The Russian boy here is unidentified. All we know is that he appeared in a Soviet magazine during the 1950s. Unfortunately the background is cropped out which means we do nor quite know the context of the photograph. Even so, quite a bit can be decuced from the photograph about Soviet boys in the 1950s. A HBC reader writes, "As is clear from the context of the montage images, Soviet boys, at least in Moscow, wore mostly military-style uniforms to class in 1956--belted suits of
light brown with long trousers and peaked caps. But at home when they were relaxing, they preferred to dress more casually and comfortably and often looked like this boy. Notice that he wears a white shirt buttoned at the neck, dark short pants, long brown ribbed stockings (apparently worn for warmth on chilly days), and lace-up high-top leather shoes. The stockings, which fit very trimly and form-fittingly, were probably knitted of cotton or a cotton-synthetic mixture for the added elasticity. Note the close-cropped hair, a style that gives the lad an almost shaved-head appearance. This hair style was typical and seems to have been customary because of hygiene and the quasi-military ideology and discipline of the Soviet school system in the 1950s. The boy is not wearing a red neckerchief, but, otherwise, he is dressed very much like a Young Pioneer. The young Pioneers usually wore short pants and white shirts--sometimes with long stockings and sometimes with knee
socks." Another reader tells us a bit about what he is reading. "The child is reading a book of Children's poetry. The author is S. Marshan. He wrote lots of books for small children. The title of the book is Where is Peter and where is Serj.
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