Hi! Alexander,   
      
   On 16/04/14 17:51, you wrote:   
      
    PQ>> I have seen this 'ritual', in at least one film. The use of a   
      
    ak> Do Russians like flowers on china saucers? ;-)   
      
   I cannot be certain.  I do (like flowers on them).   
      
    ak> In Russia we also produce china caps. Such a cap always has a handle. So   
    ak> it is more difficult to produce it. In hard time, especially after WW2   
    ak> when all utensils were broken :) glasses and saucers (and tea spoons)   
    ak> became the main mean for tea drinking.   
      
   Caps?  China cups.  Yes.  I used to have my own (favourite) tea cup and saucer   
   in my teenaged years.   
      
    ak> It must be said that there also was another tea set. It consisted of a   
    ak> glass (with a teaspoon) and a special metal glass holder (podstakannik   
    ak> in Russian). It has been widely used in trains, canteens etc. A waiter   
    ak> takes a tea tray, puts glasses on it, in glass holders, and carries it   
    ak> along the train, canteen etc. As you can see if they would use glasses   
    ak> with saucers they could carry much less glasses per one tray.   
      
   I have seen this metal glass holder at least once in a film.  I've spotted its   
   use at the 33 minute mark in the 'The Hunt for Red October' movie from 1990. I   
   have seen such things used in other films as well.  E.g. I suspect a senior   
   Police official may have been using one in the 'Gorky Park' film from 1983 but   
   I don't have a copy to check.   
      
   Yes, I can imagine that a cup holder would essentially turn a glass into a   
   shape similar to a coffee cup.  Such things would be more useful, and less   
   awkward, than cups & saucers.   
      
   Thanks again, Alexander.   
      
   Cheers,   
   Paul.   
      
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