The archive
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September 20, 1991 · Postcard
A picture postcard of Architect Rossi Street in wintry Leningrad/St. Petersburg, sent by Seth Baker to his parents on Sept 20, 1991. He apologizes for not yet writing a proper letter, saying the world there is too confusing to get his thoughts straight, and notes he is too lazy to change his return address since the old Soviet/Leningrad signs are still up.
October 7, 1991 · Postcard
Seth writes to his parents Don and Jan Baker from Leningrad on Oct 7, 1991. He reacts with surprise to news of their trip to New Zealand, urges them to consider visiting the Soviet Union, and rhapsodizes about the beauty of Leningrad and the Baltics, the genuine antiquity of European architecture and art, and the palaces and royal estates.
October 8, 1991 · Postcard
A handwritten postcard from Seth Baker in Leningrad/St. Petersburg to his parents Don and Jan Baker in Bloomfield, CT, telling his mother about his hobby of collecting currency from every country he visits — noting it is all Rubles since the former Soviet states still use the central money supply — plus an Estonian interwar-period coin, and describing St. Petersburg as the 'Venice of the North,' built on 44 islands linked by bridges.
October 25, 1991 · Postcard
Picture postcard of St. Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin clock tower lit at night on Red Square, Moscow. Seth writes to his parents Don & Jan Baker, identifying the landmarks in the photo and announcing this is the first in a series of three postcards describing his Moscow experience.
October 26, 1991 · Postcard
Seth writes to his grandparents Joyce & Charles Garrod in Zephyrhills, Florida from Moscow, describing a couple of days exploring the city, seeing Lenin's tomb and Red Square at night, and contrasting the snow in Russia with the warmer Florida weather.
November 1991 · Letter
Seth writes to his parents from a hotel high above Lake Baikal, recounting his friendship with a Russian boy (~age 8, whose name he renders 'Jean'/'Shena') who keeps gifting him cherished pins, a key chain from Petrodvorets, Tsarist banknotes, and hand-painted wooden spoons. He reflects on Russian gift-giving culture, the family on holiday, a taxi-driver conversation about the Hartford Whalers, and his frustrations learning Russian, before flying back to Leningrad.
November 1991 · Postcard
A picture postcard of Kaunas, Lithuania that Seth mails home to his parents, announcing his plan to visit Kaunas the last weekend of November and to stay with a multilingual Lithuanian who is about to emigrate to the United States.
November 10, 1991 · Letter
A brief handwritten note from Seth to his parents, accompanying enclosed photographs of Lake Baikal. He explains the timing of the images (the ship-and-ice photo is late November, the frozen wasteland is late December) and marvels that the country is breathtaking.
November 10, 1991 · Postcard
A picture postcard from Irkutsk showing the Trans-Siberian railroad pioneers' monument. Seth writes to his parents to thank them for making his trip possible, signing 'Lots of Love from Siberia.'
November 10, 1991 · Postcard
Seth writes to his grandparents Joyce and Charles Garrod in Zephyrhills, FL, from Irkutsk during a holiday break from school. He took an 8-hour flight to Lake Baikal, Siberia, describing the snow, the icy blue water, hazy mountains, and frigid temperatures, and says he is having a great time and finds the country fascinating.
November 10, 1991 · Postcard
A November 1991 picture postcard from Seth Baker to his sister Rachel, sent from Irkutsk in Siberia. Seth describes the cold, fur hats, and his plans to spend a few more days enjoying the scenery of Lake Baikal before returning to school, and asks how Rachel's classes at Loomis are going.
November 10, 1991 · Postcard
Seth writes to his sister Jessica from Irkutsk, Siberia, describing the extreme cold (-10 below 0 and snowing, with 2 feet of snow in November), being near one of the world's largest lakes (Lake Baikal), and joking that the New Kids on the Block and Michael Jackson are still popular in Russia.
November 17, 1991 · Postcard
Seth writes from Leningrad on Nov 17th asking his parents to mail $7.50 to the Ashford, CT postmaster for his PO Box 72 (due Dec 1st), and mentions AIFS is blocking his attempts to change his plane ticket through Finnair in New York.
November 20, 1991 · Letter
A four-page handwritten letter from Seth Baker to his parents, written 20 Nov 1991 (annotated Dec 18), describing his efforts to extend his stay in St. Petersburg after his AIFS program ends: arranging a visa through Leningrad State Tech University, a teaching job, an apartment, and his fight with AIFS over changing his Finnair flight date. He reflects on worsening food shortages, the darkness of the northern winter, homesickness, and his desire not to miss this time of historic change.
November 20, 1991 · Postcard
Seth writes from St. Petersburg to his sister Jessica on a Bilibin fairy-tale postcard, asking about high school, telling her about his escape-artist Russian dwarf hamster named Vassenka, and noting it gets dark at about 3 o'clock.
November 25, 1991 · Letter
Seth writes to his parents recounting a weekend trip from Leningrad/St. Petersburg to Kaunas, Lithuania, to visit his friend Eugene, a Soviet-trained radio engineer now working as a musician. He describes Eugene's nightclub floorshow and apartment, the warmth of known Russians versus the coldness toward strangers, severe gas and electricity shortages, the Devil Museum, the Lithuanian police (including women officers), KGB-headquarters graffiti, a 12-hour airport delay, and a harrowing night of mafia-controlled cabs and tire-slashing taxi drivers at the airport.
November 29, 1991 · Postcard
Seth writes from St. Petersburg to his sister Rachel about how dark it gets in late November (the sun sets by 3:30) and gives her language-study advice, urging her to take German rather than Spanish in college because hardly anyone in Europe speaks Spanish. He closes that he'll see her soon, in January or June.
December 1991 · Postcard
Seth writes to his sister Jessica from Leningrad, describing Russia as a strange and beautiful place, his 25-hours-a-week school schedule, hearing New Kids on the Block on the radio, and his ongoing (unsuccessful) search for a pen pal her age. Picture side shows the Bronze Horseman monument at sunset.
December 1991 · Postcard
Seth sends his sister Jessica a Leningrad postcard depicting a Lenin monument, describing the deepening polar darkness (only 3 hours of sunlight by Dec 22) and the nightly lightning explosions from high-voltage physics-experiment towers behind his building.
December 2, 1991 · Letter
A quick logistical update Seth hand-delivers via a returning friend rather than the Soviet post. He covers enrolling at Leningrad University, paying tuition, the difficult apartment search, co-teaching his first English class, errands his parents can run for him (a $8 postmaster payment in Ashford CT and a Cyrillic fonts disk for the friend carrying the letter), possible travel to Asia or Europe, and the grim, sunless St. Petersburg winter.
December 8, 1991 · Postcard
On a Soviet illustrated postcard (Leningrad scenes), Seth writes to his parents about an unsettling incident: while visiting Russian girls he'd met who had spent the summer in Bristol CT, the police phoned the apartment asking to confirm the address, then hung up. He half-jokingly revisits his old quip that the KGB was reading his mail, guesses a neighbor reported them for speaking English, reflects on how strange and different the country feels, notes the un-Christmassy quiet, and gives computer instructions about his disks and SAM software for Heather.
December 10, 1991 · Letter
A typed letter from Seth's mother Jan wishing him Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year while he is in the USSR. She reflects on past Christmases, reports that she is typing his letters into the computer and sharing them, discusses sending him his repaired camera, a money deadline at Ashford Post Office, asks him to find dolls or statues from foreign countries for her collection, warns about alcoholism and vodka, explains how American Express in Leningrad can cash personal checks, and expresses hope he finds housing and doesn't get too homesick. Twice she handwrites a Kinko's fax number (203 232-3402).
December 12, 1991 · Form
A Kinko's fax cover sheet sent by Jan Baker (Seth's mother) from Hartford, Connecticut to Seth Baker in care of Prof. Ilya Kruzhkov at Leningrad State Technical University in St. Petersburg/Leningrad, USSR. The fax was a 3-page transmission (including cover sheet). The second page is a reduced copy of the cover sheet plus a fax machine transmission report confirming the send on 12-12-91.
December 18, 1991 · Postcard
A picture postcard from Seth to his parents, sent from Leningrad/Saint Petersburg on Dec 18, 1991, triumphantly announcing he figured out how to operate his washing machine — a laborious by-hand process he describes step by step.
December 22, 1991 · Postcard
Seth writes to his grandparents (Mr. & Mrs. Charles Garrod of Zephyrhills, FL) on Dec 22, 1991, reporting nonstop snow guaranteeing a white Christmas, his move to his own apartment, and his transfer to the more prestigious St. Petersburg State University for next semester. He notes Russian Christmas is Jan 7th, that travel has gotten harder under new regulations, and signs off with love.
December 22, 1991 · Letter
Seth writes to his parents about playing the board game Monopoly with his English class in Leningrad. The game doubled as English practice; he reflects on the Soviet anti-monopoly commission, chronic product shortages and the uniformity of Soviet consumer goods.
December 23, 1991 · Postcard
Seth writes to his parents on a Leningrad picture postcard, recounting an unsettling evening: while having dinner with Russian girls he'd met (who had spent the summer in Bristol, CT), the police phoned the apartment confirming the address and then hung up, leaving everyone shaken. He half-jokingly ties it back to his earlier suspicion that the KGB was reading his mail, reflects on how strange and different the country feels, notes the un-Christmassy quiet, and gives his parents instructions about giving Heather the computer (new disks, install SAM).
December 30, 1991 · Letter
Seth writes from Saint Petersburg on the eve of 1992. His landlord teaches him the washing machine, brings a vacuum cleaner, and assembles and decorates a plastic Christmas tree while wishing him 'S Novym Godom' (Happy New Year). Seth has been invited to a dacha, a New Year's party on Main Street, and a marines' party at the consulate. On a later page he finally finds boots and buys his mother two folk dolls at the Sunday flea market.
January 1992 · Postcard
Seth writes from Saint Petersburg (still printed 'Leningrad' on the card) to his parents, asking how to grow bean sprouts after his attempt rotted, and begging them to meet him in Boston on June 30th with multiple large vegetarian pizzas loaded with cheese.
January 1, 1992 · Letter
A single page (likely the closing portion) of a handwritten letter in which Seth gives his Saint Petersburg street address (Aprilskaya Ulitsa #4, Kvartira #38) but urges his parents to keep using his old address, explaining he doesn't want to attract official or unofficial attention and that mail moves faster through the University.
January 1, 1992 · Letter
Seth writes to his grandparents on January 1st, 1992 describing how he rang in the New Year on Nevsky Prospect (Main Street) in St. Petersburg at a friend's apartment, with a traditional Russian celebration including the dish 'Herring under Rainclouds.' Despite predictions of violence amid soaring prices, the streets were full of joyful, hugging, champagne-fueled revelers. He recounts spending the week before Christmas in Tallinn, Estonia, and encloses a clipping from The Baltic Independent. He reflects on the gap between Russians' hopes for good government and the lack of individual action, and admits to a little holiday homesickness.
January 29, 1992 · Letter
On January 29, 1992, Seth writes to his parents from St. Petersburg recounting how he was attacked, knocked unconscious and kicked in the head by three men after seeing Jesus Christ Superstar with AIFS director Claire. He describes recovering at the home of his landlords Sasha and Larisa, watching American films on TV, and reassures his parents that the city is not dangerous.
January 29, 1992 · Letter
Seth writes from St. Petersburg replying to his parents' Dec 26 letter, sharing thoughts on sharing his letters, his plan to return to UConn to finish two degrees (Psychology and Soviet Studies), possible future work in Russia, and reflections on the exciting but difficult post-Soviet moment.
February 2, 1992 · Letter
Seth writes from St. Petersburg thanking his parents for a care package (boots, Clearasil, vitamins, cheese, Mace) brought over by his friend Eric, comments on a possible Northeast Magazine article, thanks people for school supplies and Rachel's stories, and weighs his options for summer jobs and whether to return home to finish school.
February 2, 1992 · Letter
Seth writes to his parents from St. Petersburg outlining his plans for the next several months: studying as an independent student at Saint Petersburg State University, possible spring travel either to visit Huan in Vietnam (or Egypt) or backpacking west across Russia to Irkutsk/Vladivostok, and staying in St. Petersburg in June for the White Nights.
February 29, 1992 · Postcard
Seth writes from Saint Petersburg (Leningrad) on a postcard of the Birzhevoy Bridge, amused by the local radio weather forecasts that come down to only two options: 'Big Snow' and 'Little Snow'. He says all is fine, he loves the snow, and the days are getting longer.
March 1992 · Letter
Seth writes to his parents from Saint Petersburg reporting that the first issue of Saint Petersburg PREMIER magazine has finally been published. He details the business challenges of producing the magazine, planned content for the second issue, partnership offers from Russian and German companies, and describes his exhausting, magazine-consumed daily life.
March 17, 1992 · Letter
Seth writes a quick reply to a letter his parents sent via the Loomis-Chaffee group. He covers the Phil Donahue show airing dubbed in Russian, the dominance of European over US relief supplies, his sister Rachel's hand injury, the warm winter, his teaching of banking, job offers from his private-businessman students, the practicalities and costs of his parents possibly visiting Russia, the resurgence of the Russian Orthodox Church, and his gratitude for shoes and toothpaste from home.
March 19, 1992 · Letter
A late-night letter Seth writes to his parents from St. Petersburg, Russia, admitting he has been depressed and confused for the past month - not from homesickness but from uncertainty about his future and an inner conflict about whether to return to the US in June. He updates them on his fruitless job hunt (he'd take anything paying $10,000/year), his finances (tuition paid from his Amex funds), a planned May cross-country trip he'll log, and asks a favour: to mail him a photo with a $2 bill for his landlord, who collects unusual American currency.
April 5, 1992 · Letter
A four-page handwritten letter dated April 5, 1992, from Seth Baker in St. Petersburg, Russia to his parents Don and Jan Baker. Seth recounts playing Monopoly with Russian bankers, attending Catholic mass for the English, frustration with the U.S. consulate, his rent doubling amid rising prices and a satellite-dish promise of American TV, a leftover-Communist anti-Yeltsin demonstration in Palace Square, getting a library card, sporadic spring weather, and a long introspective passage on solitude, the 'Russian Soul,' and self-discovery.
May 1, 1992 · Postcard
Seth writes to his grandparents (the Garrods in Zephyrhills, FL) from Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan during a trans-Siberian trip, noting the city's Korean/Chinese/Japanese influences and his route via Irkutsk toward Novosibirsk, needing to be back in St. Petersburg by the 16th.
May 14, 1992 · Letter
Seth writes a four-page letter to his parents from Russia, sending it back to the States with the departing AIFS group. He covers his new visa, full-time English teaching, several job leads (an American Business Center in Moscow, hotels, IBM/P&G/AT&T, an English-language newspaper idea), domestic life with dubbed American movies, rappelling plans, a trip to Sochi and Riga, his uncertainty about whether to come home or stay, and farewells to the departing Americans.
Ephemera
Two loose pages of Seth Baker's working notes: page 1 is a pencil-written travel itinerary covering a March departure routed Moscow (Hotel Cosmos) to Leningrad (Aeroflot flight SU-2419) to a Leningrad hotel (Hotel Pulkovskaya, or Pribaltiskaya as 2nd choice), then leaving by train to Helsinki, with a reference contact 'Mark Michelli at Consulate in Moscow' and an Intourist car note. Page 2 is a printed Hartford-Ocotal (Nicaragua) Sister City Project petition form repurposed as scratch paper, with a few handwritten lines noting the 'Presid.' (president) of the 'Russian Commercial & investment Bank' and a joking message: 'Tell him thanks for skis, but no snow!'
Letter
Seth writes his parents not with news but to share a favorite passage from Tolstoy's War & Peace about how 'obligatory and irreproachable idleness' is the chief attraction of military service. He recommends his father read War & Peace or Anna Karenina, recounts quoting the passage to a naval officer who deflected, and ends with a note that 'peace' and 'world' are the same word in Russian (mir).
Postcard
Seth writes to his grandparents from wintry St. Petersburg, describing the brutal cold, a 2:30 sunset, his triple-glazed apartment, teaching English to small classes (and the puzzle of explaining idioms and Monopoly business terms), Russians 'hiding indoors' and searching for food, plans for a Russian Orthodox Mass, and a failed search for a Methodist church in Tallinn.
Form
A printed prepaid travel voucher issued by East West Tours & Travel Consulting, Inc. (New York) instructing the guest to present it to Konnect Travel Agency. It reserves a single-occupancy room for guest BAKER J/MRS at the Hotel Okhtinskaya in St. Petersburg, check-in August 27 and check-out August 31, with travel via Czechoslovakia Airlines.
Postcard
Seth writes from Moscow to his parents Don & Jan Baker in Bloomfield, CT. He finds Moscow an interesting city that grows on him but lacking St. Petersburg's style, notes the many foreigners (especially Vietnamese), reports his flu is fading, and excitedly mentions his trip to Siberia in two weeks. Marked #3 of 3.
Postcard
Seth writes to his sister Rachel from St. Petersburg describing his visit to a Russian bathhouse (banya): alternating super-hot sauna with plunges into ice water, repeated 5-6 times, plus standing under waterfalls. He reassures her that everything is okay and hopes things are going well at home. The card front shows Moscow's Novodevichy Convent.
Postcard
A picture postcard of the S-56 submarine memorial in Vladivostok. On the back Seth writes to his parents that he is enclosing/mailing his travel notes (about 30 pages), apologizing that they dwell mostly on airports, hotels and bribes because those were the practical survival concerns of Soviet travel. He also mentions sending a book on Kazan, joking that the church would have preferred a book on Vladivostok or Irkutsk but, by 'Soviet Logic,' the least interesting town was the only one with a picture book printed about it.
Postcard
A Planeta photo postcard of the Lion's Bridge in Leningrad/Saint Petersburg, mailed by Seth to his parents (D & J Baker) in Bloomfield, CT. The brief handwritten note gives Seth's new mailing address in Saint Petersburg (written in Cyrillic) plus new telephone, fax (via Jane) and ARAPC numbers, signed 'Seth.'
Postcard
A picture postcard from Seth Baker to his parents Don and Jan Baker, showing an aerial view of Palace Square and the Winter Palace / State Hermitage in Leningrad. Seth jokingly claims the palace is his dorm, saying they occupy the east wing and retire to the library for tea, before admitting earnestly that it is a fabulous city and he is enjoying himself fully.
Postcard
A picture postcard of the Peter and Paul Fortress at sunset in Leningrad/Saint Petersburg, on which Seth tells his parents an amusing, telling observation about daily Soviet life: Soviet-made televisions and appliances have a tendency to explode or catch fire, so people always unplug everything when finished.
Postcard
A Soviet souvenir postcard depicting the Odessa Musical Comedy Theatre, mailed by Seth Baker to his parents Don and Jan Baker in Bloomfield, CT. The handwritten message gives his updated St. Petersburg / Leningrad State Tech. College mailing address (care of Nina Meleteuna) and notes that Krushkov left for France in October, leaving Nina as the new boss.
Postcard
A photo postcard of the Samarkand Bus Station (Uzbek SSR) that Seth mailed to his mother, Jan Baker. He writes that since it may be a while until he gets home he thought he'd send a few Soviet coins ('Koneeks'/kopecks, 100 to a rouble), noting that all the money carries only two dates, 1961 and 1991, and that he has sent both. He adds that the postcards depict Samarkand, one of the warmer spots in the USSR, and hopes things are going well at home.
Postcard
A picture postcard depicting the ruins of the Dormition Cathedral at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, sent by Seth Baker from Saint Petersburg to his sister Rachel Baker in Bloomfield, CT. He reports all is well, that it is cold and snowy but his new apartment is warm, and asks how she likes Loomis Chaffee and whether it is hard to keep in touch with her Bloomfield friends.
Postcard
Seth writes to his grandparents from St. Petersburg describing the bitter winter cold, the early 2:30 sunset, his triple-glazed but drafty apartment, his English-teaching classes (he plans to bring Monopoly to class), life mostly spent indoors searching for food, hopes to attend a Russian Orthodox Mass, and a failed search for a United Methodist Church in Tallinn. The card depicts St. Isaac's Cathedral.
October 7, 1991 · Postcard
Seth writes to his parents Don and Jan Baker from Leningrad on Oct 7, 1991. He reacts with surprise to news of their trip to New Zealand, urges them to consider visiting the Soviet Union, and rhapsodizes about the beauty of Leningrad and the Baltics, the genuine antiquity of European architecture and art, and the palaces and royal estates.
October 8, 1991 · Postcard
A handwritten postcard from Seth Baker in Leningrad/St. Petersburg to his parents Don and Jan Baker in Bloomfield, CT, telling his mother about his hobby of collecting currency from every country he visits — noting it is all Rubles since the former Soviet states still use the central money supply — plus an Estonian interwar-period coin, and describing St. Petersburg as the 'Venice of the North,' built on 44 islands linked by bridges.
Picture postcard of St. Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin clock tower lit at night on Red Square, Moscow. Seth writes to his parents Don & Jan Baker, identifying the landmarks in the photo and announcing this is the first in a series of three postcards describing his Moscow experience.
Seth writes to his grandparents Joyce & Charles Garrod in Zephyrhills, Florida from Moscow, describing a couple of days exploring the city, seeing Lenin's tomb and Red Square at night, and contrasting the snow in Russia with the warmer Florida weather.
November 1991 · Letter
Seth writes to his parents from a hotel high above Lake Baikal, recounting his friendship with a Russian boy (~age 8, whose name he renders 'Jean'/'Shena') who keeps gifting him cherished pins, a key chain from Petrodvorets, Tsarist banknotes, and hand-painted wooden spoons. He reflects on Russian gift-giving culture, the family on holiday, a taxi-driver conversation about the Hartford Whalers, and his frustrations learning Russian, before flying back to Leningrad.
A brief handwritten note from Seth to his parents, accompanying enclosed photographs of Lake Baikal. He explains the timing of the images (the ship-and-ice photo is late November, the frozen wasteland is late December) and marvels that the country is breathtaking.
Seth writes to his grandparents Joyce and Charles Garrod in Zephyrhills, FL, from Irkutsk during a holiday break from school. He took an 8-hour flight to Lake Baikal, Siberia, describing the snow, the icy blue water, hazy mountains, and frigid temperatures, and says he is having a great time and finds the country fascinating.
A November 1991 picture postcard from Seth Baker to his sister Rachel, sent from Irkutsk in Siberia. Seth describes the cold, fur hats, and his plans to spend a few more days enjoying the scenery of Lake Baikal before returning to school, and asks how Rachel's classes at Loomis are going.
Seth writes to his sister Jessica from Irkutsk, Siberia, describing the extreme cold (-10 below 0 and snowing, with 2 feet of snow in November), being near one of the world's largest lakes (Lake Baikal), and joking that the New Kids on the Block and Michael Jackson are still popular in Russia.
Seth writes from Leningrad on Nov 17th asking his parents to mail $7.50 to the Ashford, CT postmaster for his PO Box 72 (due Dec 1st), and mentions AIFS is blocking his attempts to change his plane ticket through Finnair in New York.
November 20, 1991 · Letter
A four-page handwritten letter from Seth Baker to his parents, written 20 Nov 1991 (annotated Dec 18), describing his efforts to extend his stay in St. Petersburg after his AIFS program ends: arranging a visa through Leningrad State Tech University, a teaching job, an apartment, and his fight with AIFS over changing his Finnair flight date. He reflects on worsening food shortages, the darkness of the northern winter, homesickness, and his desire not to miss this time of historic change.
Seth writes from St. Petersburg to his sister Jessica on a Bilibin fairy-tale postcard, asking about high school, telling her about his escape-artist Russian dwarf hamster named Vassenka, and noting it gets dark at about 3 o'clock.
November 25, 1991 · Letter
Seth writes to his parents recounting a weekend trip from Leningrad/St. Petersburg to Kaunas, Lithuania, to visit his friend Eugene, a Soviet-trained radio engineer now working as a musician. He describes Eugene's nightclub floorshow and apartment, the warmth of known Russians versus the coldness toward strangers, severe gas and electricity shortages, the Devil Museum, the Lithuanian police (including women officers), KGB-headquarters graffiti, a 12-hour airport delay, and a harrowing night of mafia-controlled cabs and tire-slashing taxi drivers at the airport.
Seth writes from St. Petersburg to his sister Rachel about how dark it gets in late November (the sun sets by 3:30) and gives her language-study advice, urging her to take German rather than Spanish in college because hardly anyone in Europe speaks Spanish. He closes that he'll see her soon, in January or June.
Seth writes to his sister Jessica from Leningrad, describing Russia as a strange and beautiful place, his 25-hours-a-week school schedule, hearing New Kids on the Block on the radio, and his ongoing (unsuccessful) search for a pen pal her age. Picture side shows the Bronze Horseman monument at sunset.
Seth sends his sister Jessica a Leningrad postcard depicting a Lenin monument, describing the deepening polar darkness (only 3 hours of sunlight by Dec 22) and the nightly lightning explosions from high-voltage physics-experiment towers behind his building.
December 2, 1991 · Letter
A quick logistical update Seth hand-delivers via a returning friend rather than the Soviet post. He covers enrolling at Leningrad University, paying tuition, the difficult apartment search, co-teaching his first English class, errands his parents can run for him (a $8 postmaster payment in Ashford CT and a Cyrillic fonts disk for the friend carrying the letter), possible travel to Asia or Europe, and the grim, sunless St. Petersburg winter.
December 8, 1991 · Postcard
On a Soviet illustrated postcard (Leningrad scenes), Seth writes to his parents about an unsettling incident: while visiting Russian girls he'd met who had spent the summer in Bristol CT, the police phoned the apartment asking to confirm the address, then hung up. He half-jokingly revisits his old quip that the KGB was reading his mail, guesses a neighbor reported them for speaking English, reflects on how strange and different the country feels, notes the un-Christmassy quiet, and gives computer instructions about his disks and SAM software for Heather.
December 10, 1991 · Letter
A typed letter from Seth's mother Jan wishing him Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year while he is in the USSR. She reflects on past Christmases, reports that she is typing his letters into the computer and sharing them, discusses sending him his repaired camera, a money deadline at Ashford Post Office, asks him to find dolls or statues from foreign countries for her collection, warns about alcoholism and vodka, explains how American Express in Leningrad can cash personal checks, and expresses hope he finds housing and doesn't get too homesick. Twice she handwrites a Kinko's fax number (203 232-3402).
December 12, 1991 · Form
A Kinko's fax cover sheet sent by Jan Baker (Seth's mother) from Hartford, Connecticut to Seth Baker in care of Prof. Ilya Kruzhkov at Leningrad State Technical University in St. Petersburg/Leningrad, USSR. The fax was a 3-page transmission (including cover sheet). The second page is a reduced copy of the cover sheet plus a fax machine transmission report confirming the send on 12-12-91.
Seth writes to his grandparents (Mr. & Mrs. Charles Garrod of Zephyrhills, FL) on Dec 22, 1991, reporting nonstop snow guaranteeing a white Christmas, his move to his own apartment, and his transfer to the more prestigious St. Petersburg State University for next semester. He notes Russian Christmas is Jan 7th, that travel has gotten harder under new regulations, and signs off with love.
December 23, 1991 · Postcard
Seth writes to his parents on a Leningrad picture postcard, recounting an unsettling evening: while having dinner with Russian girls he'd met (who had spent the summer in Bristol, CT), the police phoned the apartment confirming the address and then hung up, leaving everyone shaken. He half-jokingly ties it back to his earlier suspicion that the KGB was reading his mail, reflects on how strange and different the country feels, notes the un-Christmassy quiet, and gives his parents instructions about giving Heather the computer (new disks, install SAM).
December 30, 1991 · Letter
Seth writes from Saint Petersburg on the eve of 1992. His landlord teaches him the washing machine, brings a vacuum cleaner, and assembles and decorates a plastic Christmas tree while wishing him 'S Novym Godom' (Happy New Year). Seth has been invited to a dacha, a New Year's party on Main Street, and a marines' party at the consulate. On a later page he finally finds boots and buys his mother two folk dolls at the Sunday flea market.
Seth writes from Saint Petersburg (still printed 'Leningrad' on the card) to his parents, asking how to grow bean sprouts after his attempt rotted, and begging them to meet him in Boston on June 30th with multiple large vegetarian pizzas loaded with cheese.
A single page (likely the closing portion) of a handwritten letter in which Seth gives his Saint Petersburg street address (Aprilskaya Ulitsa #4, Kvartira #38) but urges his parents to keep using his old address, explaining he doesn't want to attract official or unofficial attention and that mail moves faster through the University.
January 1, 1992 · Letter
Seth writes to his grandparents on January 1st, 1992 describing how he rang in the New Year on Nevsky Prospect (Main Street) in St. Petersburg at a friend's apartment, with a traditional Russian celebration including the dish 'Herring under Rainclouds.' Despite predictions of violence amid soaring prices, the streets were full of joyful, hugging, champagne-fueled revelers. He recounts spending the week before Christmas in Tallinn, Estonia, and encloses a clipping from The Baltic Independent. He reflects on the gap between Russians' hopes for good government and the lack of individual action, and admits to a little holiday homesickness.
January 29, 1992 · Letter
On January 29, 1992, Seth writes to his parents from St. Petersburg recounting how he was attacked, knocked unconscious and kicked in the head by three men after seeing Jesus Christ Superstar with AIFS director Claire. He describes recovering at the home of his landlords Sasha and Larisa, watching American films on TV, and reassures his parents that the city is not dangerous.
Seth writes from St. Petersburg replying to his parents' Dec 26 letter, sharing thoughts on sharing his letters, his plan to return to UConn to finish two degrees (Psychology and Soviet Studies), possible future work in Russia, and reflections on the exciting but difficult post-Soviet moment.
February 2, 1992 · Letter
Seth writes from St. Petersburg thanking his parents for a care package (boots, Clearasil, vitamins, cheese, Mace) brought over by his friend Eric, comments on a possible Northeast Magazine article, thanks people for school supplies and Rachel's stories, and weighs his options for summer jobs and whether to return home to finish school.
Seth writes to his parents from St. Petersburg outlining his plans for the next several months: studying as an independent student at Saint Petersburg State University, possible spring travel either to visit Huan in Vietnam (or Egypt) or backpacking west across Russia to Irkutsk/Vladivostok, and staying in St. Petersburg in June for the White Nights.
Seth writes from Saint Petersburg (Leningrad) on a postcard of the Birzhevoy Bridge, amused by the local radio weather forecasts that come down to only two options: 'Big Snow' and 'Little Snow'. He says all is fine, he loves the snow, and the days are getting longer.
March 1992 · Letter
Seth writes to his parents from Saint Petersburg reporting that the first issue of Saint Petersburg PREMIER magazine has finally been published. He details the business challenges of producing the magazine, planned content for the second issue, partnership offers from Russian and German companies, and describes his exhausting, magazine-consumed daily life.
March 17, 1992 · Letter
Seth writes a quick reply to a letter his parents sent via the Loomis-Chaffee group. He covers the Phil Donahue show airing dubbed in Russian, the dominance of European over US relief supplies, his sister Rachel's hand injury, the warm winter, his teaching of banking, job offers from his private-businessman students, the practicalities and costs of his parents possibly visiting Russia, the resurgence of the Russian Orthodox Church, and his gratitude for shoes and toothpaste from home.
March 19, 1992 · Letter
A late-night letter Seth writes to his parents from St. Petersburg, Russia, admitting he has been depressed and confused for the past month - not from homesickness but from uncertainty about his future and an inner conflict about whether to return to the US in June. He updates them on his fruitless job hunt (he'd take anything paying $10,000/year), his finances (tuition paid from his Amex funds), a planned May cross-country trip he'll log, and asks a favour: to mail him a photo with a $2 bill for his landlord, who collects unusual American currency.
April 5, 1992 · Letter
A four-page handwritten letter dated April 5, 1992, from Seth Baker in St. Petersburg, Russia to his parents Don and Jan Baker. Seth recounts playing Monopoly with Russian bankers, attending Catholic mass for the English, frustration with the U.S. consulate, his rent doubling amid rising prices and a satellite-dish promise of American TV, a leftover-Communist anti-Yeltsin demonstration in Palace Square, getting a library card, sporadic spring weather, and a long introspective passage on solitude, the 'Russian Soul,' and self-discovery.
Seth writes to his grandparents (the Garrods in Zephyrhills, FL) from Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan during a trans-Siberian trip, noting the city's Korean/Chinese/Japanese influences and his route via Irkutsk toward Novosibirsk, needing to be back in St. Petersburg by the 16th.
May 14, 1992 · Letter
Seth writes a four-page letter to his parents from Russia, sending it back to the States with the departing AIFS group. He covers his new visa, full-time English teaching, several job leads (an American Business Center in Moscow, hotels, IBM/P&G/AT&T, an English-language newspaper idea), domestic life with dubbed American movies, rappelling plans, a trip to Sochi and Riga, his uncertainty about whether to come home or stay, and farewells to the departing Americans.
Ephemera
Two loose pages of Seth Baker's working notes: page 1 is a pencil-written travel itinerary covering a March departure routed Moscow (Hotel Cosmos) to Leningrad (Aeroflot flight SU-2419) to a Leningrad hotel (Hotel Pulkovskaya, or Pribaltiskaya as 2nd choice), then leaving by train to Helsinki, with a reference contact 'Mark Michelli at Consulate in Moscow' and an Intourist car note. Page 2 is a printed Hartford-Ocotal (Nicaragua) Sister City Project petition form repurposed as scratch paper, with a few handwritten lines noting the 'Presid.' (president) of the 'Russian Commercial & investment Bank' and a joking message: 'Tell him thanks for skis, but no snow!'
Letter
Seth writes his parents not with news but to share a favorite passage from Tolstoy's War & Peace about how 'obligatory and irreproachable idleness' is the chief attraction of military service. He recommends his father read War & Peace or Anna Karenina, recounts quoting the passage to a naval officer who deflected, and ends with a note that 'peace' and 'world' are the same word in Russian (mir).
Postcard
Seth writes to his grandparents from wintry St. Petersburg, describing the brutal cold, a 2:30 sunset, his triple-glazed apartment, teaching English to small classes (and the puzzle of explaining idioms and Monopoly business terms), Russians 'hiding indoors' and searching for food, plans for a Russian Orthodox Mass, and a failed search for a Methodist church in Tallinn.
Form
A printed prepaid travel voucher issued by East West Tours & Travel Consulting, Inc. (New York) instructing the guest to present it to Konnect Travel Agency. It reserves a single-occupancy room for guest BAKER J/MRS at the Hotel Okhtinskaya in St. Petersburg, check-in August 27 and check-out August 31, with travel via Czechoslovakia Airlines.
Seth writes from Moscow to his parents Don & Jan Baker in Bloomfield, CT. He finds Moscow an interesting city that grows on him but lacking St. Petersburg's style, notes the many foreigners (especially Vietnamese), reports his flu is fading, and excitedly mentions his trip to Siberia in two weeks. Marked #3 of 3.
Seth writes to his sister Rachel from St. Petersburg describing his visit to a Russian bathhouse (banya): alternating super-hot sauna with plunges into ice water, repeated 5-6 times, plus standing under waterfalls. He reassures her that everything is okay and hopes things are going well at home. The card front shows Moscow's Novodevichy Convent.
Postcard
A picture postcard of the S-56 submarine memorial in Vladivostok. On the back Seth writes to his parents that he is enclosing/mailing his travel notes (about 30 pages), apologizing that they dwell mostly on airports, hotels and bribes because those were the practical survival concerns of Soviet travel. He also mentions sending a book on Kazan, joking that the church would have preferred a book on Vladivostok or Irkutsk but, by 'Soviet Logic,' the least interesting town was the only one with a picture book printed about it.
A Planeta photo postcard of the Lion's Bridge in Leningrad/Saint Petersburg, mailed by Seth to his parents (D & J Baker) in Bloomfield, CT. The brief handwritten note gives Seth's new mailing address in Saint Petersburg (written in Cyrillic) plus new telephone, fax (via Jane) and ARAPC numbers, signed 'Seth.'
A picture postcard from Seth Baker to his parents Don and Jan Baker, showing an aerial view of Palace Square and the Winter Palace / State Hermitage in Leningrad. Seth jokingly claims the palace is his dorm, saying they occupy the east wing and retire to the library for tea, before admitting earnestly that it is a fabulous city and he is enjoying himself fully.
A picture postcard of the Peter and Paul Fortress at sunset in Leningrad/Saint Petersburg, on which Seth tells his parents an amusing, telling observation about daily Soviet life: Soviet-made televisions and appliances have a tendency to explode or catch fire, so people always unplug everything when finished.
Postcard
A Soviet souvenir postcard depicting the Odessa Musical Comedy Theatre, mailed by Seth Baker to his parents Don and Jan Baker in Bloomfield, CT. The handwritten message gives his updated St. Petersburg / Leningrad State Tech. College mailing address (care of Nina Meleteuna) and notes that Krushkov left for France in October, leaving Nina as the new boss.
Postcard
A photo postcard of the Samarkand Bus Station (Uzbek SSR) that Seth mailed to his mother, Jan Baker. He writes that since it may be a while until he gets home he thought he'd send a few Soviet coins ('Koneeks'/kopecks, 100 to a rouble), noting that all the money carries only two dates, 1961 and 1991, and that he has sent both. He adds that the postcards depict Samarkand, one of the warmer spots in the USSR, and hopes things are going well at home.
A picture postcard depicting the ruins of the Dormition Cathedral at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, sent by Seth Baker from Saint Petersburg to his sister Rachel Baker in Bloomfield, CT. He reports all is well, that it is cold and snowy but his new apartment is warm, and asks how she likes Loomis Chaffee and whether it is hard to keep in touch with her Bloomfield friends.
Postcard
Seth writes to his grandparents from St. Petersburg describing the bitter winter cold, the early 2:30 sunset, his triple-glazed but drafty apartment, his English-teaching classes (he plans to bring Monopoly to class), life mostly spent indoors searching for food, hopes to attend a Russian Orthodox Mass, and a failed search for a United Methodist Church in Tallinn. The card depicts St. Isaac's Cathedral.