Production for Use!

So I'm killing time after my discussion class today, when I decide, "Hey, I'll see if they have anything good and cheap at the Strand". (One of the few redeeming factors NYC has for me is the fact that the Strand exists).
Among roughly 1000 books about Sotheby's wine auctions (some old rich drunk must have just died and his kids had no idea what to do with his stuff), I find a large folio-type item that's covered in yellowing, brittle paper, and basically just looks OLD. Oh, and it has

on the cover. "Hm", say I. "I think I'll have a look inside. This could be interesting."
So, I open it, and what do I see?

HELLS YES.
What do I have before me? A 1949–I don't know, book? File? Magazine? Folio?– that's 100% Soviet propaganda about how glorious Stalin is. Seriously! Printed in the Soviet Union (says a stamp on the back) and distributed in four languages. It looks like this was one of a series about the various aspects of the USSR, I was just lucky enough to snag the one saying what a swell guy Stalin is. I LOVE Soviet-era stuff, so this was a real find.
Some samples of what's inside (this thing's pretty big, so I took admittedly crappy digicam pics instead of scans):

I think I've actually seen this picture, when the Guggenheim was doing a retrospective on Russian painting. It's (I believe) a head of a collective farm and Stalin at a celebratory dinner (or something of the sort).

Hero's Square, Budapest– I think (my directions are horrible) that Hero's Square is actually pretty near the Terror House, the museum of Communist torture and imprisonment (never let it be said that things get too lighthearted in Hungary).

Tractors! Because you can never have a book of Stalinist propaganda without liberal use of tractors!

Rosie the Riveter defects.

The Young Pioneers strike a pose. I believe my friend Yulia told me she was a Young Pioneer, but "wasn't very good at it". While I was in Budapest I inadvertently bought a Young Pioneers badge, so I guess all my jokes about how I defected from the Girl Scouts weren't entirely unfounded.

Last one for now. They look so happy! And...um, armed! I believe this picture was taken in Belarus, which means that Belarus is following me, which means if I suddenly vanish, check the cooking schools.

Oh, and the price? A whopping 48 cents.
I love the Strand.