place
Ferrein Pharmacy
Ferrein
also: Феррейн, Ferrein's
The famous Moscow pharmacy chain founded by Vladimir Ferrein, whose flagship store on Nikolskaya Street (near the Slavic Bazaar) was the largest and best-known drugstore in the city -- an operator mishears the caller's request for the Hermitage restaurant as a request for this equally well-known address.
Reading notes
- To A. S. Suvorin, 25 June 1891. Bogimovo. §2 from Ferreyn's, next to the "Slavyansky Bazaar"
The Ferrein pharmacy, the largest and best-known drugstore chain in Moscow, its flagship store on Nikolskaya Street standing near the Slavyansky Bazaar hotel and restaurant -- Chekhov uses the well-known restaurant as a landmark to specify which Ferrein branch he means.
- At the Telephone §30 Ferrein
Ferrein was Moscow's most famous pharmacy, its huge flagship store on Nikolskaya Street a city landmark; the operator's mishearing of "Hermitage" as "Ferrein" works because both were among the small set of well-known addresses prominent enough to be instantly recognizable on the new telephone network.