Everyone who happened to live in the Soviet Russia remembers that Thursday is the fish day. On Thursdays, all public catering places, cafeterias, and canteens at the plants and factories served only fish dishes. The fish day was established in 1976, when the Soviet Government issued a decree to increase the production and consumption of fish.
There are different explanations why the fish day was imposed on Thursday. First, according to Christian tradition, Wednesday and Friday were the fasting days, when meat was prohibited, so, by excluding meat on Thursdays, the authorities could ensure having three days of fish consumption in a row. Second, statistically Thursday is the least busy day of the week, and the authorities hoped that in anticipation of Friday people would not overreact to the lack of meat on the menu.
The idea about the fish day was first introduced by the Soviet government as early as 1932, when the collectivization practically reduced cattle-farming and meat production to zero. The concept only survived for a couple of years, but the first attempts of Soviet advertising of fish and seafood could be found in the slogans like “It’s high time for you to see how tasty and tender crab meat could be.”
Today many restaurants still offer fish days, although menus have significantly changed, and people are no longer forced to consume seafood delicacies.
