Winter in Kemerovo Over the Years: Heartfelt Black-and-White Photos
The editorial staff of NGS42.RU recalls what winter Kemerovo looked like in different years. We have prepared a selection of atmospheric retro photos. See how in the 1960s, during subbotniks (community volunteer days), schoolchildren cleared tram tracks, what winter sports were popular in the last century, and how horse-drawn carts traveled along the half-empty Sovetsky Avenue.
The main winter entertainments of all times are snowball fights, building ice fortresses, and competitions to create the most original snowman. The main character in the photo was inspired by the stories and film about the journey of Norwegian archaeologist, explorer, and writer Thor Heyerdahl. In 1947, he, along with five companions, traveled across the Pacific Ocean from Peru to French Polynesia. The expedition moved on water by raft. It consisted of 9 logs, had a sail and oars. Thor Heyerdahl named this construction «Kon-Tiki» after the legendary hero of Polynesian tales.
In 1949, the documentary film «Kon-Tiki» about the expedition was released. And in 1957, Soviet viewers saw the science fiction adventure film «The Secret of Two Oceans». Now imagine (or remember) what heroes and events inspired the boys in those years. They imitated travelers not only in summer and spring, when they built rafts from available materials, crossing puddles, but also in winter, creating Moai statues from snow.
The decoration of Kemerovo«s streets and squares in winter is a separate and very atmospheric story. Does any reader remember the large snow towns on Sovets Square, in V. Voloshina Park or Zhukov Victory Park? When Kemerovo craftsmen created ice slides in the shape of a bogatyr»s (Russian epic hero) head, a huge rocket, or a fairy-tale fish. We are already preparing a separate collection of old photos of the city decorated for the New Year.
And in this photo, Kemerovo residents of different ages participate in a subbotnik. Schoolchildren, students, representatives of various professions clear tram tracks. They were sent to help the employees of KEMZ (Kemerovo Electromechanical Plant), who on particularly snowy days could not cope with the snowfall.
In the 1950s, the main transport forces are trams, cars, and horse-drawn carts. If you look closely, you can see in the frame how horses travel along Sovetsky Avenue. One of the carts crosses the tram tracks in the center of the frame.
The photos of the sporting city are imbued with a special charm. We don«t know about you, but we wanted to immediately drop everything and go to the pine forest to ski. Or skate on the ice rink in one of the courtyards. No wonder we compiled a map of Kemerovo»s skating rinks.
Ski culture is love and hate in one bottle. One story is when skiing is part of physical education in school or university. During the break, you run to the gym, change into your uniform, and drag yourself with the whole group to the city garden or park. You run for two classes, and then sweaty and red, you rush to English or physics. And your head is no longer working.
And a completely different mood when on weekends you head out to the pine forest early in the morning. You breathe the frosty air, admire the winter landscape, blush with all your might. And then you return home and warm up with fragrant tea and jam. Beauty!
