The collection of the Penza Literature Museum contains a mantel clock presented by students of the Literary Institute to Fyodor Gladkov in 1946, in honor of the 45th anniversary of his literary activity. The clock is made of gilded bronze, its entire case ornamented with a rocaille vegetative and floral pattern. The pediment is decorated with a sculptural group — a woman with a boy. The dial is round and has Roman numerals to indicate the time.

Fyodor Vasilyevich Gladkov worked as rector of the Gorky Literary Institute from 1945 to 1947. As the writer himself noted, work at the institute detached him from writing for three years during which he was fully engaged in teaching. It is symbolic that Gladkov headed an institute named after Gorky: Maxim Gorky had a great influence on the professional development of Fyodor Gladkov, who always said,