When an American professor had the chance to travel extensively throughout the Soviet Union during the Cold War, he was astounded by what he saw — and took as many pictures as he could.
A bearded man on an unidentified street, wearing what appears to be a medal. 1958.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Dancers in a Russian ballet. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A blonde girl in a bikini.Though the Soviet Union and the United States were foes in the Cold War, photos like these show that life in the two countries could be very similar.
Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A church with traditional spires and an overgrown lawn. Soviet policy embraced state atheism. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Soviet schoolchildren in class. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A group of children photographed in 1958, possibly aboard a river ship.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Children in Almaty (in present-day Kazakhstan) lined up for a presentation. 1964.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A child selling food. The Soviet economy faltered in the 1960s and 1970s, and as political elites grew wealthy, many regular Soviet citizens struggled with a scarcity of goods.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Construction in the Soviet Union. After World War II, there was a housing shortage in places like Moscow, which resulted in the rapid construction of public housing blocks.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A Soviet couple speaking while in their bathing suits. 1975.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Palace Square in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), adorned with the faces of Soviet leaders.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A girl jumping during a track and field competition in Almaty (present-day Kazakhstan). 1964.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A grandmother minding two children. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Horses and carriages on a Soviet street. Though there were about 100 million cars in America by the 1970s, there were just about five million in the Soviet Union. U.S.S.R. citizens often had to wait years, sometimes a full decade, to get a vehicle. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Soviet youths lounging by the water.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Inside a Soviet shop. The Soviet economy started to falter in the 1960s and 1970s, which led Mikhail Gorbachev to attempt to introduce a hybrid communist-capitalist system (under a policy called perestroika) in the 1980s.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A photo of babies in the Soviet Union. 1958. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A man wearing traditional clothing, possibly in present-day Kazakhstan. 1964.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A public bathroom in the Soviet Union, with signs in both Russian and English.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Boys buying food. The sign reads in part: "Available for Sale." Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A man walking down the street, possibly in Tashkent (in present-day Uzbekistan). 1964.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A man selling green powder. 1964.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A man testing his physical strength in Tashkent. 1964.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Men playing chess and drinking tea in Tashkent.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Men gathered in Tashkent. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A mosque in Central Asia. Islam was the second-largest religion in the U.S.S.R.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Mothers in brightly-patterned skirts with their children in Central Asia in 1964.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies People at a market in Central Asia. 1964.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A woman selling bread.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Soviet citizens riding in the back of a truck.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Two people have a discussion on a sunny day in the Soviet Union. The women in the foreground have hairstyles that would not be out of place among Americans in the 1960s.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A woman in uniform oversees a fancy buffet. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Two people look at a picture of Joseph Stalin at the Narvskaya station of the Leningrad metro (in present-day St. Petersburg). Stalin died in 1953, and his brutal policies killed at least nine million people during his three decades in power.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A church in Central Asia. 1964.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A Soviet family eating, perhaps in a cafeteria. 1964.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies People buying meat at a market. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A kiosk that appears to be selling beer and vodka to customers on the street. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies People outside of a hotel. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Sunbathers and swimmers enjoying a sunny day.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A crowd walks on a busy city street. American photographer and professor Thomas T. Hammond spent a great deal of time in Moscow, which he described as "clean and shabby; magnificent and dowdy; exhilarating and depressing; dynamic and stagnant; planned and chaotic; revolutionary and conservative."Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies People walking past a poster.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A Soviet wedding party.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A Soviet shepherd and his dog guide some sheep down a road.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Women buying pastries. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Some shoes in a shop window. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A Soviet family outside of their simple home.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies People selling produce out of crates.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A group of men sitting outdoors in Tashkent. 1964.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Women wearing headscarves. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A truck and a car parked outside of a building.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A young Soviet woman.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A Soviet parade marching down a street.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A woman selling hats. 1964.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Women gathering water.Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies A young Soviet woman with bangs, looking not unlike American women of the same era. Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
Behind The Iron Curtain: 55 Photos Of Life In The U.S.S.R. In The 1960s And 1970s View GalleryFor many Americans in the 1960s and 1970s, the Soviet Union was the "enemy." In the throes of the Cold War, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. faced off over issues like nuclear weapons, space exploration, and conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. But what did life in the Soviet Union actually look like?
As you can see in the above gallery of photos taken by American professor Thomas T. Hammond, life in the U.S.S.R. sometimes resembled life in the U.S. People went to markets, hung out at the beach, and pushed babies in strollers. They attended parades, went to school, and worked in shops.
But there was another side of Soviet life. The U.S.S.R. itself, which contained Russia and 14 other present-day countries, had a dramatic range of urban and agricultural societies. Some Soviet citizens worked as shepherds; others oversaw fancy buffets. And many ordinary people struggled in the difficult years of the 1960s and 1970s, when basic items like shoes became scarce.
The Incredible Life Of Thomas T. Hammond
Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian StudiesThomas T. Hammond and his family in the Soviet Union. 1972.
The photos in the slideshow above are all thanks to one man: Thomas T. Hammond, a noted expert on the Soviet Union and a professor at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. As the University of Virginia reports, Hammond (who died in 1993) spent about four decades teaching his students courses on Soviet history and Soviet foreign policy.
Thanks to his expertise, Hammond was able to travel extensively in the country. He conducted research at Moscow University, interviewed regular Soviet citizens about their lives, and took as many photographs as he could. Hammond used his pictures for both his courses and for National Geographic, which enlisted him to report on the country in 1959 and 1966.
"Moscow is fascinating and confusing," Hammond wrote in his National Geographic article, "An American in Moscow" in 1966. "It's a modern industrial metropolis with a population of 6,388,000 and yet it's only an overgrown peasant village. It's the capital of the biggest country in the world but it is provincial and ingrown. It is at the same time clean and shabby; magnificent and dowdy; exhilarating and depressing; dynamic and stagnant; planned and chaotic; revolutionary and conservative. And it's always changing."
Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian StudiesWomen walking in the snow outside of a large Soviet building.
Indeed, Hammond's photos captured many of the subtle contradictions of Soviet life. In the gallery above, the images show both young people lounging on the beach and women toiling to sell bread. They show the finery of Russian ballet as well as the rugged life of a Soviet shepherd.
Beneath Hammond's photos was another stark truth as well. In the 1960s and 1970s, life for the average person in the Soviet Union had grown difficult.
Life In The Soviet Union In The 1960s And 1970s
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Soviet economy started to show cracks. As HISTORY reports, the country's rush toward industrialization greatly improved the overal economy, but resulted in a scarcity of goods for average citizens. They lacked basic goods like shoes and relied on bread lines to eat.
And although the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. were often cast as dueling superpowers during the Cold War, life in the two countries was drastically different. According to the economic think tank Adam Smith Institute, Soviets often had to wait to buy items like refrigerators, which many Americans could easily purchase after saving up. When Soviet citizens received a notice that they could buy a fridge, they had to pick it up during a certain time frame or would lose the opportunity.
Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian StudiesSoviet women digging ditches, likely near Revolution Square, circa 1958. Since so many Soviet men had died while fighting in World War II, women often had to take on jobs that were historically male-dominated in the aftermath.
By the time Mikhail Gorbachev took power in 1985, it was clear that something had to change. Gorbachev instituted policies of glasnost (political openness) and perestroika (an economic restructuring that sought to create a hybrid communist-capitalist system). But it wasn't enough.
In December 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. The former superpower would later separate into 15 different countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
As such, Thomas T. Hammond's photos of the U.S.S.R. in the 1960s and 1970s depict an era from the past. The Soviet Union itself has been gone for more than 30 years, but Hammond's photos capture what life was like for millions of people who lived behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.
After looking through Thomas T. Hammond's incredible photos of the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s, browse these photos of life in Iran before the 1979 Iranian Revolution brought down the Shah. Or step inside life in North Korea with these rare images of the secretive country.
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