Sputnik

Russia was "the bad guy" the entire time I was growing up, and nothing represented their enmity more than Sputnik. The evil-doers had undertaken a space program as an act of aggression and hurled Sputnik into the heavens like a hunk of solidified hatred.

A few years ago I had a chance to view a collection of vintage Russian Sputnik-related postcards, and I could not have been more astonished by the Russian-eye-view of the case. The spirit of Sputnik is depicted, over and over again in these illustrations, as a little boy perched atop mechanical Sputnik, his arms wide open and his face all joy. You see him soaring throughout the galaxy, getting waved at by various planets and heavenly bodies, always with the open arms and exuberant countenance. There is even one done in the style of the Russian lacquer boxes, showing fairytale figures on magic carpets and flying horses and ships that sail through the skies, with our open-armed little Hero on Sputnik leading this fantasy crew right on into reality.