Moscow Times. 10 January 2002. Playing on the Emotions of a Soviet Childhood. Excerpts.
At 54, Vadim has gray hair and is already a grandfather. A visit to the State Historical Museum on Wednesday afternoon made him 45 years younger. Vadim, who declined to give his last name, peered into a glass showcase filled with an army of crudely painted metallic soldiers after striding into a hall with a new exhibition of Soviet-era toys. "Oh yes, I used to play with these soldiers," he said with the detachment of a person talking about something he no longer wants. But then his eyes lit up with the eagerness of a boy at a toy store as he looked around the room. "I had a lot of the things here," he said, excitedly pointing at different displays. "That [Kremlin] tower, plastic figures ... and ... " he took a deep breath, "a motorcyclist just like the one over there!" The motorcyclist is made of metal, wears a helmet and sits on a motorcycle with sidecar. "I had lots of toys," Vadim declared proudly. "Other kids used to love coming to my house to play!" "And this is my dream bike," he said, pointing at a black Orlyonok bicycle. "But I never got it," he added with a sigh. Vadim was showing the world of his childhood to his 9-year-old grandson Sasha at the State Historical Museum's new exhibit "Our Happy Childhood," a quote from a famous propaganda poster depicting Joseph Stalin. The exhibit, which runs through the beginning of April, consists of a hall filled with toys and other items from the daily lives of Soviet children from the 1920s to the 1950s. Apart from dolls, cars and clumsily stuffed animals, the exhibit gives the ambiance of the time. Included is that famous poster showing children thanking Stalin for a happy childhood. "Our childhood was a happy one. It was tough, but happy," said a pensioner who gave his name as Pyotr Ivanovich. The contemporary world of Barbie and computer games does not please him at all. "What's that fuss about Barbie? All you can do is undress her to find out whether she is made with the same great detail under her clothes," he roared. "When we were children, girls were making clothes for dolls themselves, and it's much better this way," he said. The "Our Happy Childhood" exhibition is open at the State Historical Museum at 1 Red Square on Wednesdays through Mondays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
