Our parents and grandparents had a completely different childhood. Even the school supplies seemed too monotonous: the same briefcases, pencils, ink and school uniform. However, the academic performance of Soviet children was much higher than in our time, and this is subject to limited access to information at that time. So, what were the features of the life of Soviet schoolchildren?
School uniform
The clothes of the students were all the same. The girls wore dark dresses with white cuffs and collars that often had to be changed; this was done as it became dirty. The schoolgirls also had a black apron. If there was a festive event, then they put on smart white aprons over the same dress.
The main material for sewing the uniform was a dense, durable fabric. Some girls have worn the dress for more than one year. For a change, mothers and grandmothers often embroidered collars, making them beautiful and original. The girls also decorated their uniforms with various icons. Girls were forbidden to appear at school with their hair down, so braids were especially popular among schoolgirls. For the boys, the situation was even more boring: they all had blue suits and light shirts.
Notebook
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Soviet children did not have bright and colorful notebooks with various prints. They all had thin green notebooks, pink, yellow, or light blue. There was not much choice. On the reverse side, the multiplication table, the rules of the Octobrists, or the text of the pioneer oath were most often printed. Sometimes you could see the lyrics of songs like "Victory Day" or "Eaglet". An interesting fact is that the notebooks were borderless, they were drawn independently with the help of a red pencil.
Special ink
Children in the middle of the 20th century in the USSR did not have fountain pens. On the desk were inkpots into which fountain pens were dipped. Even if the student was famous for his neatness, he could not avoid the blots. They always ended up in a notebook and often ended up on school uniforms. Over time, fountain pens were replaced by ink pens, which often leaked. Fountain pens came into common use for schoolchildren only in the late seventies. Their appearance was approved by the USSR Ministry of Education.
Blotter
Sometimes the ink took too long to dry, but the students might not have too much time, and they used a special sheet to dry the page faster. It was called a blotter. Today, this item is considered a relic of the past, and it has disappeared from everyday life forever. The blotter was pink, blue, or lilac. As a rule, it never remained clean, children constantly drew something on it, folded origami, wrote cheat sheets or notes for each other.
School meals
In modern canteens there is a large selection of food: soups, side dishes, cereals, fillets, cutlets, and a wide variety of pastries. However, many teachers of retirement age to this day remember the times of the USSR with warm nostalgia. Recently, the fashion for opening cafes and restaurants in the style of the Soviet Union has spread.
Many say that the chefs knew their business, and the children were fed comprehensively: soup, side dish with meat product and compote. And among baked goods, shortbreads and juices with cottage cheese were popular. They had a very delicate taste and were crumbly. By the way, the biscuits cost only 8 kopecks. Other baked products were also sold at the school, but it was the biscuits and juices that were especially popular. Due to the low prices and the incredible taste of the pastries, there was always a huge line at the school cafeteria.
Briefcases and satchels
Adult schoolchildren went to school with schoolbags, but younger children ran with so-called schoolbags. They had a zipper and a special fastener. Satchels were always of very good quality and never had any problems with them. Despite the fact that the children rode them from the ice slides in winter, they kept pretty well and were often passed on to younger brothers or sisters from older ones. There was only one compartment in the knapsack, which contained everything you need.
Czechoslovak pencils
Nowadays there are hundreds of pencil manufacturers: we can buy them in a supermarket, in a special stationery store, or order them online. Soviet children had a very limited choice. By the standards of the people of the USSR, the best pencils are those that were produced in Czechoslovakia. They could be bought in a department store only by pull. The technology of their creation implied taking care of trees.
Stand
Nowadays, schoolchildren rarely buy a stand and put it into use, but in Soviet times, almost every student had it. Suitable for children of all ages. Without her, the child would have to constantly bend over, which spoiled his posture. And in the USSR, children's health was especially important. Therefore, such coasters turned out to be popular. However, it is worth noting that it was quite heavy. Little pranksters used it to hide from the teacher's gaze and talk to a neighbor on the desk.
Logarithmic ruler
For little nerds, this line was one of the necessities. With its help, many mathematical calculations were carried out, because there were no calculators at hand. As a rule, such rulers did not exceed 35 centimeters. With their help, schoolchildren could relatively quickly calculate logarithms, raise to a power, extract a root, and also do simple mathematical operations: subtract, multiply, add and divide. If you show it to modern children, then they are unlikely to understand what to do with it, but earlier it was a fairly popular accessory.
There were few sharpeners in the USSR, so parents sharpened pencils for children with knives or a sharp razor blade.
Toy
The schoolboy's knapsack was full of various pieces of paper, candy wrappers and toys. Today children have gadgets and they stop playing early, but earlier children carried toys with them in order to entertain themselves during breaks.
Nadezhda Devlyashova