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A Trip Around the USSR: Leningrad 1972

eugenia — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:53:25 +0000

The Griboedov Channel. The bridges St Petersburg is so famous for.

By many, St Petersburg (Leningrad in 1924–1991) is often considered to be so beautiful due to its architecture of Italian origin. Quite strange to see these fine buildings embellished by the symbols of the Soviet Era. Let’s take a walk around this fine city in the summer almost 30 years ago.

When I was 7 years old, there was a flower market just like that next to our house. By Erhard K.

Image by Erhard K.

Peterhof, the Russian Versailles, by Erhard K.

Peterhof by Erhard K.

The Smolny Cathedral, by Erhard K.

The Neva River embankment, Rostral Pillars. Image by Erhard K.

The Dvortsovaya Embankment. Image by Erhard K.

Summer river cruises. By Erhard K.

St Isaac’s Cathedral, the monument of Peter the Great. By Erhard K.

The Winter Palace close up, Dvortsovaya Embankment. By Erhard K.

The Winter Palace, from the Palace Bridge, by Erhard K.

Peter the Great was the one to build this city on the swamps. During the Khruschev Era, the city was further decorated.

Nevsky Avenue, by Erhard K.

The Neva embankment, the Aurora cruiser, by Erhard K.

In 1925, the Aurora cruise ship played a major part in the October Revolution: the city was flaming with revolutionary spirit and so the Revolutionary Committee was created. On 25 October 1917, Aurora refused to carry an order to take off to sea, which sparked the Revolution. At 9.45 p.m. on that date, a blank shot from her forecastle gun signalled the start of the assault on the Winter Palace.

The Church of the Saviour on Blood (Spas na Krovi), by Erhard K.

The main street: Nevsky Prospect (Avenue). By Erhard K.

The Dvortsovaya Square, Aleksandriysky Stolp, by Erhard K.

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British Fashion in Moscow, June 1956.

eugenia — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:17:07 +0000

All images are by Lisa Larsen, for LIFE magazine.

In 1956 an array of British designers were trying to expand their market share into the Soviet Union. So a fashion week of some sort took place — in Moscow, Gorky Park, twice daily the shows took place. What a huge success it was! Every day it was a full house, and the public were in love with the British models and the fashion. Jeans, for instance, were very trendy and could cost as much as a month’s salary — yet one still had to queue up to get a pair.

However, after so much ado, not a single British clothing company ever received any Soviet offers of cooperation. Sad, really — just like Christian Dior in Moscow, it could have been a beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Catwalk

Jeans made a sensation. Nothing was more wanted — and unavailable.

A model Joy Slape, in Gorky Park

Do want! A girl eyeing up a bracelet in a shop

Model Ann Smith talking to a soldier

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Best of Fall 2009

Stas Kulesh — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:08:32 +0000

A Glance at the Soviet Lifestyle, Captured by Marc Riboud.

Museum, Moscow, 1960s

This is our third post devoted to Marc Riboud, an outstanding French photographer, who traveled extensively throughout the Soviet Union. His images captured an array of everyday life episodes from the lives of the Soviet people. Here is the first lot — and here is the second one. As always, click on the magnifying glass icon to see the photos in detail.

Soviet Cars: History of the Copy-and-Paste Industry — Part 3 of 3

Volga

A good example of how the ideas to make a new car were born is the story of the factory “Communar”. The Minister of Car Manufacturing made a call to the factory where designers thought over the scheme of a new Ukrainian car and literally said: “I heard you were going to make a spring suspension from the “Volkswagen” but I actually like the Italian Fiat-600”. Shortly the factory commenced the production of ZAZ-965 –nearly the exact copy of the Fiat.

Diamond Dog’s Run 4,000 miles long: David Bowie in the USSR.

Sightseeing in the USSR

Just like John Lennon or Elton John, in 1970s David Bowie was an iconic figure of the Western music scene. Nicknamed Chameleon of Pop for his flamboyant outfits, pale make up and eccentric tunes, David Bowie made a train tour of Russia, all the way from Vladivostok to Moscow, eighteen days in a sleeper. Back in the days, when the Cold War was in its prime, getting a permission to look behind the Iron Curtain was an incredible phenomenon by itself. Well, did David enjoy himself while in the USSR? Let’s see.

Dirty Dancing Soviet Style

Dancing in the Ural Mountains, by G. Sorokin.

Just like anywhere else in the world, the Soviet youngsters wanted to socialize, to listen to the music and to dance. The nightclubs were unheard of – anything of that kind would have been announced as promoting debauchery or morally wrong lifestyle habits. So the best one would hope for were the discotheques – the special dance occasions, organized by the officials on a weekly basis. They always had a designated supervisor – a school principal or a city council representative in charge.

Declassified: the Great and Powerful Stalin.

Smiley face.

Joseph Stalin was probably one of the most multifaceted, controversial and yet unknown persons in the course of the world history. In January 1943 Time magazine featured Stalin as the Person of the Year, saying:

The year 1942 was a year of blood and strength. The man whose name means steel in Russian, whose few words of English include the American expression “tough guy” was the man of 1942. Only Joseph Stalin fully knew how close Russia stood to defeat in 1942, and only Joseph Stalin fully knew how he brought Russia through.

The Great Patriotic War: the Villainous Hitler’s Plan or the Provokation?

In accordance with the official history the Second World War (in Russia called ‘the Great Patriotic War’) was commenced on the Soviet territory by Germany: the treacherous attack on 22 June, 1941when they invaded into the USSR. This official version of the Soviet Government is written in every history book. At the same time there is numerous evidence of Stalin’s desire to start the war first with the intention similar to Hitler’s . And that is why there is the theory that Stalin provoked German aggression against the USSR.

BT-7 — High Speed Tank

Christian Dior in Moscow: a Fleeting Sense of Happiness

Girls just want to have fun!

The Khrushchev’s Thaw was to cover many aspects of the Soviet life, and fashion was one of them. The decision to allow the Soviet fashion designers to learn off their French counterparts was made as high as at the government level, which implicitly put fashion above politics or international ideological regimes. The colour of the Soviet Union, a generic grey, was about to be mixed up with the motley and lithe palette of the French fashion.

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

Waiting for the play off.

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.

The 50th Anniversary of the Soviet Union in Old American Mags

Life and Look on the 50th Anniversary of the USSR, 1967.

In 1967, when the USSR turned 5o, it was a big day for both the country and the world. The Soviet Union had made it through, despite everything — and the world now had to take it seriously. The Cold War, which was at its highest at the time, kept the USSR in the spotlight, too, so the media were more than interested in the young Russian country. It really is a shame that the writing cannot be deciphered due to the low resolution of these scans. However, these images convey the atmosphere of the times quite well — a wild yet sophisticated country in the eyes of the civilised world.

Picturing the Soviet Republics: Moldavia

Veterans by A. Simanovsky

No doubt photography was a popular art in the USSR. Here and below are pictures taken by the people all over the Soviet state of Moldavia. Today’s set based on the book called “Moldavian Art of photography”, Kishinev (recently renamed to Chisinau), 1985.

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Christian Dior in Moscow: a Fleeting Sense of Happiness

eugenia — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:52:24 +0000

1959. The official photo shoot, images courtesy of LIFE archives (Howard Sochurek)

The Khrushchev’s Thaw was to bring change to many aspects of the Soviet life, and fashion was one of them. The decision to allow the Soviet fashion designers to learn off their French counterparts was made as high as at the government level, which implicitly put fashion above politics or international ideological regimes. The colour of the Soviet Union, a generic grey, was about to be mixed up with the motley and lithe palette of the French fashion.

The fashion house of Christian Dior was chosen for many reasons. Firstly it was the epitome of elegance and style, defining the haute couture all over the globe. Secondly and most importantly, the Dior fashion was considered to be classic, regardless of the season or collection — and this suited the Soviet clothesmakers immensely. A “classic” cut of a suit would be considered “ideologically neutral” by the Soviets, as well as stable and practical. It would also mean lower production costs, as after having produced a set of patterns, the clothesmakers could go on releasing the same clothes for years.

Girls just want to have fun!

Full of life.

The statue of Liberty, French style.

Out in the streets, mesmerising the simple folk.

GUM — the biggest and the most upmarket Moscow department store.

Buying flowers from street vendors.

After 1957, the teams of Russian fashion designers regularly visited the fashion houses of Christian Dior, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, Lanvin. Special attention was also paid to the art of shop window displays: in Paris, no two were the same; in Moscow, it was a sad, standartised, withered look. In short, a lot was to be taken home.

This reminds me of the Sex and the City episode, season five — girls partying with sailors.

I wish those girls had twitter — I wonder what they were thinking!

Looking swell, Dolly!

An alien on the street

Three graces

The wow factor

However, things were so much behind in the USSR. The implementation of new styles and techniques was inhibited by the overall conservatism of the state. The decorative elements of dresses were often omitted (Russian women were considered to be above cheap frills), and the cuts were simplified not to let the seduction slip in. The magazines were scarce and of Polish or Czech origin, if one was lucky. The clothes on sale were identical and sad-looking– it was labelled practical. Overall, despite the efforts, the French fashion had very little influence over the Russian fashion until the very late 1980s.

Also at GUM

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Sexy Soviet Underwear. Not!

eugenia — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:03:00 +0000

Late 1960s. Actress Svetlana Svetlichnaja is doing a wee strip dance for a movie. This was probably the most R-rated scene of the Soviet cinematography.

Due to a series of not so fortuitous events ( the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917, the First World War, the overall rundown of the young Soviet country) women never had their needs attended to properly. Underwear was made, first and foremost, for the working class with no preferential treatment for the females so women had no choice other than to wear those sexless garments. This is probably the saddest part of the Soviet history.

Mini dress slips

These mini slip dresses were often the only specifically designed female undergarment (even the bras were made in one size up to mid-1930s). They were meant to ensure a better fit for the dresses, to provide an extra layer in winter and, for many women, it was a hygienic necessity: as the bath or shower did not feature in every household, sometimes washing up would happen only once in a few days.

Photos of the slips in an old fashion book. Circa 1950s.

The rumours have it that after the war some lucky women were brought the trophy slips from Germany — and wore them out as evening dresses. It might as well be an urban legend, but for some reason I would personally tend to believe it.

Night gowns, warm and celibate. Would have been made of thick flowery flannel.

According to some document circa 1940s, the sanitary norms were that each woman should own at least two sets of underwear which she would not wear for longer than 5–7 days.

Gym gear. God forbid.

The magazinesof those times did not offer fashionable solutions: quite the contrary, they tried to lift the spirit of women by including some not so subtle propaganda articles. “A harmoniously developed person as a builder of the communistic future has a rich inner world, as well physical health, high morality and culture”

Gymnast girls. Sport gear. Despite all medals awarded, the USSR Olympic gear was still far from flash.

There were never any fitting rooms, as bras were considered to be a hygiene item and fitting was not allowed, nor exchange was possible. Considering that the size range was really limited (say, small, medium and large), being a woman wasn’t easy. However, the diy fans were really doing it themselves – any fashion book would have a detailed tutorial on how to sew a bra. Those who succeeded at this filigree activity were doing it for friends and friends of friends, as a nice secondary income. The fabrics would be plain (not stretchy!) cotton with buttons.

Numbers 6, 7, 8 and 10 were meant to be dressy.

I guess it would be number four of five from the previous image.

Usually the new models and designs were approved once every five years as high as the ministerial level. That was the main decision-making time: even the number of buttons had to gain consent.

Something for the male: swim gear, every day wear, the Soviet boxers.

When the problem with bras what somewhat solved (or at least minimised), tights and stockings were still in huge demand. It is truly unbelievable who the country, whose engineers could envisage sending people into the outer space, could not come up with something resembling lycra to provide women with elastic tights! The Soviet stockings were made of plain cotton and were of black and nude colour. Often the supply in shops was so minimal that women had to sew stockings to a pair of underpants

DIY

In a modern movie East-West the main female character fails her mission as she gets recognized as a Russian – the guard notices her truly horrible stockings! Moreover, knowing how fragile a pair of stockings is and how difficult it is to find it in shops, Russian beauties would share tips with each other on how to prolong the life of this delicate garment: the suggestions to freeze it before wear or mend the holes with nail warnish. Nothing works, of course, but it was well worth trying.

It was hard to be a woman in the USSR

Another shop scene. Still no fitting room in sight.

By 1970, the textile industry had allowed a range of nine sizes for bras, which was more than welcome. However, the styles were still, well, behind, even by the most modest of standards. Another legend goes that when the French actor and singer Yves Montand came to Moscow and saw the Russian underwear, he laughed so hard he couldn’t stop for a while — and then bought the whole lot to display in Paris later. The exhibition, understandibly, was popular with the French and not so popular with the Russian authorities, so the relationships became tense.

Do you think it’s handmade? Beach wear, 1951

The unisex of the communism epoch would not allow any beach wear up to 1970s: before that the swimsuits were either handmade (even knitted) or women had to wear the undergarments to the beach.

A flower child of Soviet origin

The most important message here is probably that “Soviet” is not an ideology, it is about the planned economy (badly planned, unfortunately) and hence the affected every day lives of regular people who had no access to the foreign, imported, pretty things. Any item, be it a TV set or a bra, should just solely serve its purpose, and the frills are not necessary at all.

An old poster “Be prepared for work and defense”.

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Interior Design and Furniture in the USSR

eugenia — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:27:25 +0000

Welcome!

As previously stated, the majority of people in the USSR lived in the apartments. Unfortunately, due to the the time constraints, they had to be built in a speedy rather than comfortable manner. After the war, when accommodation was extremely scarce, a three bedroom flat could accommodate up to 16 people (four average families), with one shared kitchen and one shared bathroom. The quality of living there was truly horrendous. So when Khruschev started his building binge in 1960s, a joke went that the legacy of those communal flats was agoraphobia – the fear of open spaces and the tendency to hoard things. Well, if you spent your formative years in a pokey flat where you’d have to dry your laundry next to the stove, you’d be just as agoraphobic.

So let’s look at the main trends in the interior design Soviet style.

Personal attachment

The severe deficits caused by planned economy had turned every Soviet into a thrifty squirrel hoarding everything, from tin cookie boxes to imported shampoo bottles. Everything which had a semi-practical implication (take an old tooth brush, pluck all the bristle out, heat it over a fire to bend in the middle – voile! You just made yourself a wonderful hook to hang clothes!) would have been kept for years, hence the overall cluttered look of a typical Soviet flat.

This is still “All in One” flat.

The habit to hoard

As we have figured, it grew out of extreme consumerism poverty, which barely anybody could escape. The constant visual hunger for pretty household things (say, the k-mart level would have been to die for, yet it was not there!) had lead to the lack of understanding of the true value of items. Hence the quantity of furniture items in a given flat was equated with the social status of its owners and overall achieving abilities. Considering there were no Tiffany lamps or Barcelona chairs, typically it was a sad cemetery of depressing clutter.

In a furniture shop.

Furniture essentials

During the Soviet times, the furniture shops had a truly non-existent range of furniture items. That’s why 95% of all apartments looked very much alike. The wall units were a must have, as they allowed lots of storage space and display. The sofa with two matching chairs was a popular item, however the irony was that the chairs were matching across the country. A lamp on a stand (aka torchere, after its French name) was also available.

Just another Soviet interior look.

Personalise it!

That’s why kitschy personalising was so in: macramé, tile mosaics, appliqué sofa covers, embroidered curtains, construction out of matches and paper snowflakes on windows every winter. Plus the rest of what was thought to be pretty (stuffed toys as a decorative element, artificial flowers in plastic vases, bamboo curtains etc), the look was truly sad.

This is more likely to be a village flat.

The standard Soviet wish list

Apart from wanting to own a flat, a motor vehicle and a summer bach on the allotment, the things that everybody desperately wanted to own included: a Yugoslavian wall unit (a piece of furniture having several units that stands against one wall of a room), a Polish bedroom suite, a collection of rugs (for the floors and for the walls, too!). A strange yet incredibly widespread habit of decorating the walls with rugs in the USSR took off in an instant and stayed till maybe late 1990s.

Dinner time.Please note the wallpaper, another Soviet craze, which is still popular.

And finally some appliances “Made In the USSR”

A vacuum cleaner, circa 1970s, to keep those carpets cleaned.

A device to manually clean the carpet by repeated hitting. Even those who could afford a vacuum claner would get one, to clean the carpet in winter on the snow.

A Soviet TV set, the image is still visible — it was often the quality of broadcast.

A manual meat mincer.

A semi-automatic washing machine (the crunching had to be done manually between the rolls)

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Soviet Brands: The Scent Of Communism. Part 2 of 2

eugenia — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:47:55 +0000

Best Toliet Soap “Record”, a poster circa 1970

As you know from the first article, the choice for perfumes and other toiletries really wasn’t there. However, the situation began to change from the mid1970s. The imports from the countries of the so-called socialist camp were entering the Soviet market. Every woman still remembers an excellent Polish perfume “May Be” – they were extremely popular! There were also imports of some middle-of-the-road make up from Poland, but they were still very sought after and outrageously expensive!

Perfume “Lilac Tree” poster.

Of course, Moscow had the best choice of all other cities. This is why those who got to visit the capital on business were considered to be very lucky: unlike many other cities, Moscow actually offered some shopping opportunities. Moreover, there were shops with an assortment of goods from the abovementioned socialist camp: Wanda, Vlasta, Leipzig, Yadran etc. Like, the “May Be” perfume and colourful eye shadows (oh, those horrors of our past!) were sold at the Polish Wanda. At the German Leipzig one could buy a face moisturiser by “Ponds” and the hair dye “Londacolour” of many hues. In comparison, the Soviet shops could only offer henna which gave a seriously bad ginger tone; or basma, which gave a radical black. These two being the only options, Soviet women had no choice but to search for a perfect proportion mix in order to get something in between. Blondes, on the other hand, could only buy hydrogen peroxide from the chemist shops – the colour it produced was also nothing to be proud of, a bright yellowish white, but oh well, some like it hot.

Another poster circa 1960s: Careful when using a hairdryer.

The last bit of toiletries worth mentioning was soap. The choice for soap, as you can well imagine, was more than limited. Before the War the soap factories produces two types of soap bars: general purpose (aka marble for marketing purposes, it was sold in huge chunks of over 800g) and another one, more delicate, which had no name but it didn’t really matter as it was impossible to buy anyway. However, a tiny bar of it was included in the admission price to the communal bathhouses – apparently, there were some special channels of distribution for that one.

15 mln people choose this soap — “The bouquet from my grandmum”.

You must be thinking – ah, who cares about the soaps! Let us explain – the only reason we are so hung up on it is because soap was the only toiletry available for bathing or showering. That’s right, they did not make shower gels, bubble baths, luscious body scrubs, wash-away body wraps, bath oils or anything of that kind. If you were a regular Soviet with no access to the imported goodies (and we would not be frightened to assume that it would comprise to about of 95% of population) – then you’d grab a bar of soap and hope it’d last you a month or so, and this was the reality till maybe mid1980s.

Don’t you just love these posters! We do. This one is for Three In One cologne, Sanit toothpaste and Record soap.

After the war (much closer to the 1960s), the range of soap was slightly widened. A new brand (a real brand, with its promo shots in magazines) was introduced: Strawberry (acidly pink in colour, with a strong reek of aromatiser); Pine (marketed as hand soap); Bathing (everyday soap, a cheaper one); the everpresent general purpose which was also grated and then used instead of washing powder; Kiddies – for, obviously, kids; and Tar — allegedly for treating dandruff. Simple names of simple goods, really.

Tar soap.

However, those 5% we mentioned earlier had access to the German soap – oh, that soap was divine! Not only it was pleasantly oval, it had a soft scent, it did not dry out the skin and it produced unbelievable amounts of foam! The Soviet soap, compared to it, was only good as a moth proofer, due to its strong stench.

The notorious general purpose soap. 65% is the strength (active ingredient, caustic soda).

Later on, closer to the end of 1980s, kids were also targeted: a gift set “Squeaky Clean” (Moidodyr) inclided a kids toothbrush, sweetly flavoured tooth powder, a bar of soap and a tiny bottle of perfume in an attractive cardboard box.

Tooth cleaning powder, For Kids.

By the way, right through till 1970s, the only dental hygiene product available was the tooth powder. Then, of course, the toothpastes “Mint” and “Pearl” became widespread. The imported pastes – like Pomorin from Bulgaria – would have always won, hands down.

Overall, the term “spoilt for choice” did not exist for a very long time in the USSR. When you have to choose between three very similar and equally low quality items – life mustn’t be wouldn’t be too complicated then, would it?

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In The Bookshop

Dmitry Yakimenko — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:19:47 +0000

1967. Despite of looking like a Ministry of Truth propaganda department, actually this is a typical bookshop of those days. Modern bookshops look similar to others in the world, full of different books of all sorts and styles, but back in the Soviet times only portraits of Lenin and the members of the government were displayed.

Inside the Bookshop

1980. The exterior of a famous bookshop of Health Sciences literature (Rus; “Vedmedik”). To the left from the entry there is a blue vending machine with soda. In the USSR such outdoor vending machines were very widespread (the drinking glasses for soda were of multiple use) .

Exterior of the Bookshop

Sources: germanych.livejournal.com and wikimedia.org

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Signboards of Soviet Stores

Dmitry Yakimenko — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:07:40 +0000

1981. “Milk” (rus. Moloko). In the front a woman pushes the blue pram with a ‘window’. It was incredibly difficult to buy this sort of prams in those times.

Milk

1965. In Soviet Russia people do not think too much about inventing names for the outlets owned by the state. All the stores were simply named: “Bread”, “Milk”, “Meat” or “Fish”. On the picture — “Grocery Store”.

Grocery

1987. Home appliances (rus: “Electrotovary”).

Source: germanych.livejournal.com (In Russian)

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