Stalin Badges

[RedMaestro2]

... comes on a very old ribbon, that says: "Stalin's Shock Worker"

Alexei

What is the official title of this badge? What were the awarding requirements? Any other info about it would be greatly appreciated. There was one for sale a year ago with a fairly complete description, and now I am very much regretting that I ignored it :banghead

Thanks in advance! :thumbsup

-Alex

[Nota Bene]

Alex,

Honestly, I am not sure. I don't believe the badge itself is an award. Most likely, it's commemorative. In this case the ribbon would be a minor award.

Alexei

[deValcourt]

Heres why the price gets driven up unnecessarily, the badge is listed in Avers 8, page 18, figure 78.

Keith

Precisely why Avers is good for pretty pictures of bagdes you don't see very often, but as a price guide, it's not even amusing anymore. You should check out some of the old threads in here pertaining to conspiracy theories about why and how the Avers folks come up with the prices they do.:D

Phillip

[Keith]

I have to agree, the Avers books are great for reading, but I don't really use them much as a guide in collecting. The rare variations of badges that should be expensive go for less than the common variations, only because the common variations are listed in Avers. Plus, Avers has lots of badges that are souvenirs - they are not even awards. For me, the most interesting badges are the ones that are very rare, not listed in Avers, and you actually have to do some homework to figure out how they were earned. Usually when you figure out what they are for, it was something impressive, like working 25 years in a mine, or winning a regional komsomol competition.

Keith

[ShuggyMac1]

Hi, recently joined ths forum as I have started collecting Soviet awards and miscellaneous items. Can one of the experts please let me know what this badge was issued for? It is quite old and diameter is approximately 2 cm wide.
The front is enamelled with a raised portrait of Stalin and made of steel.

The back has russian manufacturers details, Is this a russian uniform badge and could someone give me an engish translation of writing on the back?

Any details or history regarding this badge would be great.

thanks in advance and look forward to spending lots more time on this great forum.

Shuggymac:)

[desantnik]

Welcome. Your badge is a 1950's run-of-the-mill Stalin badge made during the height of the cult of personality. The backplate is from a Leningrad enamel factory.

[deValcourt]

Shuggymac, though it may have been "run of the mill" when it was made, in my humble opinion, it is a rather interesting socio-cultural and historical badge. I admit this even though I have no love whatsoever for "Uncle Joe" and tend to stay away from collecting anything with his mug on it if it can be avoided.

To me, it is intriguing to try to fathom what was happening in Soviet society at this time (terror mostly) and to imagine what kinds of people would have worn something like this and the many different reasons they would have had (self-protection, true believers (aka "whack jobs":D), government office workers who were trying to advance their careers, etc.).

Well, it's interesting to me anyway...;)

Phillip

[desantnik]

Yes, I should add although it was very common for its day, now these are scarce and the enamel is much nicer than those of the 60-90's.

[EricFG]

Here ya go. Only took me 26 pages to find it. :)

[ShuggyMac1]

Thanks guys, especially Erik for the photo in the book. Just heard that the guy who founded the new Stalin museum in Volgorad has been found murdered||

cheers

Hugh