f your Russian just ain’t what it used to be (and whose is these days?) here’s the translation: “Where is the man?” The answer is: “He went to see The Girl with the Hatbox.”  In the illustration for this 1927 film, Semyon Semyonov has taken an oblique and whimsical approach to advertising that was often used during the Russian avant-garde period.  The poster suggests that a pipe was considered to be as indispensible an accessory as a hat, cane, or raincoat.

Another statement about the importance of a pipe appears in the 1929 film, The Communard’s Pipe.  In the poster (pictured right), designer Anatoly Belsky uses the smoke emanating from the pipe to illustrate the plot.

Based on the Ilya Ehrenburg story, the film depicts the events surrounding the 1871 Paris Commune. The hero is a boy caught up in the revolt who refuses to part with a pipe that had belonged to his father, one of the murdered Communards.

Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is dedication!