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[NEP] Otchet Moskovskogo gorodskogo lombarda s 1-go oktiabria 1927 g. po 1-e oktiabria 1928 g. (Shestoi godovoi otchet) [i.e. Report of the Moscow City Pawnshop from October 1, 1927 to October 1, 1928 (Sixth Annual Report)]

Item #2787

Moscow: 17-ia tipografiia “Mospoligraf”, [1928]. 24 pp., 1 folding table. 26x17 cm. In original printed wrappers. Tears of spine, corners of covers lost, creases of title page, otherwise good and clean.

An interesting document of the NEP period. One of 200 copies produced.

The report provides the Moscow pawnshop’s financial statistics for the mentioned period and outlines some changes to its operating procedures.

By the October Revolution of 1917, there were about 100 operating pawnshops in Russia and pawnshops’ clientele primarily included people of noble birth. For many of them, it was the only way to survive under the Bolshevik regime or to fund their emigration. Then, in 1919, the entire pawnbroking business was abolished by decree, condemned as a relic of the past and a bourgeois institution.

However, pawnshops soon began opening again. In 1924, the Moscow City Pawnshop Combine, or Mosgorlombard, was established. These institutions were set up by local governing bodies such as city councils and executive committees operating under the departments of municipal services. During the NEP era, the first sharp-witted dealers emerged from among the proletariat. Yet the overwhelming majority of clients were low-income citizens with very limited purchasing power. According to the report, nearly 100% of the pawnshop’s clients were workers but not the bourgeoisie officially rejected by the state. During this time pawnshops gained a reputation as “banks for the poor”.

The report includes the following tables: Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss Statement, Statistics by Pawned Item Category (jewelry vs. fur items), Loan Activity, and others. By October 1927, nearly 230,000 items had been pawned there. A portion of the items were put up for auction (just over 3% of all pawned items during the reporting period), while the unsold remainder were sent to retail stores.

Worldcat doesn’t track the edition for this fiscal year.

Price: $500.00