Movie props

The Cinema studio of Riga in Šmerlis owns quite a lot of movie props. This is a place where things rise memories of our own past, from childhood toys to forgotten books.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Children's railway

Children's railway was a phenomenon in the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc countries. In Riga there was one as well but it's been dismantled many years ago, however in quite a few post-communist countries it is still functioning. One of them you can find in Yerevan, Armenia.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Energetics and Lenin

In the Latvenergo's museum of energetics in Riga one can find a lot of household goods from the past, such as old fridges, irons or telephones. But surprisingly they also got many things about Lenin.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Soda water machines

You can spot out of date soda water machines in Tiraspol, the capital of the breakaway republic Transnistria (aka Pridnestrovie) within Moldova. Transnistria is sometimes called the museum of Soviet Union as there you can find a lot of things from the past that in other countries have been demolished long time ago. Such soda water machines were quite popular in Latvia and USSR, but now it's impossible to find even not working ones.
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

Out of school

This kind of a table (in the center of the top image) and chair were used in schools up to mid-1990s. Today the survivors can be found in some garages or repair services.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Sexual revolution of 1980s

The March 1989 issue of the children's magazine Zīlīte (Titmice) caused something like a sexual revolution in Soviet Latvia. And not just for young boys and girls around 8-13, who all now got to know how a baby is made, but also their parents as they just did not know how to deal with this (sex was kind of a taboo in USSR). For instance, my grandmother was hiding the issue for a couple of days until she decided to let me read it.