Get in the mood for Dry January with this selection of Soviet posters. From the 1920s to 1980s, successive campaigns were launched to reduce alcohol consumption. They were not successful.
"Not A Drop!" -- Seven Decades Of Soviet Anti-Alcohol Posters
1
A Soviet anti-alcohol poster from 1930. The text exhorts people to "smash" alcohol, describing it as "the enemy of the cultural revolution."
2
A poster from 1929. A child changes the word "Spirit" into "Sport." In 1929 the Soviet government ordered a massive closure of beer stalls and other places selling alcohol.
3
The text on this 1929 poster text reads: "Shame on those getting paid at the black cash desk!" This desk was where people seen as having violated work discipline were paid. The poster links alcohol abuse with low productivity, a big concern during the first 5-year plan.
4
"Got drunk, cursed, broke a tree - it is shameful now to look people in the face." During another anti-alcohol drive in 1958, sales of vodka were forbidden in many places.