Soviet 1950s Orders Books with Single Entry for Order of Lenin

[Guest Rick Research]

With over 200,000 bestowed during the decade of the 1950s-- almost half of all Lenins ever awarded from the 1930s to 1990-- Orders Books with NOTHING but a single entry for a Lenin from the 1950s are fairly common

Order of Lenin (it is missing) number 214,752 was awarded on 6 August 1952 in this "G" edition, undated version Orders Book. The only other Lenin I've seen on the same day (posted in the dated serial numbers database here) is 213,801-- with some intervening numbers awarded on OTHER dates just to confuse us.

Why?

That is always the Big Question, isn't it?

[Guest Rick Research]

But this one (picked up by Navy Dave in his wanderings ) DOES give us a clue:

Although "Valid Without Photograph" it bears a photo of Grigory Fedotovich Breslavsky...

in the uniform of a railways Engineer Lieutenant of traffic control (dvizheniya).

While unstamped-- and most likely affixed by the recipient himself-- the date may be corroborated IF that was the "Day of the Railways" and an annual long service awrads date.

[Guest Rick Research]

That is presumably the ribbon for Comrade Breslavsky's 20 November 1947 regulations 20 years Badge of Honor just showing of his medal bar.

Which means, although he appears to be 904 years old, that Comrade B. STARTED his railways career in 1926/27.

Closeup on his Distinguished Traffic controller and Honored Railwayman's badges

Long service awards regulations were changed for railways personnel on28 July 1949, replacing the previous Badge of Honor for 20 years with a Red Banner of Labor, and turning the previous 25 years Red banner of Labor for an Order of Lenin, as above.

Anyone who had a Badge of Honor for 20 years was NOT allowed to swap it for a Red Banner of Labor.

Now the question remains--

WHY were civilian (and presumably all such cases were) Orders of Lenin in the 1950s so commonly issued with Orders Books ALONE-- and not simply added to an existing Orders Book the way awards were added in older Books for military personnel?

to Dave

[Guest Rick Research]

A more typical example. Another "G" edition book, dated 1950, for Lenin number 169,523 on 16 July 1951 to Yegor Nikiforovich Nikiforov, an ethnic Greek

no visual clues here. The dreaded "Valid Without Photograph" stamp and he never even signed it!!!

In contrast to these "singleton" civilian Lenins, here is a typical example of a MILITARY recipient's Orders Book--

Air Force Major Gneeraal Mukharam Nigametovich Galimov started his decorations in November 1938... and was still having them squeeeeeeeeeeezed in any old place in June 1955.

So why why WHY would civilians, each of whom presumably had ONLY the single Order they got at the time of their 20th year of service, get fresh new equally EMPTY Books for their Lenins? :catjava: