The activities of the Leningrad branch of the Pavilion of Best Samples of Consumer Goods in the late 1930s - 1960s: on the problem of the transition of Soviet industry to mass production.

The subject of interdisciplinary research in the fields of history, cultural studies, and art studies over the last decade has become the processes of the formation of the artistic industry. Leningrad enterprises played a significant role in this, shaping a new type of living environment. However, during its formation, the Pavilion of the Best Samples of Consumer Goods served as an intermediary between the enterprises and consumers. The Leningrad branch of the Pavilion represented a regional platform, engaging in expert activities, organizing exhibitions, and supplying samples for implementation in production. The article introduces for the first time materials concerning the activities of the Leningrad branch of the Pavilion of the Best Samples of Consumer Goods, utilizing materials from the Central State Archive of St. Petersburg (TsGA SPb) and analyzing the main directions of its work from the late 1930s to the early 1960s. The study of the institutional history of the artistic industry in Leningrad involved the use of a structural-functional method. Within the framework of archival research, a source study assessment of the materials—reports and documents of the Leningrad branch of the Pavilion of the Best Samples of Consumer Goods—was conducted. When analyzing the products of the artistic industry enterprises, a set of art historical methods was employed. For the first time, archival materials relating to the specific activities of the Leningrad branch of the Pavilion of the Best Samples of Consumer Goods are presented, covering three important stages in the development of Soviet artistic industry: the pre-war period, the period of transition to a unified system of factory production in the artistic industry, and the period of establishing unified principles for forming a living environment that found reflection in the products of Leningrad enterprises. The organization of expert activities of the Leningrad branch of the Pavilion regarding standard samples, selection of goods for development and implementation, and work with foreign samples is discussed for the first time. Materials from the exhibition of the Leningrad branch of the Pavilion of the Best Samples of Consumer Goods in Novgorod in July 1950 are presented for the first time as an example of the transition to new principles for the production of goods. Taken together, these materials help clarify the place and role of institutional structures in the processes of developing the artistic industry as an important tool for shaping technical aesthetics and Soviet design.

The art industry, Leningrad factories, Pavilion of Goods, Leningrad Branch, Exhibitions of consumer goods, Leningrad enamel, The Red case, Soviet design, Technical aesthetics, Leningrad