Space glory in the lives of ordinary Soviet people (PHOTOS)

A visitor of a space pavillion in the VDNKh park in Moscow

Pokhodin/Sputnik

After Gagaring flight into space, Soviet life changed dramatically. Multiple propaganda posters portrayed the first cosmonaut as a demigod.

B.Staris, 1961

Gagarin was pictured on postcards so often that there was even a special terminology used among Soviet topical stamp collectors called “Philatelic gagariana”, while people wrote books about stamps of the space era. 

Soviet post stamp, 1964

E. Aniskin

In 1961, a mass production of watches called Raketa (rocket) was launched. And by 1980, the factory had made more than 4 million of these watches annually.

Evolution of the Raketa “Copernicus” watch designs

Sosoev (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Soviet propaganda wanted to take every advantage from the popularity of space exploration, and state chocolate factories even created candies - ‘Cosmic Odyssey’ and ‘Stratosphere’.

Krasny Oktyabr

Kids had to learn about space glory from a very early age. So, in many Soviet schools and education and leisure centers, there were mosaics depicting space scenery. 

Mosais on a school facade in the city of Severodvinsk, Russia

Maria Plotnikova/Sputnik

All kids dreamed of becoming a cosmonaut and would often make space suits for games...

Galina Gabnis archive

…and for New Year party’s masquerades...

Nikolai Yakovlev archive

…and for amateur performances in schools and summer camps. This fact was humorously shown in the Classic Soviet movie ‘Welcome, or No Trespassing’.

Elem Klimov/Mosfilm, 1964

Even bus stops in the USSR were decorated with space themed mosaics.

Christopher Herwig/FUEL Publishing

While many playgrounds were decorated with space shuttles and rockets.

Vsevolod Tarasevich/MAMM/MDF

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