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In 1927, the newspaper Economic Life published a Commodity Encyclopedia, the first major reference book on goods under the Soviet regime. Intended for use by “any one needing information about one or another commodity,” the Encyclopedia purported to provide a comprehensive survey of “all the goods that have trading significance” in modern society, and especially in Soviet Russia. According to its editors, the volume attempted to address the following questions:“What does the given commodity represent in essence, which of its qualities merit attention, what does it derive from, how can it be falsified?” 1 A perusal of the encyclopedia confirms these basic concerns. Its tone is technical and dry. Its alphabetical entries catalogue the basic physical and chemical properties of each commodity; describe the process of production and the requirements for storage or preservation; enumerate the uses of the …