Rural clubs and culture

Rural clubs

At the beginning of the twentieth century, instead of the concept of "club", the concept of a People’s House was used. The people’s houses were supposed to help educate the people. During the revolution of 1905−1907, the first workers' clubs were opened in Russia. In the early years of Soviet power, new forms of club institutions and cultural and educational work appeared — reading huts, red chum, etc. The network of club institutions in the late 1920s and 1930s covered the entire Soviet Union. The Soviet government talked about the political re-education of the peasantry, but in fact it resulted in the ideologization of cultural and educational work. The work of most clubs (especially in the pre-war period) was limited only to giving lectures on socio-political topics or showing films (if possible). At the same time, the repertoire of all amateur art clubs was strictly controlled.

During the Great Patriotic War of 1941−1945, about 40 thousand clubs were burned and destroyed by the Nazi invaders. In the first post-war years, the network of club establishments was quickly restored. Moreover, many clubs were created on the initiative of the collective farmers themselves, who thus tried to overcome the monotony of life. The youth showed the greatest interest. The consolidation of collective farms in the early 1950s led to a significant deterioration in the state of cultural and educational work in rural areas. Where the clubs were closed, life stopped.

As of January 1, 1976, 99,226 club institutions worked in the system of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR, of which 3,168 district houses of culture, 2,389 urban houses of culture and clubs, 34,119 rural houses of culture, 52,104 rural clubs, 590 reading rooms, red tea houses, chums and yurts, 6856 independent car clubs.

In the 1980s, village clubs played an important role in the cultural life of the village. Children’s and adult interest groups, libraries worked in them, films were shown, dances, meetings, friendly courts and lectures were held. By the mid-1980s, rural clubs had turned into full-fledged centers of artistic creativity. In the 1990s, the legacy of the USSR remained discos, which were held in rural clubs. The number of them decreased as young people left for the city. Currently, rural clubs operate only in large settlements.

Mobile cinema installations

Mobile film installations in the USSR (film transmissions) were intended for the demonstration of silent and sound films in open areas and in rooms not specially adapted for film screenings. The movie theaters, which are actually mobile cinemas, were of two types. The first type that has become more widespread is an ordinary car equipped with a cinema installation. He stopped in the square or even in the field, a white cloth was stretched in front of the audience, on which the movie was broadcast. This can be seen, for example, in the painting "The Queen of the gas station" already mentioned above. Different models of cars were used as a vehicle at different times, but most often they were lawns, UAZ trucks, "semi-trucks", and even helicopters.

The second type is a specially equipped vehicle, which was passenger buses, trailers or vans. A real cinema room was set up inside such rooms, and the viewing experience was completely different. Film transfers have proved particularly effective in rural areas and sparsely populated areas, where the construction of stationary cinemas is unprofitable.

Dancing in the village club

Rural youth at all times were in constant search of entertainment, the range of which in the post-war years for them (unlike urban youth) was very limited and consisted mainly in gatherings. There were also football get-togethers and exits to the neighboring village for showdowns with local guys. But, of course, dancing trips stood apart!

In the village itself, the youth never staged dances, and did not participate in them themselves. This is because the village generations of young people in the 1950s and 1970s were so clamped down in relationships with the opposite sex that they could not afford to demonstrate their "squeeze dances" in public. The village youth went dancing in neighboring villages, where there were their own (albeit small) clubs. And only at the dances in the village club could they at least for some time get rid of the boring shell and breathe in a breath of freedom. There was no question of any ensemble accompaniment in those years: a radio with records and a local accordion player — that’s all the amenities! It was only in the early 1960s that clubs began to switch to stationary tape recorders, which instantly increased the surge of youth interest in dancing.

In the wake of the appearance of numerous vocal and instrumental ensembles in the USSR in the early 1970s, homegrown ensembles consisting of high school students from rural schools began to appear. They performed the hits of that time.

Source: Dancing trips in the Soviet village

https://obratnosssr.mirtesen.ru

Village disco

The village disco in the 1990s was a sweet legacy of the USSR, where dances were held in rural clubs. The word "disco" was brought to the village by Leontiev at the end of perestroika. But many rural discos continued to be called dances. Dancing and movies have become the last fragment of the cultural life of the disappeared collective farms with amateur activities, a hut-reading room and a red corner. In the villages of the 1990s, changes came slowly. And when there were already nightclubs in the cities, there were discos or dances, as in Soviet times, usually on Wednesday and Saturday. And the traditions of participating in them have not changed. The village disco was held in a village club or a regional house of culture, if it is a large village. The disco was the center of attraction for all young people: from tractor drivers and milkmaids, to students and children of summer residents coming home.

Source: The dashing life of the 90s in photos: village discos, beauties and beauties села

https://picturehistory.livejournal.com/8 655 897.html