Душа исцеляется рядом с детьми (Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский)
"The soul is healed by being with children" (Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, 1821 - 1881)
Children in the Soviet Union held a special place in the hearts of citizens and the Party. They represented not only the innocence of youth, but also the promise of the socialist future; in order for the international Marxist Revolution to succeed, the youth had to be treated well and educated politically. Communist authorities took many routes to achieve this goal. Primarily, the Communist Party fostered a cult of childhood, much like Stalin’s cult of personality, which idealized Soviet childhood. The Communist Party formalized this cult through youth organizations such as the Komsomol, Young Pioneers, and Little Octobrists.
Enormously popular in the USSR were children’s playgrounds. They formed an integral part of the urban landscape, and by the 1970s and 80s every city, village or neighbourhood had its own playgrounds with metal constructions in all forms and shapes. The succesful Soviet space program was a popular theme with children climbing Vostok rockets and sliding back down.
Soviet children were not only dreaming about becoming a cosmonaut. Over the years, especially in the 70's, retired Aeroflot aircraft were installed in several cities where they lived a second life, often serving as a children's movie theater or cafe. These planes were popular and made lasting memories of a happy childhood, inspiring many to work in aviation.
Not less remarkable than the 'Aeroflot cinemas' were metal toy planes and helicopters for children which stood in several holiday resorts on the Crimea peninsula and the Black Sea. They were nicely decorated and made a popular opportunity for family holiday pictures. Below you see some original photos of these gems taken in the 1960s and 70s.
Children's Books - Детские Книги
The Plane is Flying
I. Vinokourov
36 pp, 226 x 290 mm, RU
State Publishing House, Children's Literature
Ministry of Education of the RSFSR
Moscow, 1952 - 100,000
The Plane is Flying
I. Vinokourov
From the Detgiz series “The Little - about the Big” by author Isidor Vinokurov and the drawings by artist A.Lurye. In the 60's Vinokourov worked in the editorial office of the magazine "Youth". He came up with the name for Boris Vasiliev’s story “And the Dawns Here are Quiet”.
36 pp, 227 x 280 mm, RU
State Publishing House, Children's Literature
Ministry of Education of the RSFSR
1960 - 300,000
Our Planes
L. Uspenskiy & V. Balabanov
Drawings by artists V. Tambi and E. Voyshvillo
40 pp, 230 x 280 mm, RU
State Publishing House
Ministry of Education of the RSFSR
Leningrad, 1959 - 115,000
Our Planes
L. Uspenskiy & V. Balabanov
Latvian version of the book 'Our Planes' on the left.
40 pp, 230 x 295 mm, LV
Latvian State Publishing
Riga, 1960 - 15,000
Helicopter
Felix Lev
28 pp, 210 x 270 mm, RU
Publishing House 'Children's Literature'
Moscow, 1972 - 300,000
My Dad is Pilot
I. Egorov & G. Yurmin
A boy flies with his dad from Moscow to Omsk on a Tu-134 to visit his grandmother. His parents show him around the airport...the runway, control tower, a fuel- and a cateringtruck, several planes like the Il-18, Tu-104, An-10 and 'Moskvich' helicopter (Mi-1). They board the new Tu-134 and take-off. During flight he reads 'Murzilka', falls asleep and later he gets to sit in the cockpit on a jumpseat, since his dad is also an Aeroflot pilot. He sees the radio-operator, flight engineer, two pilots and the navigator at work.
Curious fact: The An-10 was taken out of service before this book appeared.
28 pp, 260 x 192 mm, RU
Publishing House 'Baby'
1973 - 150,000
Aerial Ocean Harbor
Galina Panizovskaya
68 pp, 257 x 275 mm, RU
Publishing House 'Children's Literature'
1983 - 100,000
Helicopter Pilots
Vladislav Bakhrevsky
32 pp, 214 x 274 mm, RU
Publishing House 'Kid'
Moscow, 1987 - 300,000
In the Peaceful Sky
Read and colour.
36 pp, 205 x 142 mm, RU
1988 - 300,000
Toys and Games - Игрушки и Игры
Gyroscopic Airplane
Leningrad, 1964
Gyroscopic Airplane Tu-104
Metal gyroscopic Tupolev 104 costed 2 Rub.
Leningrad, 1971
Travel Chess Game
This Aeroflot travel chess game has a relief of a Tu-114 at Moscow-Vnukovo airport. It was popular to play on board.
Ф-ка пластмассовых изделий №4
95 x 95 x 26 mm
Il-18 tin lunchbox
Children's tin lunchbox made by the Norma factory in Tallinn in 1961. It is decorated with an Il-18 on the cover. The side and back has the Aeroflot logo while the other side shows the silhouet of 3 Tu-104s.
213 x 127 mm
Norma factory, Tallinn, 1961
