OTMA - smoking, make up and clothes

[Valmont]

Cocaine was used as a cold remedy too.. sometimes as an energy booster, People in those times just were not aware of the side effects.. it was pretty common to use this "medicines".. who knows what will be written about aspirins in 100 years from now...

Arturo Vega-Llausás

[Marie-Antoinette]

Nobody knows what cigarettes they smoked do they?? (haaa, *totally knows i'm getting a bit detailed here*)
but Sobranie cigarettes do have The Imperial Eagle on them!

[anna11]

Well, Alexandra smoked French cigarettes didn't she? I suppose OTMA smoked the same brand.

OT- You know there's a Smirnoff vodka bottle with an imperial crest on it? It says 'Imperial vodka of Russian court, 1855-1917' or something like that? haha I was hheaps exicted when I found actually looked at the label.

[Sarushka]

I don't know if OTMA smoked regularly enough to develop a preference for a particular brand. Nicholas occasionally sent the girls cigarettes while he was at the front in WWI, and their letters indicate this was something of a treat. Does anyone know what kind NII smoked? Anyhow, if the girls were habitual smokers, I would expect there to be a lot more photos of them with cigarettes instead of just a handful.

[FadedDreams]

I confess, I was quite surprised when I heard that they smoked. Though I do know from reading about Tolkien and C.S. Lewis that back then, smoking was considered healthy. But it still bugs me.
People only see the glamour of the smoking. You never see what the results are. Those who have smoked many years end up as haggard, wasted and tired looking. I know. I used to have neighbors who smoked like chimneys and their home stunk, one lady had cancer and a young woman's little baby boy had coughing problems.
Smoking is bad for you.
Luckily, it seems that the girls didn't smoke regularly. But can you imagine if they did? They may not have been the same lovely girls they were (though that doesn't mean that I think that beauty is everything!)
Oh well, whatever. Smoking was thought of differently back then anyway. :-/

And I didn't mean to preach or anything. I just wanted to get that off my chest.

[Holly]

I don't see it as that big of a deal. Nicholas was, of course, a chain smoker and he sent the girls a few to help them with their nerves. It's not like they sat around all day in their rooms smoking and listening to the gramophone.

[nena]

I don't see it as that big of a deal. Nicholas was, of course, a chain smoker and he sent the girls a few to help them with their nerves. It's not like they sat around all day in their rooms smoking and listening to the gramophone.

Yes. I don't see any reason for OTMA's phyhical nervous....and their nerves ??

[Sarushka]

Smoking was an indulgence -- like eating chocolates -- that people perceived as soothing and relaxing. It doesn't necessarily mean OTMA were nervous. ;-)

[Maria_Pavlovna]

Queen Victoria detested the smell of tobacco and forbade anyone to smoke in her presence. This caused agonies to many in her household and family  -  including the future Queen Mary, who was a complete cigarette addict. However, the Queen changed her mind in her old age. She occasionally had a cigarette out of doors  -  to keep the insects away. There is, I believe, a photograph in existence showing her doing just that. I must admit I've never seen it, though.

Many of the younger generation of women in the 1890s took up smoking  -  but never in public. It was all about the 'New Woman' image and a sure sign of 'fin de siecle' rebellion. Women who smoked openly were considered 'fast'. Never were women seen smoking in the street if they valued their reputatons. But in private...

In a remarkable series of short films discovered in the last few years, taken by two entrepreneurial photographers at the turn of the last century, there are any number of Edwardian street scenes shown. Men are seen smoking  -  but never women. But open almost any novel of the time and you will find women smoking.

Very true and well done, and I like the way you put it.

[tom_romanov]

just wondering what happened to the elgant clothes OTMA wore during formal events, such as the one where they are sat on the sofa with their hair up ( part form Ana) and othe photo's that were taken during the 1913/1914 sessions. also what about everday clothes they wore aswell? any help apperciated!

[nena]

Tom, probably they survived and now it's hold in Russian museums......

[helenazar]

Some of it is on display at the Alexander Palace museum.

[tom_romanov]

oh im glad i thought they were stolen or burnt

[Forum Admin]

Every piece of clothing that was left in the AP was inventoried and put into storage.  Its all still there and there is a LOT of it. Even socks and underwear.  Bob has seen it, and a curator even let him hold a pair of Alexei's socks! 

Everything that went to captivity is gone.  Either burned at the Ipatiev House, Sokolov found the remains and ashes, or what little was left was sent to the Romanov Family in exile in the big trunks.  The family then burned all the clothing, fearing that they might become "relics".  The trunks though they still have. Bob and I were able to see three of them, one Nicholas', one Olga's, one Maria's. 

[tom_romanov]

fascinating thanks forum admin! i must go to russia when i am older!