Bookvica

[PHYSICAL CULTURE OF PIONEERS] Zariadka dlia detei 10-12 let [i.e. Morning Exercises for Children of 10-12 Years Old]

Artsishevskii, V.

Item #1527

Moscow: Fizkul’tura i sport, 1941. [21] pp. :
ill. 9,3x8,5 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Mint.
First and only edition. Very rare.
Remarkable miniature photobook giving instructions on daily
physical exercises.
Physical culture of proletarian masses established in the youth.
Schools held sports competitions, Osoaviakhim branches organized
military clubs for young generations of Soviet-minded people. There
was a stubborn struggle for the right to take part in international
Spartakiads in 1928-1937. As a part of hygiene widespread since the
1920s, morning exercises were introduced with a selection of particular
workouts for women, children, employees who worked primarily
standing or sitting or who usually operated a particular group of muscles.
This small guide contains two general exercise complexes
for children, differing in complexity. In the first one, the author offered
seven movements and doubled the number in the following complex.
According to the foreword, children should have started the second
complex after 2-3 months of training. Each exercise is shown in pictures
provided by photographer I. Prokhorova but is also explained by text
caption.
Thanks to Soviet propaganda of hygiene, people were taught to
visit public bathhouses once a week. In city apartments, workers
had the opportunity to sponge their bodies with cold water after
morning exercises. As with this brochure, other guides ended with
recommendation of sponging bodies.
The compiler of this guide, Viacheslav Artsishevskii (1900-
1958) worked in the State Research Institute for Physical Culture and
Sport until he was arrested in 1948. He was sentenced to 10 years
of labor camps, survived and was released in 1955. Until repression,
Artsishevskii published about 25 guides and textbooks on exercises
held for children in schools, pioneer camps, through radio programs.

Price: $1,250.00