Oneday, Twoday

Having overturned the government, good revolutionists dearly love to overturn the calendar. In 1793 French Republicans, flushed with political success, changed the names of all the months from the prosaic January, February, March to the more descriptive Pluviose (rainy) Ventose (windy), Germinal (budding), etc. They divided each month into three "weeks" of ten days each, and dated everything from the First day of the Year 1 (Sept. 22, 1792), the date of the proclamation of the first French Republic. The French Republican calendar lasted nearly 15 years, died a natural death during the reign of Napoleon as Emperor.

Last week, undeterred by the failure of the French revolutionists, Russian Communists announced a new Soviet "Eternal Calendar" to become effective at once. Drastic, the "Eternal Calendar" divides the year into 73 weeks of five days each. A week consists of four work days and one day of rest. Saturday, Sunday and all religious holidays are abolished but there are five national holidays: Jan. 9, anniversary of the massacre of Socialists in front of the Winter Palace in 1905; Jan. 21, anniversary of the death of Lenin; May 1, international Labor day; Oct. 26, anniversary of the October revolution of 1917; Nov. 7, anniversary of the flight of Kerensky. Important is the fact that these five holidays are the only days when Soviet factories and offices will close, that though Russian workmen labor on a four-day shift, Russian industry operates on a continuous seven-day schedule.

Basically antireligious, as was the French calendar of 1793, Soviet Dictator Josef Stalin counted heavily on this economic aspect of his "Eternal Calendar" to fulfill his promise to increase Russia's industrial production 35% in the next twelve months (TIME, Sept. 9).

Russian calendar-makers last week announced that the names of the days and months would not be changed for the present: Soviet weekdays will remain Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, then Monday again "until something better is thought of." Soviet editors and minor officials hastened to think of something better, suggested naming the days numerically, changing Monday, Tuesday, to Oneday, Twoday, or more romantically adopting such strictly Communist titles as Youthday, Womanday, Sovday (Soviet Day) Comday (Comintern Day).

Every fourth year (leap year) there will be an extra day--of work, called "Industrialization Day."