Social History

October 2, 2003 10:33 AM

Belomorkanal. The history of the canal between the White Sea and Leningrad, constructed using penal labour and opened 'in Stalin's name' in 1933.
From the International Institute of Social History's collections. Of related interest :- Photo Album Van Marken ('one of the first Dutch entrepreneurs who took care of the social welfare of his employees.'); the William Morris Archive; Zo d'Axa ('Adventurer, traveller, anti-militarist, individualist, satirist, journalist, founder of two of the most legendary French magazines of the 1890s'); Auguste Fabre's 'Les Sky Scratchers', an optimistic vision from the 1890s; Sylvain Maréchal, who 'proposed a new calendar replacing the names of the Saints with those of the "benefactors of humanity" '. More inside.
posted by plep (7 comments total)

Also on the site :- virtual exhibitions on The Chairman Smiles (propaganda posters from the USSR, China, Cuba); Red-Haired Barbarians (the Dutch and other foreigners through Japanese eyes); the history of labour movements worldwide; Art to the People.

Previous 'Chairman Smiles' thread.
Previous 'Red-Haired Barbarians' thread.
posted by plep at 10:35 AM on October 2, 2003

Wow, cool stuff, plep. Varied and very interesting, thanks!
posted by lobakgo at 11:04 AM on October 2, 2003

very wonderful stuff. their Yiddish collection is amazing--Social History is so neglected I find. (the People's Palace in Glasgow is another wonderful, but local, collection of social history)
posted by amberglow at 11:17 AM on October 2, 2003

Belomorkanal is also the cheapest and one of the most popular brands of cigarettes in Russia (or at least they were last time I was there).

They're not technically cigarettes; I believe they were called papirosi. They consist of about 1/3 extremely harsh, smelly tobacco and about 2/3 hollow paper tube. They have to be smelled to be believed -- imagine a field spread with steer manure and then set on fire.

(Cool history lesson, too!)
posted by chuq at 12:18 PM on October 2, 2003

I think we mefi'd this site. plep. At least I have been unable to open these links on the few times I've tried today. Well, I will try again tomorrow because when it comes to great link collections, "plep knows."
posted by madamjujujive at 11:57 PM on October 2, 2003

Oops!
posted by plep at 12:26 AM on October 3, 2003

Seems to be working now.
posted by plep at 12:50 AM on October 3, 2003