Years ago, when we lived near Chicago, we used to drive to Minnesota to visit my relatives who lived in Red Wing, a very pretty town on the Mississipppi River. I had an aunt and cousins who lived there and other relatives nearby. One of my cousins and his family still live there. I don't talk to him or see him now, but I imagine that he still has his Green Bay Packers season tickets (I was always impressed by that since the waiting list for these tickets is about 100 years) and his big van painted in team colors.
Each year when we went to visit, I would go to the same little gift shop that was on Main Street Red Wing, and buy one of these blue and white Russian porcelain figures. I never saw them anywhere else. One year, when I went back to get my sixth figurine I was told they didn't have any more and that the company in Russia was no longer exporting, and there were no more to be found.
I always wondered about these. I stopped in at a Russian shop in downtown Boston and asked, and they had never heard of such a thing. On the underside there is an marking and a crude stamp that says, "handpainted in the USSR". I majored in Russian History in college and still have a great interest in Russia. If anyone knows anything about these, drop me a comment. Actually, if the spirit moves you, post a comment anyway. I look forward to hearing from you. Be nice, hehe.
Cheers. Have a great day. [update: I am home today with this flu/cold, egads, and reading the next book on the stack.]
