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Iron, as a symbol of Soviet childhood

Утюг, как символ советского детства

 

Утюг, как символ советского детства
Looked at a selection of photos of Soviet toys, read drooling reviews for this collection and realized for themselves this. The difference between a shovel and a normal person is the presence of sense of style, sense of beauty, so to speak. Scoops have the understanding of beauty is almost entirely absent.

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Someone think of the Soviet writer Arkady Gaidar, said that the child can not cheat for him to do as well as for adults, only better. Nonsense. You can fool, and how can something. If a child, to surround with the atmosphere of misery and dullness, and show him nothing prettier cast iron, the child will be sure that the iron tank without tracks, painted uniability color – this is the most wonderful toy in the world. This child will be confident that the soldier is something serasinghe made of plastic, flattened like it, the rink has passed and no other soldiers can not be in principle. If the child is a girl, she will enthusiastically play with your doll looking like a corpse, bathing it in the bath krasnoselova colors and tea ware items from the same barbaric colors of plastic.

And then this child will grow up. And around them will create the exact same dull gray monotony. And, most worryingly, will with a crazed look to shout: “it’s the best!”. And to do there anything. Because the taste for the beautiful is formed from childhood. Scoop impossible to explain what the Soviets were gray and dull – he could not understand it in principle, because from his childhood atrophied organ that helps distinguish a dullness and dullness from the beauty and diversity.

But as a child, then this body has not yet atrophied. Therefore, an ordinary Soviet child, which among iron “tanks” crushed “soldiers” and corpses of babies suddenly saw real toy, at least released in the GDR, suddenly starting to understand that iron is not the most elegant thing in the world. If he fell into the hands of the machine of the English company “Matchbox,” or soldiers of the same company, then the Soviet surrogates, he had begun to perceive it as surrogates.

By the way, in the collection of photos here, some pictures – this is not a toy. For example this:
Утюг, как символ советского детства

These cars appeared in the USSR in the late 70’s and were not in the category of toys and collectible models category for adults uncles and cost suitable from 3 to 10 roubles depending on the models (ordinary Soviet toy cars are not worth more than the ruble). But even these collectible models adult opening doors when compared with toy models “Matchbox”, a few lost.

Okay, God is with him, “Matchbox”. Take only the so-called people’s democracies – Poland, GDR, Czechoslovakia. I remember in the 70s you could buy a Czech set of car models 30 years – “Spanish Suiza”, “Eskota frassini” (my childhood such names were remembered, perhaps they are actually called differently). So here is the quality of these cars was superior to the Soviet crafts. They were made somehow more graceful. After a child, he is much thinner than an adult notices the small details. Still sold Gdrovskie assembled model cars beginning of the XX century. They were sold not so often, but still after long wanderings through the “Children’s worlds” and “Home toys” you can gather a small collection of these beautiful cars. Of course not so big like in the Intro of the movie “Three men in a boat, not counting the dogs” (some models I’m only in this screensaver and see), but still.

And Gdrovskaya expensive iron? It was epic all of my childhood – some years I buy more rails, arrows, cars, trains, adhesive model homes at VERO characteristic red box with color photos… Yes, actually, these houses, even by themselves, without railroads, was the object of collecting and exciting games. I had a whole village of such houses. One Gdrovsky half – timbered house with bright green grass, realistic-looking shrubs, tiles, frames, doors, etc., etc. – cost only bleak Soviet stuff, which carefully reproduced the unknown Madame, yearning for the Soviet Union. Remember, when the feast came to us guests – we have for the holidays often gathered the noisy company, – men, before the meal for half an hour hindered in my room, playing with my children’s railway. Even for adults it was interesting. But I can’t imagine that they were attracted at least a minute miserable Soviet railway.

And adhesive models of aircraft production GDR? Yes, someone will turn the language to blatantly say that the Soviet model was “not worse”? It’s just not comparable. And if the normal Soviet girl to offer a choice – Soviet “puppet forces” or the doll production of the GDR, the choice would be for a German doll, even if the girl did not know she was German. Just German dolls looked very beautiful. But scoops is impossible to explain what it is they do not understand the word “beautiful”. For them, if the doll is not made of breadcrumbs, but of plastic and is dressed in a dress, then it is “beauty naziemna”. By the way, Gdrovskie dolls were exported from Moscow “immigrants” with almost the same intensity as the sausage. From which I conclude that outside of Moscow these dolls almost sold.

As a child my aunt gave me a Japanese model of DC-10 aircraft. And I realized that Gdrovskie model is not the Acme of perfection. The Japanese model was different from Gdrovskih about as well as Gdrovskie from the Soviet. And I remember once mother brought from work some French directory gave her a few days to see. Just imagine – in the Land of the people as a good thing given each other to see Western products catalogs! The Soviet people none of the above in the catalog to buy could not – where he would buy it all? but I looked and looked and looked all eyes-hundreds of pages of color photographs of clothing and other wonders of the capitalist consumer goods industry.

Personally, I was attracted to the page with toys. Soldiers, FORTS, tanks, machine guns, cannons, Indians… If the pictures of that French catalogue 70s placed next to photographs of Soviet trash collected in the post the link, even Madame, who carefully collected photos of this dullness, to understand – what is this toy and how disgusting shabby look of the Soviet “soldiers” and “dolls”. By the way, I every time is funny when scoops blamed “Chinese goods” and at the same time praising the advantages of this toy shit. So no matter how cheap Chinese toys bad by today’s standards, but any Soviet schoolboy without hesitation would trade a bag of his bleak Soviet stuff on modern Chinese bright toys.

I remember one classmate once brought a rubber ball made in Taiwan (Taiwan is not the US!). First, it was bright and colorful. And secondly… secondly, if with all his strength to throw it at the wall, he flew to the opposite, then again flew away, and so a dozen times. Was about the same effect, if with the power to hit the ball on the floor – he immediately flew to the ceiling, then with the power returned to the floor and drumming, drumming, drumming… We once even broke a window in the hallway. That was fun for a week! A Soviet rubber balls? Gray-blue color, which if to throw with all his strength on the floor, it will fly up from the force just above his head. And sluggish after the show is back. After some years after we saw the ball from Taiwan, in the Soviet stores, also appeared similar rubber balls with the same physical properties. True, they were completely black. Well, Yes, in fact, why would the child’s bright toy – let him play with a Cannonball.

Popular image of Soviet books – vile colonialists in some New Guinea exchange gold sand glass beads and Papuans happy. I think that’s – and we did not was that the same Papuans, whose eyes were reddening from the sight of any foreign trinkets. And not because she was foreign, but because she was bright and beautiful Soviet shit. Potreblyadstvo, you say? So the Soviets and brought it the potreblyadstvo in full. Because the best way to make their man a slave of things is to deprive him of beautiful things, but show him from a distance, in some films, catalogs or on the Windows of shops “birch”. Where are these boys and girls who were deprived in the Land of beautiful toy soldiers and airplanes, wonderful dolls and dresses? But who and where, really. Some of them today, getting into the oil pipe, trying to get everything that was deprived in childhood. But adjusted for modern realities and opportunities, given the billions of petrodollars. If the little boy Roman Abramovich in some 1975 he had beautiful English toy yacht and beautiful soldiers, then before you know it, today is his pattern of behavior would be slightly different? Don’t you think?

I already wrote once about exhibition of Western toys, which was held in Sokolniki somewhere in 1972 and the cultural shock suffered by Soviet children visited this exhibition. I was one of them. With wide open eyes, breathless with delight I was looking at model railroads, some highways inconceivable, for which flying racing cars at incredible types of pistols and machine guns, for toy soldiers, which were just like the living, and whined, and begged mother to me bought it. But my mother could not buy anything that was on this show, and I didn’t understand why. Why my mother and millions of other Soviet mom couldn’t buy their children beautiful and elegant toy? Well, Yes, I agree with the iron, too, can play. And with a sewing machine. And a mask. And with a badge on the cap. And with the fired cartridge case. And with a pot converted to a helmet of dog-knight… you Can. Child actually play with anything. But he somehow always want beautiful toys.

A few words about the price. Soviet shit had a very low price – it was only the dignity of the Soviet shit. But for toys, the GDR was not to say that cheap. For example, a set of 12 mm railway (locomotive, three carriages, track and transformer) cost my mother 25 rubles – it was very expensive. But it was worth it, to tell you the truth – because everything was made so realistic that it is breathtaking. One section of rail, which bought additional, cost, if memory serves, something around 30 cents – not too cheap considering that to buy something I had not a single partition. Additional carriage cost half to three rubles, the houses had from one and a half rubles and above, separate the locomotive was worth 10 rubles and above. Overall, not a cheap pastime. Same thing with the dolls. Remember, as a gift for birthday I bought Garovsky doll for $ 15. I was 12 years old. And I have been saving this gift for a long time. But when I brought this doll home, in the subway everybody was looking at the box, as a wonder. Though I am a boy but I understood that the doll really was beautiful.

Well, God with them, with the dolls. Here I am often reproached: “why do you always write that the USSR was dull and gray.” But if it really was so! I’m just objectively reflect what happened in reality. Of course, we should do amendment on the Soviets would be completely gray and dull, if the Soviet Union could only buy Soviet clothes and toys. But, fortunately, were products of the GDR (at least, in Moscow), Poland, Czechoslovakia, was the black marketeers who sell Western goods (and, in principle, everyone who was willing to pay a month’s salary for the pants, could flaunt in these Western jeans).

Well, we the United States and France. Let’s at least GDR view. After all, every Soviet sane person knew that any products of the GDR much better than the corresponding Soviet. Why? I once in one of the articles rhetorically asked: “Why the US could and spacecraft to launch, and TV all color families to provide”. I had someone thoughtfully replied, “Because the United States was not war and post-war devastation”. Oh, this post-war devastation, which in the land of Soviets explained all the holes the Soviet economy. And some people seriously believed that the lack of 25% of the families of television in fact it is possible to explain the post-war devastation. They are in the head for some reason comes the question: how do so – in 1957, ie, after just 12 years after the war, the Soviet Union could launch a satellite, i.e. to create a completely unique industry, but even in 1975 – that is, 30 years after the war, the lack of goods in stores or shortages of electricity in the village explained the post-war devastation.

In the GDR, too, was the post-war devastation. But still such that the Union rests. In the Soviet Union was destroyed is only the industry part of the territory – the West of Moscow and the GDR had destroyed everything. Cities like Dresden just in ruins. Berlin, too, was almost completely destroyed. The percentage of Germans lost a much greater proportion of the population than the USSR. Moreover, several million German men after the war for many more years to restore the destroyed infrastructure of the USSR. Well, let us not forget that the GDR some time to pay reparations and indemnities. That is, do a full timeout. As you wish, but the post-war situation in the GDR was much worse than in the USSR. But take the year 1975 and what happens? And the fact that all products of the GDR were better than the corresponding Soviet. All: textiles, toys, models, furniture, dishes – if it was made in the GDR, was superior in all respects of Soviet production. Even the clone of IBM-360 production of the GDR was better than the Soviet.

Why? Why socialism in the GDR were able to make the products better than in the USSR? Itself the Communist system did not allow the GDR to develop properly and in the GDR, too, there was a shortage, and the lag from Germany. But if you compare with the Soviet Union – heaven and earth. Well even toy iron (if we are talking about the irons started), made in GDR, was prettier and more elegant than the Soviet toy iron. And the real iron too. Whether it’s only the proverbial German pedantry and quality? I think that it’s not only that. In many ways, the fact is that the GDR threw huge amounts of money in the development of space programs and new means of warfare. The army of the GDR was also good tanks, but they were foreign tanks made in the USSR. And the time and money saved on production of tanks and missiles, East German authorities allowed for the development of its light industry. And although they still, it wasn’t very – when compared to neighboring Germany, but still, in the USSR all knew Gdrovskie goods is the best goods from those available in the land of Soviets. That is why Moscow specialty shop “Leipzig”, which sold only goods from the GDR, Muscovites and guests of the capital every day stormed, and all this in the store – just to go! – stood no less than a mausoleum.

But the people who are prettier than cast iron in my childhood didn’t see anything, don’t understand and never will understand. So still let muddy tears for the “lost Paradise”, which consisted entirely of dull shit, baby copies of which are carefully collected and put on display some lady in the land of Soviets atrophied the part of the brain that is responsible for sense of beauty.

And, of course, you can play with toys, carved from logs with an ax. In childhood, all will be fine. For example, we in the pioneer camp made boats out of pine bark and played the only way. And were pleased. But I think if each of us was a ship model made by the English firm “Matchbox”, our games are less interesting from this would not. And the development of the sense of beauty is, I think, would help. But as they say, coulda, shoulda, woulda… So very many scoops as sat down in the brain in childhood iron iron, so they are still this iron is used as the standard of beauty. It’s a given. Only bad thing is that they and their children these irons are implanted in the brain.

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