Grand Hotel in Kuibyshev

Lead Volga and American melodies

Eddie Gilmore, a correspondent for the American news agency Associated Press, arrived to cover the war in the USSR in October 1941. Journalists who disembarked at the port of Arkhangelsk were sent not to Moscow, but to Kuibyshev (now Samara), where foreign press offices were evacuated from Moscow. After spending some time in the city, Gilmore sent a report on Kuibyshevs nightlife to the agencys New York office:

“Its a lot of night in Kuibyshev, the alternative capital of the USSR, because the sun falls west early across the leaded Volga. There is also a lot of life, because the city, which used to be home to several tens of thousands of people, is now crowded with almost a million people. But nightlife is not enough. The center of activity is the Grand Hotel, where foreign diplomats, officers, journalists and elected Russians gather for dinner. The orchestra in shabby costumes plays American melodies, but, characteristically, seven musicians outnumber the dancing ladies. For $4-5, you can eat good food: bread, butter, chicken, goose, lamb, sturgeon, herring, great soups, pastries, tea, beer and vodka.

Street life in Kuibyshev is a mix of ice, Asia, Europe and crowded streets. On one side of the roadway, a camel drags a wheeled carriage; on the other side there is a horse drawn to a sleigh. Children happily skate and sledding, adults are busy with everyday chores. Every now and then, the crowd includes neatly dressed Red Army soldiers and dapper Polish soldiers. Barbershops are booming. In them you can see women doing their own manicure. I personally saw at least one active church and it had plenty of parishioners.”

The photo shows the Grand Hotel in Kuibyshev.

Previously in Old Photos: Under the bed in Nationals suite, “How much do you get paid for this?” - “A thousand a month.”