Игрушки, Igrushki: stikhi

Publisher: Gosudarstvennoe izdatelʹstvo (State Publishing House)
Author: Olsuf'eva, A.
Artist: Popova, L. (Lidiia)

1928

Olsufʹevoĭ and Popovoĭ’s Igrushki (Toys), published in 1928, is a children’s book filled with colorful illustrations and imaginative captions describing various toys of the period. From the first few pages, Igrushki reads like an advertisement or catalogue for specific Soviet toys, however, the illustrations and descriptions also contain some interesting historical and cultural insights. 

The middle-1920s marked a period of transitioning leadership in the Soviet Union, with Joseph Stalin rising to power in 1924 upon the death of Lenin. With this change in leadership came an increased emphasis of state-sponsored literature and censorship. Furthermore, the same year Igrushki was published marked the creation of Stalin’s first 5 year plan which emphasized the rapid expansion of heavy industry. Such industrialization resulted in the eventual destruction of the ‘kulak’ (farm owning peasant) class. In the years that followed, peasant life was completely transformed and many elements of traditional Russian peasant culture were overshadowed by the new focus on factory manufacturing.

Igrushki provides its readers a unique looking glass into some Russian toys from a more traditional, pre-Stalin Soviet Union. Various elements of peasant life and culture are repeatedly illustrated and the elements of a heavy industrial society are not as present as in later toys. Finally, although the author does not have many other published works, the illustrator is a rather well-recognized artist.

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