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"Особый" (Osobiy / "Special") tooth powder
Object/Artifact
A round cardboard box of Soviet tooth powder. The lid is printed with a dark central cartouche reading "ОСОБЫЙ" (Osobiy, "Special") in cream lettering, framed by the words "ЗУБНОЙ ПОРОШОК" (zubnoy poroshok, "tooth powder") curving across the top, with a small Svoboda factory roundel/logo and Moscow attribution below. The ground is a worn yellow/cream. The lid is aged, soiled, and split across the lower center; the box holds a loose dentifrice powder. Cyrillic text only.
2025.1.60
Tooth powder was used before the 1960s, when toothpaste became popular in the USSR. "Special" tooth powder was the most popular brand.
The Cabrera Arús family collection
2025.1
VSHV Svoboda Factory
Moscow
U.S.S.R.
Eastern Europe
Europe
Special
Lid
ЗУБНОЙ ПОРОШОК ОСОБЬІЙ СВОБОДА
Russian
Tooth Powder Special SVOBODA
Lid (Russian/Cyrillic): "ОСОБЫЙ" ("Special," the brand/edition); "ЗУБНОЙ ПОРОШОК" ("tooth powder"); Svoboda factory roundel with "СВОБОДА" and "МОСКВА" (Moscow). Languages: Russian (Cyrillic).
3.7 cm
8 cm
box (lid, bottom)
MATERIALS: Printed cardboard box (lid shown) with lithographed label; contains tooth powder (a dry dentifrice, typically chalk-based). TECHNIQUES: Lithographically printed cardboard lid; the powder a milled dentifrice. The box is the round push-fit type standard for Soviet tooth powder.
Poor
Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez
owner
VSHV Svoboda Factory
producer
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
storage
Moscow
U.S.S.R.
Eastern Europe
Europe
production
This is a box of Soviet tooth powder (зубной порошок) of the "Особый" ("Special") line, made by the Svoboda factory in Moscow — one of the principal Soviet producers of soap, cosmetics, and toiletries. Tooth powder, a dry chalk-based dentifrice applied with a wet brush, was the dominant form of toothpaste in the USSR before tube toothpaste became widespread. The powder doubled as a metal polish, used to clean silver — a common secondary household use for chalk-based tooth powders.