Soviet propaganda poster by Valentin Viktorov depicting Yuri Gagarin entitled 'Cosmonauts Day 12 IV 1961 CCCP'. U.S.S.R, printed 1980.

Offset lithograph depicting Yuri Gagarin against the moon with a rocket blasting off into space to his right.

Given by Sally Dore

The donor had the following reminiscence of the acquisition of this poster along with twelve others (E.350-2017 to E.362-2017) given to the Museum in 2017:

'The posters were bought on Friday 4th April 1980 in Leningrad (St Petersburg) on our week-long school trip to Moscow and Leningrad. In those days you were assigned a guide although there was rather more freedom than previously. This was our last day, and our guide in Leningrad, a young man called Andrew whose first tour we were, had finished his assignment with us after taking us to St Isaac's Cathedral. My journal says:

"He said he had told the driver to take us to a Beriozka [foreign currency] shop near which there was a good poster shop. So we said goodbye and were abandoned on the coach with a Russian-only speaking driver and no adults - none of them had come with us for this final trip. So Big Hare [nickname for a boy from another school which was touring with us] more or less took charge since he was the oldest and I had to do all the interpreting, [as I was studying Russian O-level] about where the shop was and how long it would take and whether we could stop at another shop on the way. I did it quite well, actually. The poster shop was magnificent, rank upon rank of them, all admittedly with practically the same idea, but different pictures and one or two that were really good artistically - and all so cheap."'

E.355-2017