The Ranch Goes to Moscow
In 1959, the U.S. held its first Exhibition in the Soviet Union. "Designed to give Russians a look at how the U.S. lives, the exhibition [was] the result of a cultural exchange agreement . . . . The Russian name of the U.S. exhibition: Ugolok Ameriki, or 'A Corner of America". (Time Magazine, March 16, 1959) All-State Properties contributed an average middle-class ranch home to the Exhibition. "A bisecting gangway permitted Soviet crowds to flow unimpeded past the home's furnished interiors, inspiring journalists to dub the suburban prefab 'Splitnik', an apt nickname, given the U.S. goal of undercutting Sputnik's global publicity coup." (Castillo, p. ix)
Debate
"Posed beside a GE washer /dryer, Kruschev and Nixon faced off. The Kitchen debate pitted Soviet socialism against American capitalism . . . ." (Castillo, p. x)
"Nixon: This house can be bought for $14,000, and most American [veterans from World War II] can buy a home in the bracket of $10,000 to $15,000. Let me give you an example that you can appreciate. Our steel workers as you know, are now on strike. But any steel worker could buy this house. They earn $3 an hour. This house costs about $100 a month to buy on a contract running 25 to 30 years.
Khrushchev: We have steel workers and peasants who can afford to spend $14,000 for a house. Your American houses are built to last only 20 years so builders could sell new houses at the end. We build firmly. We build for our children and grandchildren. Nixon: American houses last for more than 20 years, but, even so, after twenty years, many Americans want a new house or a new kitchen. Their kitchen is obsolete by that time. . . .The American system is designed to take advantage of new inventions and new techniques." (TeachingAmericanHistory.Org) |
Soviet Skepticism
"Tass scornfully advised Soviet city dwellers, who often live three and four or more to a room, that nothing so luxurious could possibly be "typical" or, for that matter, be bought for a mere $13,000. Then Tass's editors showed what they really thought of the Splitnik: 'There is no more truth in showing this as the typical home of the American worker than, say, in showing the Taj Mahal as the typical home of a Bombay textile worker or Buckingham Palace as the typical home of the English miner'. . . .Tass, as usual, was completely mixed up . . .Houses in the Splitnik's category account for 27% of all new U.S. homes." (Time Magazine, March 16, 1959)