Exhibition "Soviet childhood" (Museum of Moscow): excursion into the past

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Children and adults live in different worlds. For those who are older, the priority is work, participation in public life, talking about politics, caring about tomorrow. The kids have toys, swings, "Mothers and Daughters", "Cats and Mice", tricycles, first copybooks and "Primer".

Childhood in peacetime remains childhood, regardless of the political system, the ideological attitudes of the state, the financial situation of parents, and other circumstances that are fundamentally important for the older generation.

There are different ways to speak about the past Soviet Union, but hardly anyone will argue with the fact that children born in the 60-80s of the XX century were still happy.

For everyone who is nostalgic for bygone years or is simply interested in the history of a great country, the exhibition "Soviet Childhood" (Museum of Moscow) was open until March 15.

Exposure Idea

The event was organized by Vladimir Kuznetsov, Irina Karpatova and artist Alexei Kononenko. curators wonderedthe goal is not just to collect toys, books, household items of the Soviet era under one roof, but to show that the life of young citizens of the USSR was rich and vibrant.

Exhibition description

In the country of the Soviets, they said about a small child that he "walks under the table on foot." The exhibition "Soviet Childhood" was designed in a similar way. The Museum of Moscow at the entrance was decorated in such a way that visitors actually walked under the table. Having overcome a small obstacle, children and adults found themselves in the realm of toys. The guests were greeted by plastic Pinocchio and Gena the crocodile, celluloid nesting dolls, dolls, strollers, a children's sewing machine, tricycles, pedal cars.

Soviet children's crystal dreams - remote-controlled lunar rovers, tablets painted with plastic sticks, board games with an electric light bulb, toy tea sets evoked nostalgic memories and delighted all visitors.

The main holiday for kids all over the country was the New Year. Christmas trees were decorated in the houses, kindergartens, schools and extracurricular institutions were invited to fun matinees. A Christmas tree with Soviet-era toys was also shown to visitors. The exhibition "Soviet Childhood" reminded me of a time machine. The Museum of Moscow has temporarily returned to the past.

The absolute majority of the kids of the Soviet Union went to bed after the television program "Good night, kids!"Stepashka and Karkusha, watch cartoons and films made in the USSR.

A school class was imitated in a separate room. Flip-top desks, pioneer ties, badges, drums, bugles, school uniforms, blotter notebooks are part of life that is never forgotten.

Part of the exhibition space was designed in the form of a city apartment from the times of socialism. Every thing, be it rubber mittens, a plastic truck or a chamber pot under the bed, has real owners, it keeps the energy of the Soviet people. For those whose childhood and youth were spent in the USSR, the exhibition "Soviet Childhood" made it possible to feel the special atmosphere, the spirit of the era. The Museum of Moscow demonstrated to all visitors how happy the children of the times of the Soviet Union were.

The subject of special concern of Soviet teachers and parents was the organization of leisure activities for small citizens of a large country: in many cities of the Soviet Union there were theaters for the young spectator, children's screenings and lectures were held in cinemas, and children developed their abilities and talents in Children's Art Houses. Visitors to the exhibition had the opportunity to see puppets of the famous S. Obraztsov theater, clown costumes of the Moscow Circus, and other props.

The organizers of the event offered to try sweets, cookies, ice cream and Pinocchio drink prepared according to Soviet GOST.

Exhibition "Soviet Childhood": reviews

The main impression of those who got acquainted with the exposition was nostalgia. There are frequent statements like “But these sleds I give to my childbought, to take to the kindergarten”, “Our neighbors had the same service”, or “Collars and cuffs every Sunday to sew on a school dress is a horror.”

For modern children, the exhibition in Moscow "Soviet Childhood" is a story, vivid fragments of the life of fathers and mothers. In the era of LCD TVs, computers, ballpoint pens, the Internet, it is very curious to know what the blotter was intended for, how eagerly they waited for a ten-minute cartoon on a tube TV with legs, how they dreamed of a new typewriter or a doll that said "Mom".

As disadvantages of the exposition, the authors of the reviews point out the unprofessional organization of the space and the long line in the wardrobe.

Children of the Soviet era: who are they?

Those who were born in the 90s may get the impression that their mothers and fathers walked in formation all the time, sang songs and seriously dreamed of growing up as builders of communism. In fact, ideology rarely penetrated into the life of Soviet people. The kids also went to kindergarten, played with dolls and cars, quarreled, reconciled, cried, laughed and dreamed. Teenagers and young men declared their love, reflected on life, kept diaries, went to construction teams and for potatoes.

Soviet children did not have even half of what is available to children today (round-the-clock children's channels, holidays in foreign resorts, newfangled gadgets, etc.). However, the boys and girls of the country of the Soviets were happy because they had loving parents, friends, a variety of toys and a really tangible confidence in the future. Thissimple and carefree children's life in the USSR was demonstrated at the exhibition "Soviet Childhood".