From the January 1933 issue of "Popular Mechanics""Soviet Russia calls the attention of its people to organizations or doctrines considered antagonistic to the country by caricatures and effigies. The Park of Culture and Rest in Moscow today is decorated with a number of such effigies intended to represent three "enemies' of the workers -- the church, the militarists, and the fascists."
Yes. What child of the 1930s would have failed to learn the lessons on fascism by gazing at the visage of Nazi Duckman on the right? Or the cycloptic proto-Cylon soldier in the middle? And not one, but two Bunsen Honeydew's on the left?
According to Google, the Park of Culture and Rest is the famous Gorky Park.
8 comments:
They needed cheering up.
It was a bad year
to live there...
Ha! I love them! The Bunsen Honeydew fellows... presumably representative of the church look like what my ex
father-in-law would have called "bead rattling fish snappers".
Great old pic!
I had no idea the Soviets were so...quirky. Interesting shot.
I kind of think that the sculptures or statues or whatever say more about their creators than their subjects.
The militarist enemy of the workers, huh? Now that one is rich.
It's a bit awkward, but I think there is a point being made somewhere.
Real art tends to suffer when government gets involved in the creative process.
Interesting bit of history...
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