Veteran of Labor medal: national recognition, turned into an element of private collections

Despite all the contradictions of the Soviet state, this period left us a great legacy. Today the Communist Party is tirelessly scolded, quite often on business. However, her reign marked a lot of positive things. After all, before the Civil War, whatever you say, and Russia was hopeless Backward from the European leaders a peasant country. Moreover, it is very likely that the fate of Iran, Turkey or China could have awaited it - also great ones that once instigated fear in the entire reachable world, but by the beginning of the 20th century they had turned into dependent colonies of Western states.

The great breakthrough in the restoration of the economy in the 1930s, and then in the post-war years, allowed not only to avoid our country the fate of the Third World countries, but to make it one of the most highly developed in the world. This would have been impossible to achieve if there had been no colossal folk diligence and literally a cult of labor created in the Union. Not surprisingly, the Veteran of Labor medal was not just an occasion for pride, but perhaps the country's most significant award, the recognition of the greatest merit for the good of the fatherland. In its meaning, it did not exceed, perhaps, only combat awards, celebrating the exploits of the Great Patriotic War.

Medal of "Veteran of Labor" and its history

The order to establish this award was adopted by the Soviet leadership in 1974. His strength persisted until the collapse of the state in 1991. It is interesting that for all these years the medal of the Veteran of Labor was published in more than 39,000 copies. This number is very, very large. However, the mass character does not detract from its merits. This regalia was a very valuable and honorable decoration. And such a large volume of circulation is explained by the following fact. The medal "Veteran of Labor" was received in all spheres of the Soviet state: scientists, collective farmers, directors of machine-building enterprises and machine workers, officers and teachers of schools could be awarded this award. It is interesting that in the society she was also ironically called the "Order of Sutulov", which was a hint at the defects of posture caused by the long-term Work and retirement.

The medal "Veteran of Labor" was made of brass (a mixture of copper and zinc), and on the surface of silvered. The obverse of this product with bulging letters was written the name of the state - the USSR, on which the coat of arms of the country, the hammer and sickle, was superimposed. Under this image was a laurel branch, which was surrounded by a semicircle inscription "Veteran of Labor". The reverse of the product had absolutely no relief. It was matte with the inscription on it: "For a long and conscientious work". It is believed that the medal had some varieties cast in different years, its variants could differ from each other. All regalia were inscribed, so the certificate for the medal "Veteran of Labor" was issued without fail. Unfortunately, the deplorable situation of the population in the 1990s, especially pensioners, led to widespread trade in these regalia, which in our time have become not a deserved distinction, but merely a collection subject.