How did Saturday become the sixth day of the week? Calendar reforms of the USSR and their consequences. The history of the working week in Russia. Help When they made Saturday a day off

Among archival documents there are those on the pages of which the atmosphere of an entire era is revealed from the smallest details, events, facts. So, by chance, a curious document caught my eye - the reference book “Your day off: What, Where, When?”. A small, notebook-sized brochure was prepared by the Plant's Technical Information and Invention Department and was intended for those who came to work in Norilsk. By the way, in 1967, 8,900 people arrived in Bolshoi Norilsk. And the very year of publication of the pamphlet is symbolic - 1967, the anniversary year of the Soviet state. It was in 1967 that the citizens of our country got another day off - Saturday, and this "lots of free time" according to the authors of the wonderful brochure, it was necessary to somehow use it. The purpose of the publication was not just to once again remind the newly minted Norilsk residents that the city has an institute, libraries, a theater and a Palace of Culture, but to convince them that "Practically there is no hobby, favorite thing that could not be done in Norilsk." Further, the guide introduces in more detail all areas of urban life and the life of settlements - Talnakh, Kayerkan, Medvezhka.

From the reference book: “The second day off allows you to devote more time not only to rest, but also, first of all, to study.”

Young people without a secondary education were invited to schools for working youth, where classes were held according to a flexible schedule so as not to miss classes due to work shifts. In absentia high school at Sevastopolskaya, 7, it was possible to start training from any month, and even according to an individual plan of self-study. On Yuzhnaya, 7, the Norilsk evening technical school was waiting for its students.

wishing to receive higher education, including without interruption from the main work in production, the reference book invites you to the Norilsk Industrial Institute. The correspondence faculty of the institute in 1967 conducted the preparation of the first three courses for mechanics, builders, power engineers and miners, who had the right to transfer to the fourth year correspondence department other universities in the country. The presence in the polar city of a large training center greatly facilitated the study of hundreds of Norilsk part-time students of nonresident universities and technical schools. In agreement with their educational institutions they could take exams in many subjects right in Norilsk.

Those who already had a completed secondary or higher education were invited to become students of the University of Marxism-Leninism at the House of Political Education (in 1967 it was located on Leninsky Prospekt, 2) or at the public universities of the Knowledge society: international relations, legal knowledge, literature and art , health, physical education and the future warrior.

In the training center at 21 Gornaya Street, in the direction from the enterprise, young workers could receive an additional specialty or improve their skills.

The DOSAAF school was invited to get the driver's license of any class, motorcyclists, taught at the radio school, and even trained scuba divers and divers.

Norilsk women "just in case" the directory reminds you of where the sewing and sewing courses and knitting circles work in the city. The courses worked according to a flexible schedule, it was possible to come to a group starting classes at 9 o'clock in the morning.

What to do after school? The chapter "Your rest" offers a lot of activities. soviet man- this is a person who reads, therefore, technical, central city (created in 1964) and trade union libraries operate in the city, branches of which are waiting for readers at factories, as well as in large Norilsk hostels.

From the reference book: "The book - best friend, it helps to become an educated person, always keep abreast of the socio-political and cultural life of the country. The city of Norilsk is one of the leading cities in the region and in the country in terms of book stocks. Don't pass by them!"

Asking a Norilsk citizen (or Norilsk woman) “And what about your personal library?” our directory advises them to visit the large bookstores operating in the city at 7 and 29 Leninsky Prospekt, which in April 1969 will receive their names "House of Books" and "Thought". Readers had plenty to choose from: natural science, fiction, popular science, technical literature, textbooks. The second-hand bookshop worked.

From the reference book: “It is always a pleasure to read a fresh newspaper on a day off. Not only central, delivered thousands of kilometers by plane, but also our own, local. Do you know how many newspapers are published in Norilsk?”.

In 1967, one could subscribe to Zapolyarnaya Pravda, Norilsk Builder, Ogni Talnakh, Gornyak, Soviet Taimyr.

In December 1958, the television center began broadcasting and the first broadcast of the Norilsk television studio went on the air.

From the handbook: “Do you regularly watch studio shows? Here you can learn a lot of useful things for yourself, if not limited to just watching movies. The TV studio regularly broadcasts programs on various topics. Here is the cycle “On the air - “A peer”, the club “Prometheus” about the problems of youth. There are also programs about the history of Norilsk, lectures on raising children... A weekly television program will help you organize your TV time. Watch it in advance, choose the programs you are interested in, properly plan your evening, your day off.

In 1967, there were two cinemas in the city - named after V.I. Lenin and Rodina. Despite the fact that each had two halls, it was difficult to get a ticket to the cinema, because watching movies on the big screen remained the most popular type of recreation for Norilsk residents. In 1967, the profit of the Norilsk cinema network reached a figure of one million rubles at the end of the year!

Every evening at 19-30 the performances of the Norilsk Drama Theater began. On the stage - V. Lukyanov, L. Meyerson, L. Shchegolev, I. Bernadskaya ... Among the premieres of 1967 are modern plays "The Sixth of July" - Shatrova; "Bath" - Mayakovsky; "Truth" - Sheinina; "The house in which we were born" - Kohouta; “How many years, how many winters” - Panova. Tickets for performances could be delivered directly to work or home.

From the reference book: “The 69th parallel… It's not for you to explain what the climate is like here. But Norilsk can safely be called a city of athletes. Competitions of the sports and athletics of the plant, dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of October, are held in 28 sports! So if you want to be healthy, get your backpack ready. Come to the sections in the House of Physical Education. Don't forget to buy a membership to the swimming pool. In our city, they will help you become a good athlete.”

Health groups in the House of Physical Education could be attended from 7 to 9 in the morning before work. The guide invites everyone to participate in numerous sections and circles in more than ten sports.

From the reference book: “Norilsk citizen! If you haven't seen the Lama yet, take the first opportunity that presents itself."

For lovers of outdoor activities, the guide offers visits to the ski base, tourist bases in the vicinity of the city, trips to Lake Lamu. It was possible to get to a picturesque place by buying a ticket for the weekend (it cost 20 rubles) or by getting it at your enterprise.

Well, those who had creative abilities were not forgotten either.

From the handbook: “If you love to collect stamps, or if you want to learn how to write, if you love to dance and want to really learn how to do it, it's never too late to check if you have talent. It's never too late to do what you love. There are unlimited opportunities for this in Norilsk.”

In 1965, the Palace of Culture of the plant opened its doors, where creative teams National theater of musical comedy, academic choir and choir of Russian song, choreographic groups, pop orchestra. One could try oneself in such original genres as the mastery of the artistic word, pop miniature and circus art. On Oktyabrskaya Street, 7, the House of Culture of Miners was waiting for visitors.

Every spring, entrance exams were held to the evening music school, where already adults learned to play musical instruments for five years. The directory warns - the competition for admission is large.

From the handbook: “On a day off, one way or another, you will have to do household chores. In this chapter, you will find information that will help you plan your day better, spend less time preparing dinner, cleaning your apartment, shopping.”

By 1967, many Norilsk stores had received names - Shoe House, Yaroslavna, Svyatoslav, Cosmos, Haberdashery-Cosmetics, Severyanka, Fabrics, Dishes, Knitwear. They worked from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the exception of the main Talnakh department store and the Severok children's store, which closed at 9 p.m. Sunday was a public holiday.

In the 1960s, the famous Norilsk public catering system received its design. The directory contains a list and opening hours of house kitchens, cafes and restaurants, where you could not only dine during the day at canteen prices, but also have breakfast, since some of them (for example, Gornyak) opened at 7 o'clock in the morning. In 1967, "Lama", "Gornyak" received the status of restaurants of the first mark-up category, but in the directory they are still cafes.

The services of the Norilsk Gorbytkombinat occupy a good two pages. These are ateliers, tailoring, good offices, rental offices, baths and laundries. The workshops provided all kinds of services, from repairing watches to changing the lining of wallets.

The last page of the brochure “For Notes” in our wonderful reference book is empty, but I would like to think that it was still very useful to someone who began his life and destiny in a polar city.

On July 14, 1897, Sunday in Russia was declared an official day off. Sunday was declared a public holiday for the first time on March 7, 321. It was on this day that the Roman emperor Constantine I the Great proclaimed Sunday a day of rest. Markets closed that day government agencies stopped all activities.

Prior to this, the citizens of the Roman Empire celebrated on this day the "day of the Sun" - dies Solis. The tradition of celebrating has been preserved in the modern name of this day of the week in many European languages Sunday (English), Sonntag (German), søndag (Danish and Norwegian) and söndag (Swedish).

Why did the emperor order to rest on Sundays?

Emperor Constantine in 321 AD issued a special decree that ordered every Sunday to be a day off. According to legend, the emperor had a dream. On the night before the battle, which was to take place on Sunday, Constantine saw in a dream the sun, and on it - a cross and an inscription that foreshadowed the victory of the emperor. The battle really went well for the emperor's troops. Constantine the Great, returning home and remembering the vision, ordered to ban all physical labor on Sundays.

By his order, on this day of the week, markets did not work and all state institutions stopped working. But at the same time, no restrictions on agricultural labor, in which the vast majority of the population took part, were provided.

Another 50 years later, with Emperor Theodosius I(388-395), a decree was issued according to which on that day no one could demand payment of a public or personal debt. At Theodosius II In 425, an imperial decree forbade circus and theatrical entertainment on the day of the Sun in order to emphasize the special holiness of this day. And in 538, during the third Synod in the city of Orleans, it was decided to ban all work, including in countryside, on Sundays.

Was Sunday considered a day off for the Slavs?

The concept of "Sunday" appeared in Rus' after the adoption of Christianity, and at first only one day was called Sunday (the beginning of the celebration of Easter) - the Bright Resurrection of Christ on the third day after the crucifixion. Only in the 16th century did Sunday appear as a separate day of the “week”.

In all Slavic languages, except for Russian, Sunday is called a “week” (Polish - niedziela, Ukrainian - week, Belarusian - nyadzelya, Czech - neděle, etc.), that is, during the day when “they don’t do it”, they don’t work. Also, the word "week" is a tracing paper from the Greek apracos, that is, "not-doing", "non-working", idle.

In Russian, this name - "week" - has been preserved in Orthodox church terminology, for example, in the combination "Fomin's week".

What did "Sunday" mean in Old Church Slavonic?

The verb "to resurrect" in Old Church Slavonic is derived from “krѣsati”, or “resurrect”, “kresѣ” - revival, health. The word "kresalo" is also closely related, which means "they will create fire with a blow."

Is Sunday a public holiday in all countries?

In most parts of the world, the work week usually runs from Monday to Friday.

In Israel, the main day off is Saturday, the work week begins on Sunday and ends on Thursday or Friday afternoon. On Saturday, Shabbat is sacred, on this day all offices, shops are closed, public transport does not work (except for taxis).

IN Muslim countries Friday is the main day off. Muslims devote this day to visiting the mosque and praying. The working week lasts from Saturday to Wednesday (Algeria and Saudi Arabia), from Saturday to Thursday (Iran), or from Sunday to Thursday (Egypt, Syria, Iraq, United Arab Emirates).

There is no better entertainment for mankind than to play with these 365 (or whatever) days of revolution of its planet around the Sun. Then the Mayans will get tired of counting the years ahead and today's pessimists are already screaming - the end of the world! Then the Romans cannot figure out the division into months and come up with all sorts of ides when it is more convenient to soak Caesar. And with the name of the months in Greece and Rome, real outrages were happening. Somehow, June, July and August, named after persons, have survived to this day. And sooner some successful commander will appear, so sycophants are in a hurry to rename the months. There were Alexandrius, and Demetrius, and Pompey… But it seems to have settled down. They used to consider December the twelfth month, although the name is translated from Latin as "the tenth".
And don’t feed the revolutionaries with bread, let them mock the calendar. The Jacobins abolished the previous names of the months, introduced Germinal, Thermidor, etc. Well, a new era has dawned. The era lasted 12 years. The Bolsheviks also did not keep themselves waiting with calendar reforms. First, they famously switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. And after January 31, 1918, February 14 immediately came. But it was right. The world revolution is on the nose, and we have a discrepancy with the whole world. But then something more strange happened.
With the beginning of the revolutionary movement, one of the first demands of the proletariat was to shorten the working day. For the first time in Russia, an 11.5-hour day was legally established in 1897. The Bolsheviks introduced a long-awaited hourly day, a 48-hour week.
But industrialization came, the first five-year plan, intensification and reforms began. In 1929, a decree of the Council of People's Commissars was issued on the introduction of the "five-day period" from 1930. The year was divided into 72 five-day weeks, at the end of each of which there was a day off. The main focus was that the staff of each enterprise was divided into five parts. And each part of the working year began on different days of the first five days. It turned out that the enterprise or organization worked without days off at all. Under such a system, the order of the days of the week lost its meaning, and Mondays and Tuesdays disappeared altogether. Instead of them, “the first day of the five-day period”, “the second day of the five-day period”. One of the goals of the reform was anti-religious. Sundays have disappeared from Christians, Saturday from Jews, Friday from Muslims.
“When the methodological and pedagogical sector switched to a continuous week and, instead of a clean Sunday, some purple fifths became Khvorobiev’s days of rest, he disgustedly used his pension and settled far outside the city.” (I. Ilf, E. Petrov "The Golden Calf".)
But the confusion with the division of labor collectives into parts, with the distribution of holidays, with cases of absence on sick leave, turned out to be too great. If enterprises with a continuous production cycle did not already have general days off, then why was it necessary at school, in the theater or in Glavuprban? In 1931, the five-day period was replaced by the six-day period. The 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th and 30th of each month were public holidays. On the 31st they were working, in the absence of February 30th they walked on March 1st. But still lived without Sundays and Saturdays. Only six holidays per year were independent of the new order. The modern viewer does not understand what the title “the first day of the six-day period” means in the film “Volga-Volga”, but then everyone understood.
Only on June 26, 1940, the seven-day week returns again and the days return to their former names. Everything falls into place.

Pavel Kuzmenko

Ecology of knowledge: The five-day work week is the result of the industrial revolution of the 18th–19th centuries. Then there was a transition from the agrarian economy to industrial production, and there was

The five-day work week is the result of the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. Then there was a transition from the agrarian economy to industrial production, and many factories and manufactories appeared, the work of which had to be regulated. At first, their workers worked during daylight hours, 12 hours a day. However, with the advent of electricity, the volume of working hours increased; this resulted in protests and led to the formation of the first labor associations - for example, the National Labor Association in the United States, which advocated a reduction in the working day.

In an agrarian society, only Sunday was a traditional day off - on this day it was customary to go to church. The industrial world also at first adhered to the established six-day system, but then Western society began to gradually move away from it under the pressure of public protests and the authors of the first scientific research who confirmed: a ten-hour working day without a lunch break leads to exhaustion, which has a bad effect on labor results. As early as 1926, Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford began closing his factories on Saturday and Sunday. By this point, the number of working hours per week in the United States had already fallen from 80 to 50. Ford concluded that it was easier to divide this work into 5 rather than 6 days, freeing up more time for leisure - and growing consumer demand.

In Russia, the picture was different. IN late XIX century, the length of working time here was still not regulated in any way and amounted to 14-16 hours a day. Only in 1897, under the pressure of the labor movement, especially the weavers of the Morozov manufactory in Ivanovo, the working day was for the first time legally limited to 11 and a half hours from Monday to Friday and up to 10 hours on Saturday for men, as well as up to 10 hours every day for women and children. However, the law did not regulate overtime in any way, so in practice work time remained unlimited.

Changes took place only after October revolution 1917. Then a decree was issued by the Council of People's Commissars, which determined the work schedule of enterprises. It stated that working hours should not exceed 8 hours per day and 48 per week, including the time needed to care for the machines and the workroom. Nevertheless, the working week in the USSR after that moment remained six-day for another 49 years.

From 1929 to 1960, the Soviet working day went through several major changes. In 1929, it was reduced to 7 hours (and the working week - to 42 hours), but at the same time they began to switch to a new timesheet calendar - in connection with the introduction of a continuous production system. Because of this, the calendar week was cut to 5 days: four working days, 7 hours each, and the 5th is a day off. In the country, even pocket calendars began to appear, on one side of which the Gregorian week was printed, and on the other, the time card. At the same time, since 1931, the schedule has become special for people's commissariats and other institutions: here the calendar week was six days, and within its framework, the 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th and 30th days of each month, as well as 1 March were non-working.

The Gregorian calendar is back Soviet Union only in 1940. The week again became seven days: 6 working days, one (Sunday) is a day off. At the same time, working hours have again increased to 48 hours. Great Patriotic War added to this time mandatory overtime work from 1 to 3 hours a day, and vacations were canceled. Since 1945, wartime measures ceased to operate, but only by 1960 did the work week regain its former volumes: 7 hours a day, 42 hours. Only in 1966, at the XXIII Congress of the CPSU, it was decided to switch to a five-day week with an eight-hour working day and two days off: Saturday and Sunday. IN educational institutions the six-day period was preserved.

“The idea of introducing a 40-hour workweek in the world took shape around 1956 and was implemented in most European countries in the early 60s,” says Nikolay Bai, professor at the Department of Civil Law Law Institute RUDN. - Initially, this idea was proposed by the International Labor Organization, after which the leading and developing economies began to put it into practice. IN different countries, however, the amount of working time still remains different: for example, in France, the week is 36 hours. The main reason is that the degree of economic development differs from country to country. In a developed economy, it does not make sense to drive people, and there a shortened work week is possible so that people can devote more time to themselves, their health and family. By the way, in the recent past in Russia, Mikhail Prokhorov proposed introducing a 60-hour work week in Russia. In response, the government asked the question: "Do you want another revolution to take place in our country?"

What would change if the work week became three days?

Labor relations retrospective

In an agrarian society, only Sunday was a traditional day off - on this day it was customary to go to church. The industrial world also initially adhered to the established six-day system, but then Western society began to gradually move away from it under the pressure of public protests and the authors of the first scientific studies, which confirmed that a ten-hour working day without a lunch break leads to exhaustion, which has a bad effect on the results of work. As early as 1926, Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford began closing his factories on Saturday and Sunday. By this point, the number of working hours per week in the United States had already fallen from 80 to 50. Ford concluded that it was easier to divide this work into 5 rather than 6 days, freeing up more time for leisure - and growing consumer demand.

In Russia, the picture was different. At the end of the 19th century, the working hours here were still not regulated in any way and amounted to 14-16 hours a day. Only in 1897, under the pressure of the labor movement, especially the weavers of the Morozov manufactory in Ivanovo, the working day was for the first time legally limited to 11 and a half hours from Monday to Friday and up to 10 hours on Saturday for men, as well as up to 10 hours every day for women and children. However, the law did not regulate overtime in any way, so that in practice working hours remained unlimited.

Changes occurred only after the October Revolution of 1917. Then a decree was issued by the Council of People's Commissars, which determined the work schedule of enterprises. It stated that working hours should not exceed 8 hours per day and 48 per week, including the time needed to care for the machines and the workroom. Nevertheless, the working week in the USSR after that moment remained six-day for another 49 years.

The Gregorian calendar returned to the Soviet Union only in 1940. The week again became seven days: 6 working days, one (Sunday) is a day off. At the same time, working hours have again increased to 48 hours. The Great Patriotic War added to this time mandatory overtime work from 1 to 3 hours a day, and vacations were canceled. Since 1945, wartime measures ceased to operate, but only by 1960 did the work week regain its former volumes: 7 hours a day, 42 hours. Only in 1966, at the XXIII Congress of the CPSU, it was decided to switch to a five-day week with an eight-hour working day and two days off: Saturday and Sunday. In educational institutions, the six-day period has been preserved.

“The idea of introducing a 40-hour workweek in the world took shape around 1956 and was implemented in most European countries in the early 60s,” says Nikolai Bai, professor at the Department of Civil Law at the RUDN University Law Institute. - Initially, this idea was proposed by the International Labor Organization, after which the leading and developing economies began to put it into practice. In different countries, however, the amount of working time still remains different: for example, in France, the week is 36 hours. The main reason is that the degree of economic development differs from country to country. In a developed economy, it does not make sense to drive people, and there a shortened work week is possible so that people can devote more time to themselves, their health and family. By the way, in the recent past in Russia, Mikhail Prokhorov proposed introducing a 60-hour work week in Russia. In response, the government asked the question: "Do you want another revolution to take place in our country?"

Why did the emperor order to rest on Sundays?

Was Sunday considered a day off for the Slavs?

What did "Sunday" mean in Old Church Slavonic?

Is Sunday a public holiday in all countries?

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