "Belomor" was just the way, strong and cheap cigarettes pleased the whole population, they were smoked by both intellectuals and simple hard workers.
Description
The design of the pack was the key to brand recognition. The artists of the Uritsky tobacco factory participated in its creation. Some people are sure that the picture on the pack never changed, but this is not so. From the very beginning, it displayed a part of the European map with a marked bold strip by the Belomorkanal and thin lines of foreign channels. Later the image on the pack was changed, leaving Soviet Russia and adding to the mentioned channel the water "road" named after Moscow and the Volga-Don. The dimensions of the modern pack are 82 x 83 x 23 mm.
In the manufacture of cigarettes, a sleeve is first made, then tobacco is stuffed into it. The density of the packing is very high quality, because of this, tobacco does not pour at all. There is an opinion that the diameter of the cigarettes Belomorkanal (7.62 mm) was designed so that if necessary it would be possible to produce cartridges on the same machines. Foresight has not harmed anyone, Soviet tobacco "cartridges" of other brands also produced with the same diameter.
Belomorkanal (cigarettes): composition
Innovation in the tobacco industry was not intended for weak intellectuals, but for hardy and strong hard workers, although, as mentioned earlier, both of them smoked. Belomorkanal - cigarettes are very strong, made from pure tobacco without any admixture of flavorings. Each unit contains 30-35 mg of resin and 1.5-1.8 mg of nicotine.
Cigarettes Belomorkanal: production
The composition was invented by master Ionidi. In certain proportions, he mixed Moldovan and Azerbaijani varieties of tobacco. Belomorkanal (cigarettes) was launched in 1937 in Leningrad, at the Uritsky factory.
Nowadays, their manufacture continues at the former Uritsky factory (LLC Petro). A well-known brand does not have a specific owner, so anyone can produce such cigarettes. For example, in 2011, the Don Don Tobacco factory released Belomorkanal in a beautiful metal souvenir box.
By tradition, the manufacture of cigarettes requires manual labor, for this reason in our time such manufacture is considered unprofitable.
Belomorkanal: price and quality
In Soviet times, the real proletarians of all drug vices could only drink inexpensive alcoholic drinks and smoke cheap and strong cigarettes. The cheap and strong Belomor, which appeared on sale, immediately gained immense popularity among ordinary people. This is not surprising, the price for such pleasure was meager when compared with other tobacco products.
Later, Belomorkanal became associated with the well-known expression: “Smoke of the Fatherland, which is sweet and pleasant.” And this despite the fact that these are fifth-grade cigarettes. They were also valued for the fact that at a meager cost the pack “stored” in itself not 20, as usual, but as many as 25, full of strong tobacco, paper sleeves. "Belomor" is the most powerful cigarettes, which means that they are unparalleled in health hazards.
Brand in the modern world
No matter how touted Belomorkanal (cigarettes), in the modern world of fierce competition and a variety of tobacco products, both domestic and foreign, it has lost its popularity. But at the same time, tobacco products originally from the USSR are in demand among tourists as a souvenir of the Soviet era. Our tourists often take them with them on trips around Europe.
According to statistics, only 4% of the white belorins sold are used for smoking. The remaining 96% are bought due to a cigarette case, in which it is very convenient to change the contents.
The famous brand has been tried many times by filter cigarette manufacturers and vodka producers. These attempts were not crowned with particular success, the real Belomorkanal remained only cigarettes.