Culver City,
California
x
USSR in Construction No. 1, 1935
Maker: State Fine Arts Press
Date Made: 1935-01
Country: Soviet Union
Materials: paper; ink; metal
Measurements: 11 3/4 in x 16 3/4 in; 29.845 cm x 42.545 cm
Oversized blue-grey gradient magazine with a red plane and brown text. This issue is dedicated to the "Maxim Gorki Agitational Sqaudron", a squad of aircrafts whose purpose was to spread the tenets and achievements of communism throught industry and factory visits, and the distribution of agitational literature. The flagship was "Maxmi Gorki", an eight-engine aircraft that could seat up to 70 passengers and was the largest of its kind in the early 1930s. The magazine highlights a few of the planes of the squadron, before focusing on the flagship and emphasizing it as a technological marvel. It contains a map charting the flight paths traveled by the squadron as of January 1934, images of the people and regions it visited, as well as the important figures transported. The magazine contains two large fold-out spreads, and the last page lists the factories and industries that participated in the building of the flagship. Contextual Note: 'USSR in Construction' was a Soviet propaganda magazine published from 1930 to 1941 and briefly in 1949. Printed in the USSR and distributed internationally, it was issued in five languages: Russian, English, German, French, and Spanish (added in 1938). The magazine aimed to promote Soviet achievements abroad through striking photography and avant-garde design.
Accession Number: 2020.016.012