Fizbar. Discovery Town. Central Pavilion. 1990-1992

Fizbar. Discovery Town. Central Pavilion. 1990-1992

In previous posts I started telling the story of a discovery-and-creativity town for children and youth that operated in the central VDNKh pavilion in the early wild nineties.

To my great surprise, almost nothing from that time remains. I searched the internet myself, asked ChatGPT to do deep research on this topic - nothing. Like it was wiped clean. There is one article in Science and Life, a couple of paragraphs in some random source, and that is all.

But for me, those few months working as a guide were extremely vivid. At 12, earning 125 rubles myself for a programmable calculator I really wanted. Seeing different people: bright ones, those sincerely mistaken, dull ones just serving time. That summer between 6th and 7th grade was unforgettable.

Now I see that everything I felt so deeply is gone. I want to restore, at least partially, how it was. If there is no photo film left, then at least let me develop the unreliable film of memory.

Fizbar was darkened, like a real bar. In that half-darkness one exhibit stood out: an ultraviolet lamp. You could place money under it and watch invisible text appear - "25 rubles" or "50 rubles." The 100-ruble bill glowed entirely with rainbow patterns.

When I started going to VDNKh, copper five-kopek coins were still in circulation. Then inflation started. The coins were replaced by blue-green plastic tokens. They also glowed very well under this lamp.

This exhibit was especially dear to me because it connected to Seabrook’s book "Robert Wood," with stories about a wizard-physicist who made everything in the hall glow during lectures by sending invisible rays. Only dentures did not glow - much to the frustration of their owners and delight of everyone else.