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Objects of History

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007

1. The first question that came to my mind for the flag picture was what kind of military unit was the flag represented: infantry, armor, reserve etc. Also, there are various streamers symbolizing awards the unit won with dates. I want to know what these awards mean as it would tell a story about the unit. From the information I can garner the flag is east German due to the German writing and communist themes on the flag. I would have to research east German army units in order to find out the story behind this particular unit.

2. The first question that came to my mind in picture of the shirt and blue kerchief was what country it was from. Since the other pictures in the collection seem to be of German items I would assume its German also. I would also need to find out what the different pins and awards on the shirt signify. It seems that this uniform is some sort of communist youth organization. I know that the Komsomol in Russia wore a similar uniform with a red kerchief and I would assume that east Germany would have similar youth programs.

3. The first question I would ask of the picture of the jug would be the jug’s purpose. Is the jug functional, or is it simply some kind of award trinket that communist regimes gave out? Based on the shaking hands, 40 (probably years) and the German writing I would induce that it it some kind of award for 40 years of service to the party.

4. The first question that came to my mind in the picture with the plate is what organization the plate was from based on the symbol above the trucks. I know that communist regimes gave out commemorative plates to recognize achievements by workers. The plate in the picture appears to be from some transportation organization signified by the logo above the vehicles. The person who owned this plate must have been involved with this particular transportation ministry for 40 years, or the ministry was celebrating 40 years of service to the state.

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Objects of History Analysis

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007

The first object appears to be a German flag. It could be a military battle flag. Its all red, which indicates to me that it was used by the communists. In the center of the flag there is a hand holding a rifle with an all red flag tied to the end of it. A flag tied to the end of a rifle is a common symbol in resistance and revolutionary movements, so it is possible that it represents some form of communist propaganda. There also appears to be some form of patriotic slogan written around the center of the flag. The second object appears to either be a military or youth organization uniform. Either way, there are awards pinned to the chest of the uniform and a blue neckerchief that was probably a symbol of membership to whatever organization the owner of the uniform belonged to. One of the pins is has the year 1968 engraved on it, which indicates that some kind of important event took place that year and that this event merited a commemorative pin. The third object is a jar/jug. It is fairly plainly decorated, which suggests that the maker of the jug didn’t have the money or the desire to make this jar stand out. On the left hand side of the jug there are two hands clasped in a handshake, maybe representing brotherhood. The number 40 in the center of the jar could be commemorating the 40th anniversary of the rise of communism in Eastern Germany. The fourth object is a plate with the dates 1949 -1989 on them. It seems to also be commemorating the 40th anniversary of
communism. The fifth object is a statue of what appears to be a communist leader. The sixth and seventh objects could be secret police photos taken from the files of a man and a woman. Either one could be either a suspected foreign spy, a resistance fighter or simply an innocent citizen. Regardless, it looks like the secret police was keeping track of their various appearances.

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Objects in History

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007

The first questions I would ask are the: who, what, where, when and whys? Second I’d be restricted by the bounds of certain languages if it weren’t for the google translate option. Just type in the words and hopefully some translation will come up. What you can know is what it is physically: “is it bigger than a bread box?” and all the classic scattergory questions (I think it is that game). The third task is more specific to each object.

The Kampfgruppen-hundertschaft Flag is a literal translation to something which says, “struggle group (coalition) – 100 military/police.” The crest in the middle says “for the protection of workers in construction.” The right hand holding the carbine with a red flag at the end (and the whole red flag itself) represents a communist organization of workers military or police group comprised of 100 members or so. So this flag belonged to an organization with a bent to either oppress or protect their workers or both.

The shirt with the blue ascot or neckerchief has a lot of small pins on it with torches. On one pin the date 1968 is written. The torches and the year lead me to believe that the artifact may have belong a communist team member. Also there is a snowman with a torch. There were two Olympics that year – one in mexico and the winter in france. Snowman and winter seems to jive. Back to the communist element – the shirt is plain and simple yet hand a lot of medals, etc on the front – two things the communists enjoyed (simplicity and ample awards).

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Objects of History

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007

Every object can tell you a story. The question is, what story is the object telling you? Your task for today is to look at these objects and see what you can determine about them. The first task is to decide what questions you need to ask. The second task is to then decide what you can and can’t know about these objects. Finally, you have to decide what story you can tell with them, if any, based on what story they tell you.

Imagine, for the sake of this exercise, that all of these objects came from the same archival collection (which they did, by the way) and that this collection was in Leipzig, Germany (which it wasn’t, but just imagine that it was). You asked for materials in their collection that dealt with 1989. The archivist brought you a variety of items, including a bunch of documents, magazines, newspapers, etc., and a box that contained all of these objects. Your task is to figure out what to do with what you find in that box (pictured below).

Best of luck!