Bidspirit auction | “A Book Instead of Vodka.”

“A Book Instead of Vodka.” USSR, 1929. All-Russian Society for the Fight Against Alcoholism. Book Lottery. - Lottery Ticket No. 007258.  Frame, glass. Ticket size: 10 × 14 cm Framed size: 22 × 18 cm The present item is an authentic lottery ticket from the First All-Russian Non-Losing Book Lottery “A Book Instead of Vodka” — one of the most vivid and ideologically expressive propaganda and educational campaigns of the late NEP period and the early Soviet cultural transformation. The lottery was organized in 1929 by the State Publishing House in collaboration with the All-Russian Society for the Fight Against Alcoholism and became part of a large-scale state program aimed at creating a “new Soviet way of life.” The campaign’s circulation amounted to approximately 2 million non-losing tickets. They were distributed through bookstores, newspaper kiosks, and the consumer cooperative system. The ticket price was 30 kopecks, while prizes were awarded not in cash but in books, subscriptions to newspapers and magazines, library series, encyclopedias, textbooks, and collected works of Russian and foreign classics. Depending on the winning category, the ticket holder could receive publications valued from 25 kopecks to 20 rubles. Additional payment for more expensive editions was also permitted. The principal aim of the campaign was to promote reading and self-education as an alternative to everyday drunkenness. The ticket features slogans and visual elements reflecting the ideology of cultural modernization characteristic of the late 1920s. Its design employs constructivist techniques typical of Soviet graphic arts of the period: concise composition, expressive typography, and agitational symbolism. Of particular significance is the quotation from Vladimir Lenin printed on the ticket, emphasizing the harmful effects of alcohol as a social and political obstacle to the construction of a communist society. Such objects are of considerable historical and cultural interest as artifacts of Soviet everyday life, propaganda history, publishing culture, and mass agitation during the first Five-Year Plans. Today, researchers regard the “A Book Instead of Vodka” lottery as a unique example of the intersection between educational mission, social engineering, and the artistic language of late-1920s Soviet graphic design. The ticket is presented in a decorative frame under glass, emphasizing its collectible and museum value. The piece is of interest to collectors of Soviet propaganda graphics, publishing history, social advertising, and the material culture of the USSR during the interwar period.