Day 34: Back in the USSR: Museum of Soviet Life in Kazan, Russia

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

While researching the main attractions of Kazan, Russia, I was immediately intrigued by "The Museum of Soviet Life." As it turns out, this is the only Soviet Life museum in the country. The impressive upstairs museum represents only 10% of a 25-year labor of love. Everything is pre-1990 because that's when the Soviet Union ended. I graduated from high school in 1975, so a lot of these things are definitely familiar to me.

The Museum of Soviet Life is very easy to find, first of all because of its central location at Universitetskaya Ulitsa 6, near the pedestrian zone in Kazan, and secondly because of its red signs. 

Rimma has been working at the Museum of Soviet Life for 2 years. She's very knowledgable and speaks good English. That's the owner's wife sitting.

Here's the owner with the suitcase he came home from East Berlin with after serving 2 years in the Soviet army. DDR stands for Deutsche Demokratische Republik (East Germany) and CCCP stands for Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик (USSR).

I feel like a Wild and Crazy Guy in this funny cap from the 1970s.

How do I look in an East German jacket and a soviet cap?

Deutsche Demokratische Republik (East Germany)

The collection includes over 60 guitars autographed by big stars of the era, including Joe Cocker, Sting, Deep Purple, Scorpions, Nazareth, Rainbow, Roxette and others.

 

This kind of behavior is actually encouraged at the Museum of Soviet Life. Rimma is available to take your pictures in costume or hamming it up with the instruments.

My bandmates take it one step farther.

Our props. Notice the gas mask and the CCCP motorcycle helmet.

Lenin and hockey together. Only in the USSR.

My dad bought one of the first VCRs, top loading like this one, for $1000 back in the early 1970s.

I was invited to graffiti the wall with my name, home state and any comments.

Even the bathroom is filled with eye candy.

 

I remember these signs at Check Point Charlie in Berlin. I visited it for the first time in 1989, just one month before the wall was torn down. And I've been back twice, soon my third time, since East and West Berlins were reunited and restored as the capitol of Germany.

I had to look up Afric Simone in Wikipedia. He's a musician from Mozambique who toured in the USSR and other East Bloc countries a lot in the 1970s and 1980s. Hafanana (1975) was his biggest hit.

Ice hockey is probably the most popular Russian sport.

The little sister museum, called Museum of Happy Childhood, is just down the street

I'm pretty sure I had a book with this same drawing showing children of many cultures all hanging out happily together.

This crib almost looks like the dolls are in jail.

I love the drawing of a community garden, something that is slowly growing in popularity in the U.S. as well.

In case you can't read the cyrillic alphabet, that spells RAMBO.

One of my favorites toys in childhood was my Erector Set.