I had to change gears on this morning's post when I realized that my first choice for a "quickie" involved what appears to be the signature of a notable Civil War cartographer. So that one is going to need some more research.
Instead, here's the advertisement from the back cover of the December 1974 issue of Sputnik, which was essentially the Soviet Union's version of Reader's Digest and was primarily intended for Western readers.1 The advertisement touts Aeroflot, the oldest and biggest airline in the Soviet Union/Russian Federation.
This is a bit of a simplification, but what become Aeroflot was "founded" in 1923 as Dobrolyot, which was the civil division of Lenin's Soviet aviation efforts. In 1932, Dobrolyot and all civil aviation were consolidated into Aeroflot, a state-run enterprise that is now, in the Russian Federation era, 51 percent state-owned and otherwise partially privatized. (There will be a quiz on this Monday.)
Here is the advertising text that surrounds the Soviet stewardess in her — fuschia? magenta? crimson? amaranth? ruby? — outfit:
TRANSIT THROUGH THE USSR
Transit through the USSR is the shortest and most convenient way from Europe to Japan, the countries of East and South-East Asian, and the Middle East.
AEROFLOT has direct flights to and from the capitals and other big cities in more than 60 countries.
AEROFLOT can fly you from London, Paris or Copenhagen to Tokyo with a single stop in Moscow.
Soviet air-liners IL-62, TU-154, TU-134 — the best of the Soviet civil aviation — have a world reputation for speed and comfort.2
AEROFLOT is always at your service.
Footnote
1. I'll be writing more about this issue of Sputnik in the near future.
2. According to Wikipedia, the TU-154 and T-134 can be "operated from unpaved airports."
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