Postcards.

[Lapa]

Al-muell,

These are worth a few dollars only here.

Marc

[Nota Bene]

Pre-war and in nice condition - I'd say at least $10 a piece.

Alexei

[riflegreen297]

I dug these out of the bottom of a box today.

[SpaceCadet1983]

Nice find! The first postcard depicts Soviet Cosmonaut Pavel Belyayev who commanded the Voskhod 2 mission in which Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performed the world's first space walk. (The mission took place on March 18-19, 1965.) I believe this card was issued after Belyayev's death in 1970. The second postcard depicts Soviet Cosmonaut Gherman Titov who was the second person to orbit the earth. (The mission took place on August 6-7, 1961.) I believe this card commemorates the twenty-five anniversary of Titov's flight. :thumbsup - Mike

(Left to right below: Belyayev, Titov)

[ericlida]

Titov post card, - I have :)

[SpaceCadet1983]

I picked up this Soviet-era first day cover for the space research ship Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin a few days ago for $6.99 + $3.40 S/H. The FDC has the official Moscow postmark and the date December 25, 1979. The Gagarin was launched in December 1971 and was the flagship of a fleet of Soviet space research ships. She was sold for scrap shortly after the break-up of the Soviet Union along with another space research ship, the Academic Sergei Korolev. A great addition to my collection! :D Also picked up two complete Soviet stamp sheets for the ship Academic Sergei Korolev. :thumbsup

[kazanskiitatar]

A year ago when I was hunting and sorting through stacks of Soviet postcards and other treasures at the weekend market in Kazan, I came across two very interesting ones, written in Tatar, both sent(?) to the same family.

The first, more interesting one, features the standard "С Праздником" - "Happy Holiday" greeting on the front, with nothing less than a huge banner of Grandpa Lenin and 40 red flags. At first glance of the back, it appears to be one of the millions of similar cards sent on holidays. But after looking closely and translating the Tatar note, it appears to have been an assignment in Tatar class. It was written by 3rd grader Rashat Urmaichiev(?) to his teacher Lenuza Sadikova.

Translation from Tatar: "My dear teacher Mrs. Lenuza! I congratulate you on the 54th anniversary of the October Revolution. I wish you much success in your work, a long life, and good health. U.R.R, October 30, 1971, 3rd grade" Upon closer examination, it appears that Rashat drew lines in pencil using a ruler so he could write neatly, but forgot to erase them. Finally, the funniest - but maybe most embarassing part about the card, is that little Rashat spelled his teacher's name incorrectly (he spelled it "Linuza"), getting him a 4+ (B+) as a grade.

Most definitely not mailed, as the full address is not present. However, the school was in a village in the Chistopol'skiy district in Tatarstan. The main city, Chistapol, is where the main Vostok and Komandirskie Watch Factory is located (Vostok watches - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). I was able to tour the factory while in Tatarstan, seeing watches made by the company during and after the war, with issues for the Ministry of Defense.

[kazanskiitatar]

The second card was sent (hard to tell, the ZIP code is present, but no street/box address) for May 1. Sent to the above teacher and her family in the same village. Translation from Tatar: “Uncle, Aunt Lenuza, Rafis, Ravil and Liliya, Happy 1st of May! Best of luck in life, Rakhilya.”