Who were they?

I collect Russian things. Mostly books, occasionally Matrioska dolls, and more recently stamps. The collection is eclectic and has no real value, other than to my curiosity. I'd love to be in the position to collect Faberge, Icons and paintings by Repin, but my budget stops at random packs of ordinary stamps and the odd second hand book.

Today I was captivated by two small stamps. I found myself wondering what women these two stamps were based on. I find it difficult to believe that someone in the "Soviet Department of Stamp Design" (or whatever it was called), just came up with a generic Soviet "Miss" for the design. Surely, she was someone's sweetheart or sister or friend. Where did she live, what did she live through? What memories would she share with us over a glass of vodka? Would I have learned to cook pasha with her at her dacha? Would she have liked singing or writing poetry? Did she work on a farm or a factory? Was she Jewish or Christian? Did she live in a communal apartment or in a wooden cottage in the country?

I'll never know of course, but we say hello occasionally and I ask them the questions. They are condemned to exile outside of the arms of Mother Russia, in a box in a country far, far away. Currently they slumber inside a drawer of a French dresser.

Imagine what the person who sent a letter with these stamps would have thought of that!
© by Sparrowchatter 2011