The majority of citizens of the USSR, and now Russia, believed and still believe that the black marketeers are narrow-minded and morally pathetic types who picked up foreigners near foreign tourist hotels, begging them for second-hand items in exchange for penny souvenirs. Alas, reality, as always, is very different from the usual stereotypes. Real, successful black marketeers made up a significant part of the underground economy of the USSR. They made fortunes and laid the foundations of future ones; managed to squander money beautifully in those days when Soviet people were incredibly happy if they managed to get a roll of toilet paper or a stick of sausage. How? Why is practically nothing known about black marketeers then and now? Why are veterans of the black market in no hurry to “remember the past” and share their memories?