Surma
Surma
Surma, a Ukrainian store in New York city which opened in 1918, has been selling packaged dyes since at least the 1950s. They produced one of the earliest booklets on pysankarstvo (by Yara Surmach) and have been selling pysachky, beeswax and other supplies from their New York location, and by mail for many years.
After 98 years of business, Surma closed its doors permanently in June of 2016. You may still come across their dyes now and again, so I am leaving this page up.
They had a nice selection of basic dyes, and lovely packaging; their color line was
Yellow
Orange
Bright Red
Pink
Green
Light Blue
Aquamarine
Dark Red
Dark Blue
Violet
Brown
Trypillian Brown
Black
Surma’s colors were similar to the UGS line with two significant exceptions:
1.The orange is not vinegar-free, but does turn gelatinous when the vinegar is added. The resulting color is much more intense, but I don’t like gelatinous dyes.
2.The Violet is breathtakingly gorgeous. It is the most beautiful, intense purple dye I have ever used, and I’ve stocked up on this one. The UGS Purple is very blue; this Violet is not.
Surma over the years, with proprietors Myron Sr. and Markian Surmach:
Back to Pysanka Dyes page
Back to Main Dyes page
Back to MAIN Pysanka home page.
Back to Pysanka Index.
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