Paul L Murphy

An finally for today, a badge for which I was searching for ages. This is the badge for 15 years service in the Bolshoi Theatre. It is a nice silver badge, this piece is numbered 227, which should place it in the 1950's.

Next up is a lapel badge to commemorate the Bolshoi Theatre tour of Japan in 1957. A lovely little badge.

Now back to my favourite place in Moscow, the Bolshoi Theatre. First up two badges whose use is unknown. I presume they are some type of commemorative badge but have not been able to find out yet their exact purpose.

Here is another KDC badge, this time for 20 years service. It is made from aluminium and overall is not nearly as nice as the 25 year badge.

Here is a later example of a Druzhinnik ID book. This one is from 1981. There is something about the smug and self-satisfied expression on his face that makes you just know you are not going to like him !

This is a badge of the Imperial Soldier's Relief League (and no obscene suggestions from Chris please !). It is either an ordinary member or a supporting member, I would need to see the inscription on the reverse to know. Looks like you need a copy of my book

Moving away from the Bolshoi for a slight change of direction, in fact about 500 metres away ! This is the badge awarded for 25 years working in the State Kremlin Palace Hall. This was the hall where the KPSS held many of their conventions. Now it is used as a concert hall and the Kremlin Ballet perform here regularly, as do the Bolshoi from time to time. This version is a nice heavy brass badge.

And one final photo of the lady herself. She has the beauty and grace that you can only find in a Russian ballerina. In short, she is gorgeous and after giving good service to her country, and endless pleasure to those who watched her perform over the years, I hope she rests in peace.

Finally a certificate from 1985 for her service during the war. I have other items to her but these are the nicest pieces.

A gramata from 1956 for merit as an artistic performer. At this time she was a soloist ballerina and in October 1956 she performed in Swan Lake in London when the Bolshoi toured the UK that year.

A certificate for excellent work in the 1951-52 season at the Bolshoi. This was also the 175th anniversary of the Bolshoi so she would have received the badge shown in earlier posts.

A certificate for her performance on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the Red Army. This is a huge document and the scan does not do it justice.

Next up, an early Komsomol certificate to her for her performance at a youth festival. This has the earlier form of Komsomol badge in the design and is pretty scarce.

First up, a Gramata from the Bolshoi Theatre from March 1945. This shows the cover and the inside design.

The next few certificates all belong to this young lady, Susanna Zvyagina who was an Honoured Artist of Russia and was born in July 1918. She was awarded the Order of the Red Star for her service on the "concert front" as a ballerina with the Bolshoi Theatre during the war. One of these photos shows her in 1945 wearing her Red Star, the other is taken a few years later and shows her in her stage dress for one of her roles.

Freudian slip !

That's the sort of price growth you see in the Moscow property market at the moment ! The interesting thing to note with all these highly priced items is how long they stay in the dealer's list. There are a number of items out there that have been in lists for months now, a sure sign that prices have outstripped demand. The only question is whether the prices will correct, or whether demand will pick up as the Russian economy continues to improve.

Hi James, Welcome aboard ! What type of medical items interest you ? Do you mean the uniforms & equipment etc. or badges and medals with a medical connection (of which there are very few) ? I am sure your knowledge will be helpful to all in here. Cheers, Paul

These have been made up. The chincords are not original, it should be a plain black fake leather (ie. plastic) chincord. Also the small badges either side of the cap badge should not be there. They are shoulderboard arm-of-service devices. The cap badges are standard Soviet other ranks badges. The red cap would be a motorised infantry cap if all the false bits were removed and the blue cap is for aviation.

I was showing a Russian friend of mine some of the badges that I recently bought and when she saw the different Druizhinik badges I had she just snorted and commented "interfering busybodies !". She still has not confessed exactly what type of hooliganism or anti-social behaviour she was involved in all those years ago !

Unfortunately I do not believe it is possible to tell the difference between Meiji and Taisho pieces, certainly I do not know the difference for certain. Also I do not have a breakdown per class between the two eras, however overall the Meiji awards are more common.

This is a Meiji or Taisho era piece. It has some nice honest wear to it, a good catch.

Here is a badge from the Belorussian Ballet from the mid 1980's. This came in a group of documents and photos that I recently purchased to a ballerina in the Bolshoi Theatre who was an Honoured Artist of Russia and got the Order of the Red Star for her services in the "Concert Front" during the war. Once I have scanned and scaled down some of the certificates etc. I will post them here.

Chris, Would you prefer to regret something that you did, or something that you didn't do ? Personally I prefer to regret things I do (I hate the idea of regretting nor having done something). Hence, I gave up on the concept of medal budgets a long time ago (along with sobriety, morality, catholic guilt etc). If it was me, I'd buy it. Paul

If you were a grizzly decorated war veteran who got your HSU for having the living bejaysus blown out of you crossing the Dniper River you must have felt pretty miffed if you knew that Honecker was awarded it as a birthday present !