Real USSR » kids

Oleg Popov, The Sad Clown

Eva Muryzhnikova — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:16:03 +0000

In about six weeks this remarkable man will celebrate his 80th Birthday. Who is he? The most popular clown of the Soviet Union, also known as the Sunshine Clown, Oleg Popov is true icon of its own. Born in 1930, he had on of the toughest upbringings ever — yet he managed to become one of most recognisable people of the 20th century: he also was in Guinness Records Book for “being popular in the West and in the East”.

On top of his game. Oleg Popov in 1976.

He was training to be a plumber when, at the age of 17, his friends took him along to the local circus — overwhelmed, he later said there was no way back. He started learning acrobatics, gymnastics, tricks; he spent all of his time and money on learning about the famous clowns and their techniques. It did not take him long to become famous: his natural talent and an open smile made wonders.

In his interview for the Russian newspaper Arguments and Facts, Oleg Popov is reminiscing about the happiest day of his life:after Stalin’s death in 1953, all entertainment was banned as a deep mourning was announced. So the circus he was working at was shut, and those weeks of not doing what he loved was torturous. It took over two months for the ban to be lifted, and even then he was briefed not to joke “too much”. So coming out on stage and receiving a huge round of applaud made Oleg realised that it wasn’t only him who missed performing — it was also the spectators who needed laughter.

We Bet Peter Jackson Never Saw This Hobbit!

Eva Muryzhnikova — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:31:50 +0000

A fun post for you today — a series of illustrations for a Russian edition of The Hobbit, 1989. The artist Belomlinsky portrayed the characters in a funky manner. The book was published at 300,000 copies and it was a success — I had itas a kid and it had me scared. I could never get over the fact that someone needs to leave their wonderful cave full of jars with pickles!

See how you like Bilbo, Gandalf, Gollum, the Trolls, the Big People and the Dragon — let us know if it makes you smile.

The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien. The cover.

The Hobbit, Or There and Back Again.

The Map — from Hobbiton to the Lonely Mountain.

Merry Gandalf, isn’t he?

The Trolls

Gollum, plotting riddles with deadly stakes.

The giant eagles.

Big People — Bilbo’s encounter with humans.

Giant spiders in the black forest of Mirkwood.

The dragon battle

Back cover. Published by Children Literature.

Summer in Gorky Park, Moscow of late 1960s

Eva Muryzhnikova — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:08:46 +0000

We are very fortunate to have gained the access to the collection of photographs below — they have come from a private collection of Eugene Orlov, a keen photographer of 1960s, scanned by his grandson. Portrayed is a series of shots from a summer walk in the Gorky Park, an iconic family recreational venue in Moscow. Please click on the magnifying lens image for the close up and if you like it — tell your friends!

Images courtesy of Eugene Orlov. Late 1960s.

Good Soviet Kids Go to Heaven? Nope, They Go to Artek!

Eva Muryzhnikova — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 02:44:12 +0000

Kids in the traditional uniform.

The most famous PR image of the pioneria of the Soviet Union was a summer vacation camp situated in the Crimea (Ukraine), next to Gurzuf town. Founded as a sanatorium for the kids suffering and recovering from the TB by the Russian Society of the Red Cross, it first opened doors in 1925, June 16th, accommodating about 80 kids from Moscow and the nearest Ukrainian towns.

Then it was just a step ahead of a basic camping ground, with kids sleeping in tents out in the forest. However, it grew rapidly until in early 1930s a few permanent buildings were built. It was then Artek started working all year round due to its mild Mediterranean-like climate.

One of the first lots to arrive, early 1920s

1927. Central — Artek’s founder Soloviev, next to him — GM Shishmarev.

1925. The evidence of tent life.

1928. Arrival from Simpheropol

For a regular Soviet kid, a ticket to Artek did not cost anything – yet it had to be well-earned. Within a school, for instance, only the top students were rewarded by the trip to Artek. During its heydays Artek accommodated about 27 000 kids a year, so from its first days to 1969 about 300 000 kids were able to enjoy the facilities. By then the area of the camp was about 3.2 km², there were more than a hundred bulidings including the sleeping quarters, three medical buildings, a proper school for those visiting Artek during the academic year; a movie pavillion Artekfilm, three swimming pools, a stadium seating more than 6000 spectators at a time as well as a park, a garden and some sporting and play grounds.

One of the permanent blocks on Artek’s territory

After the Collapse of the Soviet Union the popularity of Artek took a swing, due to the lack of funding and the overall mishaps of the Ukrainian country. But it quickly gained its status back and it is a popular vacation site for the kids from all over Russia and Ukraine – despite the fact that now the parents bear the costs of a vacation.

The seaside. Suuk Su Beach, the diver statue

The flag alignment

A typical day at Artek would have a 7 am start, regardless of the season, followed by the morning exercise and bathroom routines. After breakfast kids would go to the beach, be it summer – or to the school quarters in winter, where they’d stay till lunch – sunbathing or studying, depending how lucky they are. After lunch – and this has been reinforced quite seriously from the very early days of the camp – all kids, regardless of age, would have to take a two hour nap. Traditionally the Artek nap has been nicknamed as Absolut – because during the nap the supervisors would require absolute silence – even if one was awake, he could only read quietly in bed, no exceptions. After the nap and a wee snack (a glass of juice/piece of fruit/tea with biscuits) kids split up into their teams and prepare for competitions or concerts till dinner. After dinner – and the food was good! — the whole of Artek would get together. 10Pm was the bed time, and it would be much desired – after such an intense day.

1933. The Big Fire — the symbol of pioneria.

Structurally Artek was a group of ten smaller camps, each accommodating kids according to their age, from 9 up to 16. Each team of kids would have two or three adult supervisors, who typically are students in training to become teachers. The supervisors are responsible for kids safety, entertainment and the nicest memories. Kids would have to defend the honour of their teams in sport, singing, dancing, theatrical plays and so on.

Faces of 1937

Morning exercise.

Morning exercise

Canteen. Most likely, lunch. The reputation of Artek’s food has always been very envious.

Sea voyage. The boat is called Artek

1934. Sailing in the harbour

After the swim. Till late 1940s, there were alternate boys’ and girls’ days, until swimsuits were made compulsory

Circa 1935

Idle time

Chess tournament

Supervisors, late 1920s

A concert.Different coats of arms of different republics. Kids dressed in traditional costumes.

Dance Rehearsal

Dance performance

And now possibly two of the most scary photographs of the entire epoch, which could not even leave the kids’ summers alone. Every time I look at these two pictures below, I feel a pang of guilt — something which we all own to those kids.

The one below is all camp’s gathering. Mind the blank faces — those guys, during the Stalin’s repressions, were announced as public enemies and were executed. Their faces were erased from all photos — so the camp wouldn;t be linked with those names.

1937.

And one more.

A regular outing? It is. The only issue is, it is the morning of June, 22nd, 1941. A few hours later it will be announced that Germany has invaded Russia and the war is upon these kids.

June 22nd, 1941.

To be continued.

Soft Kitty, Small Kitty, Little Ball of Fur

Eva Muryzhnikova — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 08:10:46 +0000

Warm kitty, Sleepy Kitty, Purr Purr Purr.

For those of you who found the previous post a tad too serious (and we always welcome you feedback!), here’s a set of illustrations for a childrens’ book Look At These Kittens! by Georgy Karlov. Please retweet and stay tuned! Cheers

Cowardy

Look At These Kittens! The cover

Greedy

Bully

Thiefy

Scruffy

Crybaby

Lazybones

Grumpy

Kids, surely you are not like some of these kittens, are you?

The end

Good-Natured Humour Postcards from the 1950s

Eva Muryzhnikova — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:24:39 +0000

…and we are back on air after our short break! Sorry it was unannounced, but very much needed — and we are delighted to reconnect with you again. We’ve got lots of great stuff coming — from kids summer camps through to some amazing amateur photography as well as we shall look at each decade in detail — what 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and so on meant to the Soviet Union, and how it lived differently to the rest of the world. So — thanks for your feedback and stay tuned!

Just a very light post for today, before we dig any deeper — a very neat collection of humorous postcards — great to see some good natured jokes all the way from 1950s and 1960s.

Future Champions. By G. Valk.

Is the lion really 6 years old?! By G Valk

A portrait. By G Valk

“Taxi Stand” — “No room!” By G Valk

Stop! Can’t you see the light is red! By G Valk

Going hunting. Credits unknown.

I caught it! No, I did!

Would you like to become my widow?

No luck at fishing.

An evening gathering.

Hunting hogs.

“As short as possible, please” // “Can you make it wavy?”

21+ Depressing Photos of Post-Revolutionary Russia by Arkady Shaikhet

Eva Muryzhnikova — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:11:22 +0000

When the new Soviet country was born, the people were promised a wonderful future under the socialism — just a few more years, the billboards boasted — and we’ll live in a glorious state. However the early days were more than gloomy: the rundown economy, disoriented society, the reek of fear and uncertainty — and that clearly can be seen through the photos of a prominent Soviet photographer Arkady Shaikhet.

This collection of photos starts off with nice, clearcut images of what the country was portrayed as by the media and propaganda — and progresses to a unsweetened world of the simple folk, vagrants, and peasants. Please let us know if there is a photo below that has touched your heart — we always value your feedback.

Gymnasts. Red Square. 1924

Arkady Shaikhet’s life story is one of the most remarkable ever. A fourth kid in a Jewish family from the South of Russia, with no school education or special skills, he was called in the army to serve in the WWI. However, the outbreak of typhoid saved him and so, being discharged at the age of 24, he moved to Moscow in search of great opportunities. And there they were: after getting a job at a local paper, Arkady tried his luck with a camera — only to realise that he got a special talent. It was all uphill ever since: publishing in the most influential newspapers, the honour of duty to photograph Lenin and Stalin, busy exhibitions and so on. He had the most remarkable shots of the Second World War events, which we hope to publish here in the future.

The cycle parade. 1924.

Morning exersize. 1927

Morning exersize. 1932

A sportsman. 1932

At the gym. 1928

And here’s some of the less life-assuring images of the new country.

A street kid is learning a shoemaking skill. 1929

A village in the mountains. Father and son. 1929

Engineers to be. Moscow. 1930

Bathing of a vagrant kid. Moscow. 1927

Voting. 1925

Out in fields. 1927

Plowing. Samara. 1927

Test drive. Moscow. 1924

City of Elista. A school lesson for the kalmyk’s kids (a small indigenous nation).

Electrification. 1925

Visit of a tax collector. Moscow. 1928

Putting up the poles for the electrical cables. 1925

Sharpening the tools. 1939

A building site. Uzbekistan. 1939

Workmen resting by a fountain. 1926

Wrap Your Baby in Old Newspapers — the 70 Years of Deficit of Everything.

Eva Muryzhnikova — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:23:42 +0000

A typical Soviet shop with bare shelves.

One of the main critisisms of the Soviet Union now, from an every day perspective, was the huge deficit of everything. The planned economy failed to supply a constant flow of goods necessary for the well being of people. It was not the matter of incapacity — no, the means certainly allowed to build space shuttles or create extra strong tanks. The shortage for goods was created artificially — due to the reasons of the strange Soviet ideology.

A shop in Vladivostok, The sign on the wall: Juices. Water. Ice Cream. The photo is by Vladimir Kobzar.

According to the Soviet census of 1977 — cited from the Grand Soviet Encyclopaedia — volume 24, part 2, data on the house hold items of prolonged usage (that is, TV sets, fridges, washing machines) - the times of Brezhnev were far from abundant. For instance, in 1975 only 74 out of 100 households owned a TV — which means that 26% of all families would not have one! Furthermore, these TVs would have to be black and white, as colour TVs did not widely appear in the USSR until very late eighties. In the mid 1970s an average American family had a 1.5 TV sets per house — and they were certainly colour.

Come here, honey, Brezhnev is on now!

In the mid to late 1980s the situation with TVs had straightened out — but doesn’t it seem ridiculous that in 1975, the year of Soyuz Apollo space docking project, every fourth family in the USSR did not have a telly! Now it seems like the government had to make a choice — either every house gets a TV — or we explore outer space. The success of the Americans in both of these missions was frowned upon.

It’s very hard to gauge what was kind of a shop it was!

It could be understood if this applied to some high tech for those times gadgets — but no, this was the every day necessities. Say, the very first range of video cassete players and recorders was released by Sony in 1969. If we were to say that an average Russian person did not even hear about the VCRs till late 1980s — we would not be exhagerrating. Moreover, a regular household was only able to purchase one in the early 1990s. But this applied to almost everything, from fridges to radio transmitters — only 61% of families owed a fridge in 1975. How is that possible that the space exploration programmes were costing the country a formidable chunk of the budget — yet very little money was spent on supplying regular people with the necessities? The data on washing machines is similar: about 40% of all households had to do their washing by hand.

The same was with almost all household goods — the notorious example here is baby nappies. The disposable nappies were invented in 1958, and three years later they became a necessety for every baby born in the West. If you were born around that time and you are reading this here now, you would be very likely to think the situation was no different all over the world, exept perhaps some Africa bits. Alas — the USSR saw no nappies - not till very late 80s, and when they appereared, they cost a small fortune. To wrap babies in old newspapers was not unheard of.

This nappy phenomenon was idisyncratic for the USSR, and no logical explanation has ever been offered. Moreover, the goods of prolonged usage had really proved to be of this kind: as no replacement was available, TVs and fridges were in use for decades, often despite the technological progress. Also, to buy a fridge or a TV one had to fill a request which could take months to come through.

The siege of a wine shop. 1990.

This total deficit of everything created an agitated demand for things on the black market. As shops were barely filled, the savings of an average person mounted, and much of it would have been disposable. Of course, a TV cost three or four average monthly salaries, but often there was nothing to spend the money on — at all.

One item check out

The was and its aftertaste was long gone, yet the Soviet life was not in the hurry to improve and to catch up with the American lifestyle. The Soviet dream was meant to be in full throttle, according to the movies and other means of propaganda. Yet the huge gap between the reality and the official version was one of the most debilitating features of life back in the Soviet Union.

The Patriotic Education in USSR. Part 2 — Pioneers, Soviet Boy Scouts

Anton Markin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:27:03 +0000

We are the pioneers, sons of working class (a popular song)

As you remember from the previous post, at the age of 9 the Soviet Kids grew out of their October Kids affiliation. The next ideological rite of passage was pioneering which the Soviet country placed a huge importance on. Loosely based on the American Boy Scout’s movement, pioneering covered all kids till the age of fourteen and worked in close relation with schools. Just like anything else Soviet style, it had its idiosyncrasies.

The pioneer tie knot under a school jacket.

Almost all October Kids made it to the next level – not to be accepted, one had to really misbehave and do something wrong on several occasions. However, the process of initiation was organised in a smart ideological way: usually it was scheduled close to some Soviet days of importance: November 7^th (The Great October Socialist Revolution), 22^nd April (Vladimir Lenin’s Birthday), 19^th May – the Pioneering day. As the initiation ceremony was broken down into several parts, everybody had the impression that only the most “worthy” of the lot were accepted. In reality, a class of school kids would make it to pioneers in full over a period of time of less than two years.

The initiation were MC’d by school teachers. Stalin himself would witness off the wall.

The initiation process involved a vow:

I am (full name, eg Anton Markin) entering the team of the Soviet Union Pioneer Organisation, in front of all my comrade mates, I solemnly declare: to love and to protect my country, live as the great Lenin advised, as the Communist party guides, as the Pioneer Laws require.

Then the neophyte would receive a tie, which was just like any other scout’s type of a tie. There were rules on how to tie a knot, and the colour was, of course, bloody red. A badge with the burning fire of Pioneering and Lenin’s profile was also presented. The badge bore the slogan of all pioneers – Always ready! – which was meant to be a reply to “Pioneer, be ready for the mutual action of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union!”

Always ready!

Usually each school class would contain up to three pioneer teams. Each team had a designated captain, a discipline watcher, a note taker and other positions ensuring the smooth organisational process of the every day life of pioneers.

The initiation.

It was pioneers’ job to curate the October Kids by providing guidance and mentoring, organising their leisure time. The “older brothers” were responsible for taking the October Kids not only to the movies or museums: as they had to be the “right” influence, they often organised meetings for kids of all ages with remarkable citizens or excellent production line workers to keep the young ones keen on learning and working.

Pioneers with astronaut Leonov, the first man in the outer space.

A popular activity, which any modern ex-pioneer would find nostalgic now, was the collection of paper from the neighbourhood for the recycling purposes. This was organised as a competition between the pioneer teams: kids had to go knock on doors and ask for old newspapers, books, unused boxes etc. The winners – whoever collected most – were entitled to a “thank you” letter from school or the Komsomol organisation.

A usual school class round up

So in fact, no matter how hard they denied it, the pioneer organisation took a lot after the American Boy Scout movement. Starting with the uniform and right through to the organisational structure, it was a copy and paste scheme of work. Needless to say, the propaganda lines went as “American kids living the dangerous life of crass consumerism, whereas us, Soviets, bring up our younger generations in accordance with the rules of good behaviour, wellbeing, respecting the elderly and so on”. Well, as the Iron Curtain was hanging up strongly, nobody had the means of comparing– even though it could have been a great way to learn off the American counterparts. But a typical for the Soviets “Ours is best, is Western is rotten” attitude was adopted.

Boy Scout

The mass media catered well for the pioneer market segment. The teen magazines, such as “Friendly Kids”, “A Soviet Schooler”, “Pioneer”, “Burning Fire”, “Young modeller – constructor” etc., were extremely popular. Well, providing this was almost it – there was nothing in print, which would cover music, or interpersonal relations, or sex, or anything of the interest of those approaching puberty as it was considered inappropriate. The propaganda had its sprout tentacles reached out to even to the teen Russians.

“Burning Fire”. May 1988. The cover topic is 285 years of city of St Petersburg.

Summers – June to August – was the time to take off the tie and enjoy the well-earned school break. Many kids would be sent to the pioneer summer camps – the places to stay for a few weeks, play, rest, do sports, meet new friends.

Altogether the pressure was constantly on: being a pioneer was not only an honour, it was also a responsibility, and the adults, knowing it was an easy subject to manipulate, would demand good behaviour, good marks, household help etc. Nothing unreasonable, certainly, but still – the possibility of being expelled from the pioneer organisation was a constant threat, and so in order to do well in the Soviet Union, one had to belong.

Pioneer! Learn to fight for the actions of the working people. Unfortunately, wordy slogans, which made very little sense, were idiosyncratic to the USSR.

That was what kids were doing until the age of 14, when it was a new rite of ideological passage – the Komsomol.

To Be Continued.

Enthusiastic Photography from Soviet Russia, 1950s — 1960s.

Eva Muryzhnikova — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:07:49 +0000

Just a very pleasant collection of photos from a private family archive. All photos were taken in 1950s — 1960s, in the streets of Yaroslavl, a small town not far from Moscow. Simple things — outdoor sports, fishing, swimming, enjoying the music or spending time with the family — these 38 photos are relishing small pleasures and bringing a smile to a face.

As always, click on the magnifying glass icon to see the photos in detail. All photos are courtesy of Sergey Kulikov, a granddad of one of our contributors. He is 86 years old now, and photography has been his hobby all along. Let us know which ones you like — or if you have photos in your family archive which you’d like to share.

Waiting for the play off.

The first half

I am going to make it!

The start line

Fishing in the bay

The big one.

Full of hope.

In the street

First ride after the winter

The team spirit

Oh those icy Russian women!

Spring: sailing the wooden ships onto the puddle water

The ice skate rink

Winter games

Dashing through the snow

Close up

A second hand book stall

The town of Yaroslavl chess championship. 1964.

The October Kids inauguration — see our article on them a couple of posts back.

The October kid.

Like father like daughter

Us or them!

Allow me

Summertime

Yyyes!

Two friends

Orchestra’s little helper

Drumming away

An aspiring trombonist

Spring carnival

Deep breath in

In the street

Yaroslavl in paintings

A young artist

The camera behind the camera behind the camera..

Girls’ stuff

They won’t make it without me

Let’s fix that now