Market Friday: The antique shop is moving

Greetings, friends! I decided to continue my story about my visit to the old Palace of Culture. You may remember the beginning - I went to the book fair, and at the same time saw an exhibition of paintings, amazingly beautiful interiors, and many interesting details. The room with the painted ceiling and the crystal chandelier in which the exhibition was held was the former theatre auditorium. If you exit this hall through a side door, you can come to the foyer. I did an internet search for old photos of the place and found this one:

View of the foyer of the Palace of Culture. 1933. A photograph from the exhibition "Split View of the Palace of Culture", organized by the directorate together with the Nevskaya Zastava museum.

This picture was posted in a social media group. Some time ago there was an exhibition on the history of the building and the organisers had published some archive photos on social media. The photograph, taken in 1933, shows a typical theatre foyer. There was probably a counter in the corner of the hall and spectators bought ice-cream or lemonade during intermission. The centrepiece is a portrait of Vladimir Lenin. Well, some continuity is maintained: a bust of Lenin can be seen in the hall right now.

The text on the sheet inserted in the typewriter reads: "I'm old! Please don't touch me!"

The organisers set up a survey of participants in a social media group, asking them to share their memories of using the hall in previous years. Locals told the group that a children's dance studio used the space in the 1970s and 1980s. Later, in the 1990s, a book fair was set up in the Palace of Culture, which occupied the entire ground floor, while the first floor was used for antique and souvenir trade.

Now the antique shop is moving to other premises, in another wing of the same building. I caught the moment when most of the items had already moved into their new showcases, and only a small number of paintings, figurines and household items were still in their old places.

Members of the social media group have repeatedly asked what will be housed in this room in the future - a question I have repeatedly encountered when searching for information about the hall's past. The management of the Palace of Culture maintains a mysterious silence and writes comments along the lines of "Let it be a surprise!". But in neighbouring posts questions have been raised several times to locals about the past of this Palace of Culture and I have a hunch. Perhaps they are going to set up a local history museum in the former theatre foyer? I'll keep an eye on how things develop - I wonder if my hunch is correct.

Right now a small exhibition on the history of this area of town is going on in the front staircase. But that's just a few information boards with text and photos. Meanwhile, this area of the city has a complex and interesting history; it would be curious to know details that didn't make it into the short articles of the guidebooks.

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Smartphone	Google Pixel 3a
Location	Saint Petersburg, Russia

This is my entry for the #marketfriday challenge by @dswigle.