Figure 1.--Here is a snapshot from a Russian home in the 1930s. The boys seem to be brothers at home? It looks like a grammophone (early record player) that they are examening. Perhaps the children have been told not to touch it--which is why their hands are behind their backs. The children are wearing short pants and light-colored long stockings.

Here is a snapshot which we thought was from a Russian home in the 1930s. The unidentified boys seem to be brothers, at least they are all dressed alike. The boys look to be examening a grammophone (early record player). Perhaps the children have been told not to touch it--which is why their hands are behind their backs. The children are wearing short pants and light-colored long stockings. A Russian reader provides us some insights opn this snapshot. "I suppose children are at home, not in school. But I'm not sure about wether they are brothers or not. They seem to be all the same age. In the 1930s it was common in the Soviet Union to live in a so called "communion flat". Big flats/apartments, that before the Revolution belonged to rich or affluent people. They were confiscated by the Government and then the rooms were divided into separate small rooms. Sometimes the owner lived on as one of the residents. Many wealthy people weree arrested. So in these large flats lived as many as 10-12 families--depending on the size of the family. Often there were two families in one room. The kitchen, bathroom and toilet, naturally, were common. To have a personal flat at this time was a rare privilege, only for VIPs of factories, great scientists, or important army, police and Communist party leaders. After the death of Stalin and since Khruschev times (1955 on), the practice of communion flats begin to decrease, and personal flats begin to be built. So these boys could be living in one communion flat, and their clothes and hairstyles are similiar due to that times fashion, not because they are brothers. I believe they're probavly not brothers, in part because they seem to be all the same age. They seem to be examining grammophone - the most typical music player these years, this gear isn't able to record the sound. There were mechanical grammophones, with a clock-mechanism inside (as one on the picture, with the handle) and, later, electrical grammophones. In The Soviet Union such devices were replaced with by vinyl players suring the 1960s. The grammophone at the time would have been a very valued possession which is probably why the children are being so careful."

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Created: 11:44 PM 3/30/2006
Last updated: 11:44 PM 3/30/2006