The specific creamy taste of the Alenka chocolate bar, which dates back to 1965, is well remembered by many residents of our country. However, few people know that the wrapper of the famous sweet for many years was decorated with a photo of a real girl, slightly modified by the artist. Elena Gerinas is the name of this baby, who has long turned into an adult woman. What is known about her, why exactly her face appeared on the wrapper?
Elena Gerinas: famous photo
“Alenka” was only 8 months old when her loving father photographed her, it was 1960 at that time. The photojournalist really succeeded in the picture, the brown-eyed baby, dressed in a bright scarf, looked charming. No wonder the parents decided to publish a photo of their daughter.
The Soviet Photo magazine agreed to be the first to print the picture, which depicted little Elena Gerinas. Further follow suit with pleasurefollowed by the popular publication He alth, which published the photo in 1962. However, the decision to use this photo when creating the wrapper for "Alenka" was made only four years later, it happened after a long creative search.
History of chocolate
Chocolate "Alenka" is known for its creamy taste, which he owes to the original recipe. It was developed by specialists of the Krasny Oktyabr plant in 1964. No one knows exactly why the famous chocolate got this particular name, and not some other. There were rumors that the creators chose the name of their products in honor of the daughter of the legendary Valentina Tereshkova, but the factory management denied them.
The design of the first bars differed significantly from that which was remembered by all devoted chocolate fans. Initially, themes were used, which were often addressed by artists during the existence of the Soviet Union: May 1, March 8. It is interesting that the chocolate "Alenka" in the first years of its existence did not have a wrapper with the image of a girl.
Creative Quest
Of course, the finest hour of a girl named Elena Gerinas did not immediately come. It all started with the fact that the factory management considered that chocolate was in dire need of a corporate identity, this should have a positive effect on brand recognition. The first idea that came to the mind of the creators was to use Alyonushka, depicted on the famous painting by the artist Vasnetsov.
Abandon the above factory ideaforced the ban imposed by the government. The reasons for this decision were never made public, presumably, the picture did not meet the standards that were established during the Soviet era. Or the image was considered not optimistic enough to decorate a popular chocolate bar. One way or another, the leadership of the "Red October" was forced to continue the search, which in the end was crowned with long-awaited success.
Competition
Little Elena Gerinas could never have been on the wrapper of the Alenka chocolate bar, if not for the contest, which the factory management decided to organize. The Vechernyaya Moskva publication told about its holding to the residents of the capital, the article reported that cute photos of little girls, including those from the family archive, were allowed to participate in the contest.
It's easy to guess which shot managed to win this competition. Elena Gerinas, the daughter of the artist Alexander Mikhailovich Gerinas, became the face of the creamy chocolate bar. Above is the photograph as it was submitted to the competition. The updated design of the wrapper "Alenka" acquired already in 1966. Interestingly, the change in wrapping really had a positive effect on the popularity of the chocolate bar.
Litigation
In early 2000, Elena, whose photo had been used by the Krasny Oktyabr factory many years ago, went to court. The woman believed that she could count on a large monetary compensation for many years of illegal reproduction of her own photograph. Gerinas, filing a lawsuit, expected to receive 5 millionrubles. However, Alenka's hopes did not come true.
The owners of the brand categorically stated that the cover does not depict Elena Gerinas at all. "Alenka" - a chocolate bar, which is decorated with a collective image. Elena's childhood picture served only as a source of inspiration for the artist Maslov during his work on the wrapper. However, he significantly changed the photo, making the oval of the face more elongated, working on the shape of the upper lip. Certain changes, albeit difficult to discern, have also gone through the shape of the eyebrows. The girl pictured on the wrapper even has a different eye color - blue.
Unfortunately for Elena, the court recognized the correctness of the owners of the Krasny Oktyabr factory, refused Gerinas to pay compensation, considering her claims unfounded. The artwork on the wrapper has been officially declared to be a work of art, not directly related to a child photo of a woman.
"Alenka" then and now
Fans of the famous chocolate will be interested to know the details about the life of a girl whose childhood photo was used to some extent to create a wrapper for "Alenka". Who is Elena Gerinas? The woman's biography claims that she was born in 1959, is a native Muscovite. The girl's parents were a photojournalist and a journalist. "Posing" for a famous picture taken by his father, the 8-month-old child, of course, did not know about it.
Growing up, Elena became not a model at all, as one might expect, but an ordinary pharmacist. At presenta woman who recently celebrated her 56th birthday lives in Khimki near Moscow, where her family has their own house. Gerinas and her husband raised two children who currently live separately from their parents. Alenka's lifestyle is rather closed, she is not a public person.
Photos of Alenka
At the moment, on the Internet you can find a lot of photos of different women who take pictures of themselves next to a chocolate bar and claim that they are the grown-up "Alenki". A photo of the real Elena Gerinas, whose baby photo was used in the 1966 cover design, can be seen in this article.
Interestingly, there hasn't been a creamy chocolate bar with a modified version of Gerinas' childhood photograph on the market for quite some time now.
