Revisting Childhood

(Cross-posted to my Myspace blog, but I thought this was just so cool...)

For years and years, I have had the mental image or concept of babies hatching out of eggshells in my head, and I had NO idea where it came from or what it meant. I could have sworn I'd seen it in a painting, but I didn't know what it was, and everyone I'd talked to thought I was nuts.
Well, lo and behold, when my 6-year-old nephew visited my parents this summer, he pulled out all of my old children's books. And what was in one of them? Babies hatching out of eggshells!

'Outside Over There' is by far one of the most surreal and slightly disturbing children's books ever, and always scared me a little when I was a child. It looks NOTHING like what you'd expect a Maurice Sendak book to look like, and it's really just odd and dreamlike– which is possibly why I never remembered it was actually a book, just some vague images I somehow had in my mind. The babies in the eggshells, the goblins, Ida's French horn and yellow raincoat, and the terrifying-looking Ice Baby (which REALLY frightened me when I was little) are some of the most amazing art I've ever seen and clearly stuck with me for years. I think I remember my parents telling me that I looked like Ida (the girl in blue) and that's why they got the book.
I've been looking at children's books, the ones I remember reading when I was little, and I find it really interesting to go back and see where I might have gotten some of my inspiration from. It's like finding an old toy or piece of clothing that you've completely forgotten, and the moment you see it again all the memories and feelings you had about it suddenly come back. It's kind of overwhelming.

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.