Karl Marx: In Honour of the 200th Anniversary of His Birthday -- Remembrances of Engels, Liebknecht & Lafargue

Karl Marx - Born May 5, 1818

“Workers of the World, Unite. You have nothing to lose but your chains!” 

Marx was before all else a revolutionary. His real mission in life was to contribute in one way or another to the overthrow of capitalist society and of the forms of government which it had brought into being, to contribute to the liberation of the present-day proletariat, which he was the first to make conscious of its own position and its needs, of the conditions under which it could win its freedom. Fighting was his element......Marx was the best hated and most calumniated man of his time. Governments, both absolutist and republican, deported him from their territories. The bourgeoisie, whether conservative or extreme democrat, vied with one another in heaping slanders upon him. All this he brushed aside as though it were cobweb, ignoring them, answering only when necessity compelled him...His name and work will endure through the ages  

Friedrich Engels - Speech Over the Grave of Karl Marx 1883

Karl Marx: In Honour of the 200th Anniversary of His Birthday -- Remembrances of Engels, Liebknecht & Lafargue 

Extract from a leaflet of remembrances of Marx published in the 1940s in the UK

St. John's Folk Choir Treasured Recipes w. Spanish Franks, Cranberry Cake, Molasses Pull Toffee & more -- Vintage Cookbook TBT

Vintage Cookbook: St. John's Folk Choir Treasured Recipes

Publication Details: Gateway Publishing, 1974

Published to raise money for the St. John the Apostle Anglican Church folk choir in Kingston, Ontario, this cookbook is similar in tone and layout to the last one we looked at on this feature Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital Women's Auxiliary Centennial Cook Book w. Fruit Cake, Captain's Casserole, Crabmeat Souffle & more -- Vintage Cookbook TBT. The choir was made up of teenagers who, of course, performed at the church, but who also performed at festivals and even, apparently, a local penitentiary.

The cookbook was divided into the expected sections from "Salads, Vegetables and Soups" to "Meat, Fish and Poultry" to "Desserts", etc. It also includes a lot of advertising from local businesses including one from a Datsun dealership.

Remember Datsuns?

The recipes are very 70s. "Oscar's Onion Soup" uses cheats but looks pretty tasty. Many of the desserts, cakes and pies use classic techniques and ingredients that would stand up very well. There are mains that look quite good, even some of the very simple ones like the "Oven Barbecued Chicken". 

Others, sometimes on the same pages, look...well...they look like what you would expect recipes with names like "Spanish Franks" and "Hawaiian Supper" to look.

The book also had the expected pages of tips. We have posted a couple here including one about the many uses of vinegar!

(Click on scans to enlarge)

11 Vintage Postcard Images of 1970 Kiev, Soviet Ukraine USSR

Today we are looking at a small vintage folder of postcards of Kiev in 1970. Kiev was the capital of the Ukrainian SSR  from 1934 until the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is now the capital of Ukraine.

The folder has eleven photographic postcards of various buildings and attractions. A number of these are quite atmospheric and beautiful. I am especially fond of the Opera and Ballet Theatre night photo, the photograph of the Moskva Hotel square and the view of the Dnieper.

The photo of the Palace of Pioneers is also interesting as these were buildings dedicated to children's activities and development. These were free of charge and by 1970 there were 3,500 of them.


According to Wikipedia:

There were some essential differences between Soviet secondary schools and Young Pioneer Palaces. The latter consisted of specialized hobby groups and sections. Attendance was not mandatory for schoolchildren, and educational programs in Young Pioneer Palace hobby groups were designed so that they didn't duplicate school programs. However, there were also some similarities: hobby groups were organized by children's ages, similar to school classes, and admittance to Young Pioneer Palaces was completely free of charge. Educational work at the Palaces was designed to cultivate children's interests in labour, knowledge, development of creative abilities, professional orientation, and amateur talent activities. There were various sports, cultural and educational, technical, political, artistic, tourist, and young naturalist hobby groups in Young Pioneer Palaces. One of the main stated principles of educational work in hobby groups was: "Having been taught, now teach your comrade".

Tragically, with the fall of communism this network of children's centres was disbanded, many were left to fall into ruin (we have included a photo of one such), while others became "strip clubs and casinos".

(Click on images to enlarge)

The Shevchenko Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet

decorated with the Orders of Lenin and the Red Banner of Labour.

The Shevchenko University Decorated with the Order of Lenin

Palace of Pioneers

While not from the folder, above is an example of what happened to

many of these Pioneer Palaces after the fall of the USSR taken from Instagram

Moskva Hotel

Museum of Ukrainian Art

Monument to Bogdan Khmelnitsky

Building of the Ukrainian SSR Supreme Soviet

Kiev Rotund in the Ascold's Grave Park

View of Dnieper from the Vladimirskaya Gorka Park

Monument to Ivan Franko

Hydropark Bridge over the Venetian Bay

See also: Visit the USSR - A look at the Soviet Union in the late 1960s from Intourist (w. photos)

See also: A Trip to the Carpathian Mountains in Soviet Ukraine, 1973

See also: Trade Union Health Resorts and Spas of the Soviet Ukraine - USSR 1983