Award Boxes/Cases.

[Art]

I've got the same type of box which came with my Order of Lenin #270237, but missing the nice felt interior insert. The box is covered in a red canvas-like cloth material, exactly the same texture and color as some of the cloth covered Ordenskaya Knishka's.

[Art]

My Hero of Socialist Labor group. HSL medal is #8743.

[Dave]

Originally posted by Nota Bene
Hi Munroe,

Not so sure about the Lenin box, I have never seen them with cloth covered interior.

Alexei

I've owned a number of boxes, and the only one I have seen (other than Hero stars) with a padded interior is my Glory 3rd class, which is pictured under Tal's post earlier in the thread, and which is 100% original as issued (it sat in a closet from August 1945 until I bought it). I've owned a couple Lenins that supposedly came with their 'original' boxes, and none of them were padded. On that same vein, most Glories were awarded in the little square white boxes, and rarely (if ever officially) came in the large red box.

What I'm saying is this- there were awards (like Munroe's padded Lenin box) that were awarded in 'upgraded' boxes. My Glory 3rd was awarded to a foreigner, so the use of an 'upgraded' box was probably justified. I would bet that the padded box was used to award orders to people of some importance- politicians, senior officers, diplomats, foreigners, etc.

An interesting question is this- were the awards that were awarded in a padded box originally issued in the white paper boxes, and changed into a padded box at the awarding ceremony on a local basis? It's possible- my Glory was awarded at the Soviet Embassy, so it was possible that the Glory was originally issued in the little white box, and then changed locally into the red padded box for the formal presentation.

Just interesting things to think about...

--Dave

[Art]

I assumed my box for the Lenin was incomplete. From what I'm reading, is this true? Looking at other boxes, ie, Gold Star medals, Order of Friendship etc..all have nice boxes where the award fits well and doesn't slide around. Seems like a sloppy presentation for such a high award..

Also, I posted a picture of my Order of Honor screwback with presentation box some time ago, and don;t want to repost. If anyone wants to see it, simply search for Order of Honor.

[Dave]

Art-

There may be others with more opinions, but I have had about a dozen groups with the original award boxes (i.e. the boxes were named to the recipient) and only my Glory 3rd had the padded interior. Now, it would make sense that a Lenin, Red Banner, etc would have a better presentation than to just be stashed in a cardboard box, that's for sure. If that was the case, however, then why would it be the 'norm' for people to remove the padding in an issue award case? The only thing I can think of is that perhaps the award was wrapped in paper, or some other type of 'disposable' wrapping, which was normally discarded, and the box was given to the recipient with the award rather 'flopping' in it. I have seen a photo of a Suvorov getting awarded this way- in a box with no padding... If I can find it, I'll post it up here. This would be a great question to pose to some veterans who were actually awarded decorations, to see if they could remember how they were awarded...

--Dave

[new world]

In McDaniel book there's is nice picture of Marshal Rokossovsky being awarded Suvorov 1st on suspension by Kalinin. The award is presented to Marshal in nicely made box.

Is it possible that higher awards given out on ceremonies in Kremlin were put into nice boxes and the awards given in the less important places were just in the original plain white cardboards?

New World

[Nota Bene]

Art,

That's the box I usually see with Lenin's and some other awards. Sometimes the recipient's name would be written on a side.

Alexei

Originally posted by Art
I've got the same type of box which came with my Order of Lenin #270237, but missing the nice felt interior insert. The box is covered in a red canvas-like cloth material, exactly the same texture and color as some of the cloth covered Ordenskaya Knishka's.

[Tal Inbar]

This picture is from Shishkov/Muzalevski's book. It is very unusual award box for a unit:

(please exuse the large size)

[Art]

Tal,

WOW! Now that's impressive..definitely a box made to be highly visible.

[Tal Inbar]

Look at the very large box for the order. (from Shoshkov/Muzalevski). Note that the OK is usual, and no small gramota was issued (see also "gramota' thread in paper section).