Figure 1.--Here we have a parade in Lenningrad (St. Petersburg). A reader tells us that it was probably taken in 1972 as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Young Pioneers. The children are dressed in their Pioneer uniforms with the red scarves. We are not sure what the event was here. Nor do we know why the boys wear green short pants. I though the standard Pioneer uniform was blue short or long pants. These green shorts do not seem to have been the childtren's regular Pioneer uniform. More likely it was a special outfit for the occassion. Also notice that the girls' skirts do not match the boys' shorts. The children in this second image have round red badges. I'm not sure what they indicated.

-Here we have a parade in Lenningrad (St. Petersburg). We were not sure just when it was taken. A reader tells us that it was probably taken in 1972 as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Young Pioneers. . The children are dressed in Young Pioneer uniforms with the red scarves. We are not sure what the event was here. Nor do we know why the boys wear green short pants. We though the official Pioneer uniform was blue short or long pants. These green shorts do not seem to have been the childtren's regular Pioneer uniform. More likely it was a special outfit for the occassion. Also notice that the girls' skirts do not match the boys' shorts. The children in this second image have round red badges. I'm not sure what they indicated. Obviously the Young Pioneers did not always parade in their standard uniform. Children participating in major celebrations might be issue special uniforms just for the parade or other special occassion. This might be just the pants and skirts as the children would wear their own white shirts. Here the children may have been issued white turtlemecks. The pants/skirts might be done in a bright color to make an impression in the parade. The children afyer the parade would be expected to turn this uniform back in after the parade. Russian readers have provided us some insights on this photograph.

Reader Comment

Reader Comments

Another reader tells us, "No, this was not the official Young Pioneer uniform. On important celebrations there were commonly parades in which the Pioneer might participate. An especially important day was Labor Day--May 1. It became a major event for the children and as explained above they might be issued special marching uniforms. This was done to ensure uniformity among the masrchers. The photograph here most likely was taken in 1972, the 50th anniversary of the Young Pioneers--May 19, 1922. Parades were organized througout the Soviet Union to commemorate the event. There was an immense Pioneer parade in Moscow at Red Square which they transmitted nationwide on television. Similar parades were held in all the large cities. Therefore this photograph relates most likely to May 19, 1972. Others parades with children of a similar scale were not common. [? Red side-cap did not rush by children constantly. ] The uniforms were issued at the school by the teacher. The next day at school the clothes had to be returned." Нет, это не было пионерской формой. На торжественных мероприятиях например праздновании 1 мая, если предполагалось что-то грандиозное ребятам выдавалась такая "одноразовая" форма. Просто чтобы было единообразие. Однако эта фотография скорее всего относится к 1972 году - году юбилея пионерской организации. 19 мая 1972 года во всех городах СССР прошли пионерские парады посвященные 50-летнему юбилею пионерской организации. Был грандиозный пионерский парад в Москве на Красной площади, который транслировали по телевидению. И во всех без исключения больших городах были свои подобные парады. Поэтому эта фотография относится скорее всего к 19 мая 1972 года. Других подобного масштаба детских парадов в СССР не было. Красная пилотка не носилась ребятами постоянно. Она одевалась только когда было какое-то торжественное мероприятие и как правило у ребят их своих не было. Выдавали в школе а потом их отдавали обратно учителю. Пионерский галстук носился не всегда так, как в последние годы. В 1920 - 1950 годах пионерский галстук носился со специальной заколкой. Концы галстука на шее спереди скреплялись заколкой а не завязывались узлом. С 1960-х годов заколка была отменена и галстук стал завязываться специальным узлом - так чтобы на виду был гладкий квадратный узелок. В приложении я отправляю Вам фотографию мальчика - эта фотография есть на Вашем сайте с пояснением что она относится к 1980 году. Это неправильно. Эта фотография сделана одним фотохудожником в 2004 году и имеется на его сайте. Но в принципе ее можно использовать в качестве иллюстрации, только следует сделать пометку, что это не подлинная пионерская фотография.

Reader Comment

A reader writes, "This looks like a special parade. Unable to think of a reason for green shorts for boys and a girl's skirt which does not match! I also suspect that when the parade was over the boys changed into ordinary trousers and handed the Pioneer Uniform shorts back to the organisation. Likewise the girls handed back their skirt. Was this done on the day or later when the Pioneers met at their meeting?" Yes I am not sure why a special parade unform would have been chosen rather than their Young Pioneer uniforms. And I have no idea why these colors were chosen. Our Russian reader aboce does explain that the childrn were given the uniforms at school the previous day and they had to return them the next day.