Exhibition "A Time of Hopes and Achievements"

About exhibition

The exhibition is dedicated to the period of postwar reconstruction of the country, the gradual overcoming of the legacy of Stalinism, and the Khrushchev Thaw. Household items, clothing, narrative and everyday photographs, postcards, posters, and other authentic exhibits reveal the characteristics of the 1940s–1950s. After the Great Patriotic War, for the residents of the Rostov region the slogan "We will revive you, Don land!" became central to their lives. The theme of former front-line soldiers, the "man in a gymnastyorka," was one of the most important in the postwar period. Many of them were disabled; seeking a place in life they joined the ranks of small-scale artisans and craftsmen: cobblers, tinsmiths, photographers. Handcrafted photo-postcards, widely exhibited here for the first time, were a hallmark of the era. In the 1950s–early 1960s, extensive housing construction was under way in the cities of the Rostov region. Five-story buildings contained self-contained apartments with all conveniences — the Khrushchyovkas. Household appliances began to appear, and with the development of the chemical industry came new polymer materials and fabrics: kapron, nylon. The first televisions with magnifying lenses, a vacuum cleaner, a refrigerator, and a washing machine are also on display.