WC in 1995

In 1995 I took quite a few photos of private and public toilets in Latvia, mainly Riga and Liepāja. I wonder how many toilets can be found in the same state fifteen years later...
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

The fight

This memorial plate on A.Briana street in Riga says that "here in this house an illegal printing house was publishing the communist party's newspaper Cīņa (The Fight)". The plate dates back to Soviet times as in context of today's political conjuncture such fact is of no significance. All political parties, including the communist party, were banned during the president's K.Ulmanis dictatorship between 1934 and 1940.
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

Glass bottle recycling on Daugavpils street

This is an old glass bottle recycling point on Daugavpils street in Riga. Perhaps it still functions but then the work hours timetable is lying as it was closed during the day. Interestingly, the point is on the basement floor and the window is so low, thus you would need to stand on the knees to pass your bottles to the collector.
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

Hoarfrost in Riga

For the last few days the weather in Riga has been cold (around -15C) and sunny, so hoarfrost can bee seen on trees and bushes.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Ambulance garage

The Soviet times neon lights on Tallinas street in Riga indicates that there's a base for ambulance cars. I don't know whenever the base is still operational as the most of the former base area has been rented out as garages.
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

Vai

This old mural can be found on A.Briana street in Riga. In the screen that has been painted over you can still notice three big letters VAI. It's not only "oh" in Latvian, but is also short for Soviet times state vehicle inspection (Valsts autoinspekcija).
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

New Year

This is a New Year's greetings card from 1979/1980 when Moscow was expecting to host Olympic games. Happy New year to everyone!

Sweets

In Soviet times Christmas was celebrated in private, making the New Year Eve the main public event of the year. And for this occasion a full table of food is a must. These are photos of sweets by factories Uzvara and Laima in Soviet Latvia.
Photos from Latinform archives, 1974, 1978 and 1980

Good-bye Brivibas 32

Today the department of philosophy and history of Latvian University left its premises on Brivibas street in Riga. Financial crisis in Latvia is affecting also education - the department was forced to change the location in order to save on rental costs. It had resided in this house for the last 63 years. Next year perhaps some refurbished offices will ruin this historical place.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Soviet Riga

Lately a large advert has been temporarily removed from one of the walls near railway station in Riga, uncovering city's coat of arms from Soviet times. It is not easy to notice the difference because nowadays the arms looks quite similar - the star at the top is replaced with cross and two lions have joined on both sides.
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

Talsi

Talsi is known as the town of nine hills and two lakes and is one of most beautiful and calm towns in Northwest Latvia, some 120 km from Riga. It has a lot of old wooden houses, small quiet streets, shabby shops and a few Soviet time symbols, such as the "Kursa" sign for the supermarket, or even older signs - in the second photo from the bottom one can spot a shop ad from Tsar times covered with another sign of "Talsi consumer society" from 1920s or 1930s.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Rio cinema

In the boom of British cinema Hackney had 23 cinemas. Today only one has survived - Rio cinema in Dalston. This year the one of most popular independent cinemas in London is celebrating its 100th birthday. In 1909, Clara Ludski, the owner of an auctioneer's shop at 105 Kingsland High Street, recognised the growing potential of moving pictures and converted her shop into a 175-seat electric picture house. It was then called the Kingsland Palace and was among the first full-time cinemas.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Hammer & sickle in Vienna

Communist symbols hammer and sickle can be spotted even in Vienna, Austria.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Socio-realism in Albania

During Enver Hoxha's rule in Albania social realism in arts was practiced just like in Soviet Union. Perhaps even more enthusiastically. For instance, the mosaic in the top image is not created of coloured glass pieces as usually you would expect, but of small stones of natural colour.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Leningrad

St.Petersburg has dozens of Soviet Union staff, from statuesques to manhole caps, which sometimes can make you feel as if the difference between Leningrad and St.Petersburg is only the name.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Pioneer street

While walking down the Pioneer street (ulica Pionerov) in St.Petersburg you can observe a few pioneer stars on the houses.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Glass-cutters

It is hard to guess if this glass-cutter workshop still exists. The ad found in Teika, Riga suggests that the workshop resides in another district in Purvciems, Riga. 6-digit number makes it at least 15 years old (nowadays Latvia has 8 digit numbers).
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

Old Ventspils

Ventspils is a coast town in West Latvia, considered wealthy, tidy and boring place. These are a few photos of the city centre that slightly compromise this image - old signs of fishermen's club and hospital, street water pump, weird old house and closed glass bottle recycling point.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Kronstadt

Kronstadt island was founded in 1704 as a fortress to guard sea access to St.Petersburg and is located in the bay some 30 km from it. The Kronstadt Sea Fortress used to be considered the most fortified port in the world. In Soviet times it was a closed city (with restricted access to visitors) due to its military port and ship-building industry. Today the city seems quiet apart from many cadets in the streets.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Late emergency

This old plate found in Liepāja, West Latvia says "in case of emergency after 6pm call...". It seems that in Latvian version someone has changed the time to "after 7pm".
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus