Chuck In Oregon

And here's where the annual stamps go. We don't talk much about sports and sports awards here. I don't exactly know why. Sure, they aren't military, but they are Soviet (and other) awards and they have some interesting history, especially with the Soviet Union, where government was a part of everything. Do you -- does anyone -- know whether sports awards are allowable on GMIC and, if they are, which forum would be appropriate to share Soviet sports awards? I have only posted one, my shooting champion's national team sash with badges and medals, but I have some more. I have always thought that Soviet sports awards would be an interesting theme to collect. I haven't made an organized effort to do so, mostly because of the sheer size of the universe of awards. You could almost devote a sub-forum to the subject here. Any other thoughts on the subject? Related to that, of course, are the sports clubs like Shakter that we are discussing here. I have some pretty rare old variations of sports club badges. Not many of them, rarity being what it is, but some. Chuck

* * * * * Yes, I think it entitles the recipient to five rubles a month based on a medal he/she was awarded. I'll look for some other sports club membership books. I know I have a few. In fact, these two Shakter books were sitting right here under my computer monitor. The pin is either a membership pin or a conference pin, I'm not sure. Chuck

* * * * * I think this (post 7) is a membership book in the Spartak Sports Society, or what we might call a club. There should be pages with provisions for annual membership stamps behind the page you showed us. I'm pretty sure it still exists. It was one of the oldest. Others included Dinamo, Lokomotiv, Shakter, and many others, usually under the umbrella of a sponsoring workers' professional association. Let me know if you decide to collect these as a theme. I've got a few around here. Chuck

* * * * * Well, that's a good point. Thank you for a lesson in common sense! Chuck

A friend has suggested that my third jeton may not have been accidentally broken. Instead, he suggests that the Empress' stylized "E" may have been intentionally snapped off, say sometime in 1917 or so. He hypothethizes that this was a type of de-imperialization of the badge and its wearer while the society continued to exist, post-abdication, freed from its imperial association. This never occurred to me and I have no idea if this ever took place at all. However, it is at least one explanation of how the E came to be removed from the jeton. In the absence of similar pieces, I suppose we may never know, but it isn't entirely unreasonable. Of course, we have seen other de-imperialized badges and awards, so there would be some consistency. So, has anyone ever seen another of these pieces with the E removed or anything similar, or do any of you have any thoughts on this? If so, let's hear them. Chuck

* * * * * Thanks for clearing that up for me, Dan. I remembered that it is an honors flag, but that's about it. I regret that I don't know the name of the sub the flag came from. I was buying some stuff from a family back in 2002 and someone said "Do you want this flag, too?" Well, OK, and that's how I came across it. I'll pass your comment on to Edythe. She'll be tickled. Chuck

Here's the only Soviet flag I own or have ever bought. I believe it to be a naval honors flag flown for visits by either the Chief, Black Sea Submarine Fleet or the Chief, Soviet Submarine Fleet. That accounts for its fine condition, I guess. It came from a Black Sea Fleet submarine in Poti, Georgia. Feel free to correct me if you know more about this particular flag. That's my darlin' wife holding it up for you. Ain't she sweet? Chuck

* * * * * You're quite welcome, Chris. I picked up enough random Imperial medical stuff that one day I had to wonder, have I been collecting this these? I find the theme to be quite interesting and, as Paul R says in the Soviet Theater thread, a lot different from the other things I collect. So yes, I now say I'm a collector of Imperial medical items (and photos), even though my collection, as with my other themes, is really pretty small. I have a few quality pieces and they please me and what else matters? I found a small album of assorted early (1923-1945) photos of men in various Soviet uniforms today. I had forgotten all about it and I was just as pleased with it as the day I bought it. I've just gotta get this stuff organized one of these days. Chuck

I've been meaning to post these for a couple of months now ... about as long as it usually takes me to do most anything. I bought these last May in Tbilisi. What's odd here (it took me a while) is that the stylized "E" is missing from the jeton, maybe broken and later "fixed", with the neck of the jeton being turned down on the reverse to become the attaching point for the connecting ring. The crown is yet another variation from my other two. The 1913 inscription is to D. R. Me__mariashvili. Even with a cursive alphabet here beside me I can't make out the third and fourth letters. At first I thought it might say something like "Meds." for Medsestra (nurse) and Mariashvili might be the last name, which sounds like a Georgian name. Now I just don't know. The other two pins came along with the jeton. They may be too minor to even have been catalogued. Surely they are related to the Imperial Society of the Red Cross but I don't know their significance. Maybe as simple as a blood donor or maybe a membership or small cash donation acknowledgement. Do any of you know for sure?

* * * * * That one hadn't even occurred to me, but I think it fits here. Here's the technical school badge variant, late-era and cheap.

I think that this badge is for the 100-Year Aniversary of the first re-building of the Bolshoi, after the original burned down. It is gilted bronze. There seem to be three colors of enamel. First is the red, of course. Then the window and the spaces between the columns above the mask are blue. The numbers and the eyes and mouth of the mask are black enamel and so is the tiny corner of the building right behind her ... well, right behind her. The detail of this badge is exquisite, to me at least. If I could find more of them, I think I would collect only the old badges. OK, almost only the old badges. Good ones are sure hard to find. Paul, find a babushka wearing this badge and you've found a real old-timer. Chuck

Dave, that is a superb group. What can you tell us about your artist?

Hello Paul Just in case I failed to say something previously (my memory being what it is ... and isn't), welcome to the forum. I'm sure glad this topic interests someone besides just me. I hate it when that happens. Thanks for sharing those badges. That's exactly the kind of thing I had in mind when I opened this thread. I didn't know there were variants of your badge. I was going to share a small group later on that has the badge below in it. The recipient, Dmitri (?) D'yaknov, was a 1930s graduate building materials engineer as well as a pretty famous Georgia sportsman in his youth. According to his family, he took part in the post-war rebuilding of the Bolshoi and he was awarded the 175th Jubilee badge. It is number 2492. I believe that it is solid silver with gold highlights. This is the only one I have ever come across. I was lucky enough to have a loge seat at a Verdi opera at the Bolshoi in 2002. I'm such a country boy that I kept thinking "I can't believe I'm really here." It was a great experience. Anyway, keep 'em coming. With the rich Russian tradition of performing arts I hope to see a bunch of interesting things. Chuck

And here's the reverse:

I wonder if there's any interest in this topic. I have a few interesting badges, so if you have a few things, too, let's make this a thread to share them on. I'll start by sharing one of my very favorite badges. It is the award for 30 Years of Distinguished Performance in the Soviet Theater. It is gold, of course, with red enamel and a silver thespian reading his lines. At least, that's what I think it is. It weighs 18.15 grams. I can't be sure that this is the original box, only that it is the box it came in when I bought it back in 2002. Let's see what you've got. I'll dig up a couple more things to share later on this week. Chuck

... And the last two photos. I guess this is the right forum for something Soviet other than an award. If not, if someone will tell me where it should go, I'll try to move it. Chuck

... And two more photos

A few years ago I was walking on the street near Tbilisi's Dry Bridge flea market and a lady says "Would you like to buy some binoculars?" I'm a sucker for unusual things and I have several pairs of Soviet field glasses, so I said sure, where are they? She said "Come back in an hour and I'll have them for you." Well, I did and she did and I bought them, but they sure weren't what I had been expecting. Her story was that when the Soviet naval base in Poti closed down, or rather when the Soviet navy ceased to exist, her father just walked out the gate with them. These rabbit-ear binoculars -- I don't know what else to call them -- are either hard point or tripod-mounted. I've seen similar glasses in photos of trenches and on ships' bridges. I don't know one from the other and this isn't something I ever encountered myself in the military. They were made in 1945 and re-inspected (probably in a naval warehouse) in 1965 and they appear never to have been issued or used in any way. I suppose that had something to do with inventory being made according to plan instead of according to need, leading to stockpiles of some things and shortages of others. Anyway, it's a slow day so I thought I'd share these with you. Chuck

* * * * * Hello Vadimus Thank you very much for the translation. That was a nice thing to do and I appreciate it. My Russian is very basic and I can't really read Cyrillic cursive writing at all. Welcome to the forum. Do you collect Imperial Russian? Soviet? What are your main areas of interest? If you enjoy militaria and awards, you've come to the right place. Please feel free to post your collectibles here. First of all, let's see that picture you mentioned. I love seeing the old pictures. We all learn from each other and I love to see what kinds of things other collectors have. I look forward to learning from you. Kindest regards, Chuck

Another thing to watch out for: There is a guy at the Tbilisi flea market who pops the gold stars off the MH and replaces them with the star from a Miner's Glory medal. Then he melts the gold star down. He even has the nerve to sell the now-damaged Miner's Glory medal alongside the now-fake MH. I've seen it with my own eyes. Of course, short-term visitors to Tbilisi take them home as (full price) souvenirs and I'd bet that some must have made into the wider market by now. Just thought you might like to know. Chuck

Do you really think that is correctly identified? How did the seller describe it on E? I saw this the first time I went through the recent posts after my absence. It never occurred to me that "Hey, I've got that badge." I guess because it's blue with upside-down swords and hangs from a ribbon. But other than that ... Then when George posted the reference page, well, I couldn't believe it. Really, I still can't. I keep telling myself that it must be something other than an Alexeevsky Military School badge. I do have one of those and here it is. Well, it's a Transition Government version without crowns. Maybe they were just cut off as an expedient, of course. And it's bronze, not gold, but you might expect that from a late-era example. This one isn't pristine, as you can see, but I think it's a real good example. And at least it's not blue. OTOH, I'm willing to learn and be shown if someone can pin this down. Everyone here knows just how wrong I can be. Note that the screwback is numbered and bears a Petrograd master's mark. Of course, I don't know if this is the original screwback or not, but I still like the badge a lot. Chuck

* * * * * Thank you, Igor. This is a 30mm example. Chuck

Hi Chris I really am glad to be back. I missed the forum a lot more than I thought I would. Good test, I suppose, for whether I really get as much out of your conversations as I thought. Cyber-companionship -- who woulda thought? Glad to hear that your computer is back up and running. I was sort of thinking of going back to Dell after MS Vista comes out, but now I think I'll just stick to whatever high-end desktop Costco has when I feel the need. Kindest regards to all, Chuck

I have a couple, but this is my best one. No marks of any kind.

Thanks, George. That will be a helpful reference. Don't worry too much if you can't find a mark there, though. For the past couple of years I have been working with a partial copy of a 350-page book on the subject. I was hoping to get an original this summer but so far it hasn't happened. It's quite amazing how many of these marks have been catalogued. Chuck