My grandfather visited Moscow in 1969 for a meeting of the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) TC (Technical Committee) 45, Nuclear Instrumentation. They met yearly in North America or Europe, and my grandfather took the opportunity to travel for up to a month out of the year, and take lots of photographs. For this trip, the Russian government must have been trying to prove something in 1969 as it invited nuclear experts from around the world to venture behind the iron curtain.
This first post includes context and photos of Red Square.
Context
While my grandfather’s photos of, say, Paris are simply candid tourist views of the city, the rarity of candid photographs of Moscow 1969 makes this set special. Somehow he was allowed to photograph in places like the subway that were apparently completely off limits, even to Moscovites.
Perhaps my favorite group of photos is on page 4 of this article: replicas of spacecraft in the Cosmos Pavilion. The idea of touring a Russian space museum in the middle of the space race is mind blowing to me. This was just a month before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon for the first time. The museum photos also let me learn about the Russian space program as I searched to determine what was in each unlabeled photograph.
During his stay the group took a day trip to Dubna, some of which is included in part 2. Note that there are multiple pages to each part, the links are at the bottom.
I scanned his photos in 2011 and shared them to Flickr. They have been received very well, my most popular on that site. A host of new friends across the world helped identify the locations that I couldn’t figure out myself. I learned so much about Moscow while researching these. I hope some day the war ends, and our nations are able to be friends again. I would like to visit and rephotograph them — take the same photos now.
In 2025 I moved all of these photographs from Flickr to my site, and did my best to capture comments, location, and other details that were added there. I also added images that were not here previously.
In 2011 and 2012, I hunted for locations and dropped them in exact spots on the Flickr map. I have extracted those coordinates via Flickr’s Organizer which thankfully hasn’t been changed in more than a decade.
The customs receipt for the equipment that my grandfather carried to Moscow. This is for May 30, leaving Washington Dulles Airport in Virginia. He flew through London and arrived in Moscow on June 2nd for a two week conference.
My grandfather’s official US government papers sanctioning him to travel to Moscow from June 2 to June 14, 1969. The trip was for a meeting of the IEC TC 45 (Technical Committee 45, Nuclear Test Equipment).
IEC members board an IL-62 for their flight to Moscow on June 2nd, 1969. The British European Airways logo on the stairs says that this is London. The airplane — the 20th produced of this new intercontinental Soviet passenger plane — had been in service less than a year.
Photo by my grandfather David C. Cook. Scanned from an unlabeled Kodachrome slide, dates tamped June 1969. Slide 5 W1, n an unlabeled slide cartridge.
User comments:
– The IL-62 was a great plane!
– yes i love those stove pipe engine they made lots of power and noise. it pushed you back into the seat.
This is where they stayed in London for their layover before flying to Moscow. This hotel surprisingly still exists (2011). It’s quite a bit bigger than it looks. It had a fancier name for a bit, “Le Meridien Excelsior Heathrow Hotel”, but now it’s simply “Park Inn Heathrow”.
Red Square
Red Square from Rossiya Hotel. St. Basil’s on left. GUM Department Store on right behind first building.
User comments:
– nice to see how it was then … Kodachcrome rocks..
St. Basil’s Cathedral
Beyond the four businessmen, St. Basil’s Cathedral is under renovations. Behind the woman in red is the GUM department store.
User comment: “Rossiya (Hotel) markings prominent on the left hand side…”
Lenin’s Tomb
User comment: “Ленин жив!!! Ленин всегда с нами!”
A long line is formed to enter Lenin’s Tomb (Mausoleum) at left. The Fun Palace is on the other side of the wall, St. Nicholas (Nikolskaya) Tower in the center, Arsenal building behind, Corner Arsenal (Uglovaya Arsenalnaya) Tower to its right, State Historical Museum on the far right.
User comment: “Ha, ha, I remember that long line. I visited USSR in 1984 and the rule was that all tourists guided by an official Russian guide would visit Lenin’s Tomb.”
In Alexander Gardens. Thanks to Flickr user JB in Pacifica for helping me out with the location.
User comment:s
– “I believe this is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, located in the Alexander Gardens outside the Kremlin.”
– “Been there, done that. The end of the line for visiting Lenin’s Tomb was in the Alexander Gardens.”
Thanks once again to Flickr user mixtara for pinpointing the location of this photo.
I unfortunately did not write down the slide number. But it sits in the slide carousel after a photo from the Rossiya Hotel looking at Red Square, and before a photo of people waiting in line for Lenin’s Tomb.
User comment: “Aleksandrovskiy sad and line to the Lenin’s tomb”
GUM department store
User comments:
– What a treasure-trove of images! Thanks once again for posting them.
Thanks to Flickr users brewbooks and der_spielmann for confirming that this is GUM department store.
User comments:
– Rob – that is an interesting view. I am pretty certain that is GUM
– Public-phone on the corner!!! )) Now we have there BURBERRY and another modern sings…
– It is a phone for information about the store.
User comments:
– Yes, this is inside GUM. My photos from a visit in 1990 look the same.
– Кто потерялся-встреча в центре ГУМа у фонтана
Further reading
- Moscow 1969 Part 2, Pioneer Palace and Novdevichy
- Moscow 1969 Part 3, Rossiya Hotel and Hotel Moscow
- Moscow 1969 Part 4, Bolshoi Theatre and Theatre Square
- Moscow 1969 Part 5, subways and buses
- Moscow 1969 Part 6, space museum
- Moscow 1969 Part 7, VDNKh and Archangelskoe
- Moscow 1969 Part 8, Kremlin
- Moscow 1969 Part 9, Moscow River
- Moscow 1969 Part 10, Kotelnicheskaya and MGU
- Moscow 1969 Part 11, Dubna and Moscow buildings
- Moscow 1969 Part 12, Lermontov and street vendors
- Sweden’s Atomic energy, 1960s photos and pamphlets
- And, until I cancel my Flickr account, here’s a link to photos by my grandfather from other cities around the world.
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