Picspam: Look into Eastern Germany past with GDR design
On October 3rd we have our national holiday, the day of unification. This year the official celebration will take place in Dresden. It is a different country each year, we had it last 16 years ago. The whole weekend will be full of exhibitions and stages throughout the city and I intend to enjoy the heck out of it.
Our big shopping mall Altmarkt Gallery had these nice displays showing a kitchen, living room, children room, school room, office etc. from way back then. Hope you enjoy my little picspam! If any of you have any questions, please ask! fueschgast do you recognize anything? ;)
Many many pictures under the cut!
Kaufhalle, which was our word for supermarket:
Kitchen:
We used the cups with the dots as toothbruth cups. We also had the orange one at the left side. The lilac thing is part of it missing, there belongs a teaglass inside, it is a teaglass holder.
Living room:
These tables had a crank, and you could crank them up or down, depending on whether you wanted to use it as a dinner or couch table. Our flats were not very big, not many people owned a house, so you had to have versatile furniture. There were also beds that could be stored away during the day in a shelf etc.
Camping:
Inside:
I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a children room or kindergarten. The cots would suggest the latter. They were for napping time at noon.
I loved to play and set up scenes with these little wooden houses on the table. I also had a similar washing machine like that on the shelf. You could really wash with it.
I used to make those coasters from beads:
Class room:
Western Germans call this overhead projector, we called it by its brand name: Polylux. For putting handwritten sheets on plastic foils onto the wall. Left of it you see stamps - since there were no copy machines for making work sheets, the teacher would go around and put those stemps with all kind of images into your journals:
I did not have one of these school maps, I had a SCOUT from my aunt in Western Germany:
Yes, on benches and chairs like this I have spent a lot of time:
Youth room (I guess?)
You can see both the pioneer blouse as well as the Free German Youth shirt on the furniture:
The thing left of the pennant is a caroussel for storing music casettes. We had one of those too:
I definitely didn't have my own TV at the time! I had to watch what mom and dad watched. If I was allowed to. I have no idea what the thing in front of it is? An early playstation? Is the thing actually a TV or rather a computer? Could be both I guess.
Another one of the music cassette caroussels and radios:
We had one of those flat tape recorders as well, when my parents got a new one I got to get it and made good use of it:
Those chicken shaped egg cups is something which still gets made as people are so fond of it. There was actually also a shop in the gallery where you could buy this and many other things:
Why call a blowdryer by its usual name "Fön" when you can call it "Heißluftdusche" (hot air shower)? LOL
Same goes for angels which did official not exist so they were called "end of the year figure with wings". Or is it just a myth?
Photocameras, dia projectors and I used to have the thing on top. It's still somewhere. It also could be used as a slide projector but we never made these. But there were also little film rolls available for it, telling fairytales or the famous "Rabbit and Wolf". But they were no moving pictures. I had to move it by hand, frame by frame. Still, it was a nice thing to do on children birthday parties for example:
The photocamera down in front is what my father had, including the brown case for it. Right is a film camera but we never had one of those. So no moving pictures from my childhood:
Yep, I think my father has one of those brown beer mugs as well:
I think the thing in the middle is a syphon. We did not have one but it was for making whipped cream for example. You had to buy tablets for it with carbon dioxide. I think they were hard to come by and only available in Hungary or something? My father used to make whipped cream the old fashioned way, hard hand work with a spoon ;)
A travel type writer:
The contract for buying a personal car. Not sure if you signed this at the beginning or the end of the 15 years wait periode. We never owned a car back then.
No idea what the round orange thingy at the left side is but it looks like different tools for a drilling or grinding machine? The silver thing on top is a toaster. The wings open to both sides so you could put two toast slices into it. When we were working one day a week while still in school, I was actually assembling this very toaster. If I remember correctly, I needed to make 12 during the day to get the best grade.
Razor and another hair dryer:
I bet you have no idea what this lilac thing is? It's an electrical house shoe. For people with cold feet:
I'm not entirely sure but the white round thing may be a coffee mill? I think my mother used this. The thing on top we definitely used - it is a redlight lamp. For when you had caught a cold and didn't feel well, you would let the red light shine onto your nose. But you had to close your eyes as it was dangerous looking inside.
Bathroom. My mother had a washing machine but it was only a half automat. Meaning, it would wash, but not spin-dry. For that you had to have an extra spin dryer. And the water would come out of the pipe. You had to hold the dryer tight as otherwise it would move around too much when working.
We had the exact same scale, only in green:
In case you have no idea, the lilac-flowery thing in the middle is for storing clothes pins. You would take it with you when hanging the washing at the line outside and it could be hanged onto the line right next to you:
Pay special attention to those wonderful orange plastic taps ;) Also I had totally forgotten that we used to have two handles on the sink, one for hot and one for cold. Like they still have in the UK sometimes:
Garage:
And if you're not tired yet, have some Simson motorbikes. Aren't they fashionable?
The rather simple helmet and a children seat:
Sleeping room:
Office:
Our big shopping mall Altmarkt Gallery had these nice displays showing a kitchen, living room, children room, school room, office etc. from way back then. Hope you enjoy my little picspam! If any of you have any questions, please ask! fueschgast do you recognize anything? ;)
Many many pictures under the cut!
Kaufhalle, which was our word for supermarket:
Kitchen:
We used the cups with the dots as toothbruth cups. We also had the orange one at the left side. The lilac thing is part of it missing, there belongs a teaglass inside, it is a teaglass holder.
Living room:
These tables had a crank, and you could crank them up or down, depending on whether you wanted to use it as a dinner or couch table. Our flats were not very big, not many people owned a house, so you had to have versatile furniture. There were also beds that could be stored away during the day in a shelf etc.
Camping:
Inside:
I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a children room or kindergarten. The cots would suggest the latter. They were for napping time at noon.
I loved to play and set up scenes with these little wooden houses on the table. I also had a similar washing machine like that on the shelf. You could really wash with it.
I used to make those coasters from beads:
Class room:
Western Germans call this overhead projector, we called it by its brand name: Polylux. For putting handwritten sheets on plastic foils onto the wall. Left of it you see stamps - since there were no copy machines for making work sheets, the teacher would go around and put those stemps with all kind of images into your journals:
I did not have one of these school maps, I had a SCOUT from my aunt in Western Germany:
Yes, on benches and chairs like this I have spent a lot of time:
Youth room (I guess?)
You can see both the pioneer blouse as well as the Free German Youth shirt on the furniture:
The thing left of the pennant is a caroussel for storing music casettes. We had one of those too:
I definitely didn't have my own TV at the time! I had to watch what mom and dad watched. If I was allowed to. I have no idea what the thing in front of it is? An early playstation? Is the thing actually a TV or rather a computer? Could be both I guess.
Another one of the music cassette caroussels and radios:
We had one of those flat tape recorders as well, when my parents got a new one I got to get it and made good use of it:
Those chicken shaped egg cups is something which still gets made as people are so fond of it. There was actually also a shop in the gallery where you could buy this and many other things:
Why call a blowdryer by its usual name "Fön" when you can call it "Heißluftdusche" (hot air shower)? LOL
Same goes for angels which did official not exist so they were called "end of the year figure with wings". Or is it just a myth?
Photocameras, dia projectors and I used to have the thing on top. It's still somewhere. It also could be used as a slide projector but we never made these. But there were also little film rolls available for it, telling fairytales or the famous "Rabbit and Wolf". But they were no moving pictures. I had to move it by hand, frame by frame. Still, it was a nice thing to do on children birthday parties for example:
The photocamera down in front is what my father had, including the brown case for it. Right is a film camera but we never had one of those. So no moving pictures from my childhood:
Yep, I think my father has one of those brown beer mugs as well:
I think the thing in the middle is a syphon. We did not have one but it was for making whipped cream for example. You had to buy tablets for it with carbon dioxide. I think they were hard to come by and only available in Hungary or something? My father used to make whipped cream the old fashioned way, hard hand work with a spoon ;)
A travel type writer:
The contract for buying a personal car. Not sure if you signed this at the beginning or the end of the 15 years wait periode. We never owned a car back then.
No idea what the round orange thingy at the left side is but it looks like different tools for a drilling or grinding machine? The silver thing on top is a toaster. The wings open to both sides so you could put two toast slices into it. When we were working one day a week while still in school, I was actually assembling this very toaster. If I remember correctly, I needed to make 12 during the day to get the best grade.
Razor and another hair dryer:
I bet you have no idea what this lilac thing is? It's an electrical house shoe. For people with cold feet:
I'm not entirely sure but the white round thing may be a coffee mill? I think my mother used this. The thing on top we definitely used - it is a redlight lamp. For when you had caught a cold and didn't feel well, you would let the red light shine onto your nose. But you had to close your eyes as it was dangerous looking inside.
Bathroom. My mother had a washing machine but it was only a half automat. Meaning, it would wash, but not spin-dry. For that you had to have an extra spin dryer. And the water would come out of the pipe. You had to hold the dryer tight as otherwise it would move around too much when working.
We had the exact same scale, only in green:
In case you have no idea, the lilac-flowery thing in the middle is for storing clothes pins. You would take it with you when hanging the washing at the line outside and it could be hanged onto the line right next to you:
Pay special attention to those wonderful orange plastic taps ;) Also I had totally forgotten that we used to have two handles on the sink, one for hot and one for cold. Like they still have in the UK sometimes:
Garage:
And if you're not tired yet, have some Simson motorbikes. Aren't they fashionable?
The rather simple helmet and a children seat:
Sleeping room:
Office:
