The economic crisis of late 1916 compelled many noble Muscovites to forsake their private transport for public, and to choose the tram, not yet so familiar, but far cheaper than a private motor car

The economic crisis of late 1916 compelled many noble Muscovites to forsake their private transport for public, and to choose the tram, not yet so familiar, but far cheaper than a private motor car. Alexandre Benois noted in his diary with astonishment that he had once met, on a tram, none other than Prince Andrey Grigoryevich Obolensky, who was evidently so ruined that he was obliged to be jolted about in a common carriage among labourers and humble clerks. His wife, Princess Alexandra Petrovna, however, though she complained of a complete derangement of their affairs, would not consent to board a tram under any circumstances, preferring to go everywhere on foot rather than submit to such a humiliation.