The best time in the USSR. USSR: what the Soviet people were proud of and what they weren’t told about
The patient's face becomes peaceful if he has had a successful enema.
(author's observation in a medical institution)
Nowadays, the faces of people in our cities and villages most often bear the stamp of concern, anxiety, mixed with a grimace of anger and aggression. Take a closer look, there are practically no good-natured faces, as before, say, in the eighties of the last century. Those people, as far as I can remember, were happy with their albeit dim, but simple happiness. Even if one can say so: “stagnant” happiness (from the name of that era). I remember those faces of ordinary people, even though I was wandering around like a disheveled little boy.
And now - in our days. Here is a fat guy stomping, “two inches tall from a pot,” a mere “bun.” He is breathing heavily, chasing his four-legged friend - a little dog. Both the man and the animal puff. In Soviet times, such fat men were distinguished by their natural kindness. And now the pot-bellied man “yaps” with hatred at his little dog: “Where are you getting under my feet, bitch!” A grin of anger was etched on his face. Because of the owner's scolding, the dog bears the same angry expression on his face to those around him. The faces of people and even animals, it seems to me, have changed radically these days. What gives rise to this hatred and such cruel expressions on faces right now? Why didn't this happen before? Let us present some postulates, seemingly unshakable, and other points that partly explain the reason for the change in the expression of people’s faces.
1. My home is my castle
Previously, every Soviet person knew that no matter how bad things were for him, he would always have a roof over his head. Now people see that the postulate “my home is my castle” no longer works. Any cunning combination of “black” realtors, sometimes behind your back, and you are already deprived of housing! Not without the help of concerned officials. What follows is a kick, excuse me, “in the ass,” and you are a homeless person. In Soviet times there were no homeless people. Everyone was entitled to a corner, albeit sometimes a tiny one. And when a person realizes that the state cares about him, then his face straightens out. I think the feeling of fear of losing HOME, cozy, dear, is one of the reasons for anxious, aggressive people at the beginning of the 21st century.
2. Be healthy, Soviet citizen!
In Soviet times, the state instilled in people the postulate: take care of your health! Don't you want to? Then, get an order for the entire enterprise and go to the doctors forcibly. Massive, total medical examinations were carried out among all segments of the population. The level of medical knowledge of ordinary doctors from the clinic sometimes amazed even their foreign colleagues. You could come with a complaint about your throat, but thanks to the attentive eye of the doctor and the medical examination data, they discovered some other ailments in you and immediately began to treat them. Before entering kindergarten, go for a medical examination! Before school - again for medical examination.
Before joining the army or going to work, please be sure to go through a long list of doctors and take a bunch of tests. If you don't want to, we'll force you! The postulate that the builder of a communist society must be healthy was promoted everywhere. After all, to implement Marx’s ideas, healthy individuals are needed, not rotten drug addicts. Now everything is different. Why should the builder of a capitalist society be a goner? Why should he drink buckets of beer and always have a smoke and a joint on hand? This policy is incomprehensible to me. Where did the widespread medical examinations at enterprises go?
3. Food. Water
The quality of drinking water and food products of those years was incomparable with what lies on our shelves and splashes in bottles now. Yes, then, in the eighties, almost all products were in short supply, but what people ate and drank was strictly controlled to ensure compliance with GOST standards. The assortment was limited, but if you bought sausage, it was SAUSAGE, and not a stick of unknown ingredients. High-quality, albeit simple, food is gratefully accepted by the body and processed adequately.
Therefore, the level of slagging in people’s bodies in those years was significantly lower. A cleaner metabolism means a happier face and a lighter gait. Remember the most popular song of Soviet times by Yuri Antonov with the words:
“You came out of May with a flying gait
And disappeared from view in the veil of January.”
This is exactly how Soviet girls moved. And now, with a hamburger in one hand, a can of beer in the other, a cigarette between her teeth, the girl rolls out into the street in a miniskirt and panties, where she is overcome by shortness of breath. And her face thirsts for oxygen, it wrinkles, but in no way corresponds to her flying gait.
4. A person’s feeling of himself as part of a huge powerful whole. Community way of life.
The Soviet system, the state, as a method of organizing space and human resources at that time was approaching a high level of compliance with the spirit of the people. Community, family, if you like, the feeling of belonging to the largest and most powerful (even if only in some areas) country in the world - all this resonated with peace and contentment in the attitude of the Soviet person. Socialism of the 70s and 80s, oddly enough, despite all the atheism of Marx’s teachings, came closest to the Christian worldview. Collective farms, state farms, cooperatives, design bureaus, research institutes, factories - all these were essentially communal organizations that were close to the way of life of our ancestors.
5. Financial stability of the family.
Every resident of the Soviet country in “stagnant” times knew that he would have an advance payment and a salary. He will pay so much for utility bills, so much for the cooperative fee, so much for the garage, etc. But this amount will be left for food, clothing, entertainment, a dacha, etc. People lived then, basically, poorly, but it was very decent, dignified socialist poverty. Now we see either flashy, flashy wealth, with yachts and Bentleys, or miserable, true poverty.
6. Labor.
In Soviet times, if you look at things sensibly, everyone found a use for themselves, at least some kind of work. Sometimes the simplest, even seemingly meaningless at first glance. Another thing is more important: the postulate was unshakable that every resident should be provided with work. Moreover, the state insisted on your work: if you live in the USSR, then please contribute to the country! Do you prefer to be a parasite? Then you will be attracted for such a Trutnev existence. “Work ennobles a person!” Now many are hanging around idle and anger, including on their faces, is seen more and more clearly.
7. Fear of being unemployed
We are talking about ordinary people. The nouveau riche are less concerned about lack of employment. Our real middle class is now tiny, but it is the representative of this conscious and creative layer of the population who is most vulnerable in terms of labor stability. He can, in principle, be fired politely/rudely at any time. Let's climb a little higher: today it is quite easy for an entrepreneur to lose a business that has been built with such difficulty. It is enough for a more aggressive and powerful competitor, who has enlisted the support of the bureaucrats, to “set his eye” on your business, and - lo and behold - it’s gone! Almost the entire country is at risk of ending up with nothing, or even worse, hanging out at a garbage container with other such poor souls. Does it add a taste of joy to life? Not at all! This makes people's faces and feelings turn sour.
8. Literacy
Now a generation has grown up, many of whose representatives really do not know how to read and write. Especially if the guys come from the outback. And this illiterate army also rushed to the big cities in search of a better life. What's going on with education? You may be a “dunk-dunduk”, but if you regularly pay for studying at a university, no one will expel you! “Triplets” are still guaranteed for you.
Because if you are driven out of the “building of science,” then by inertia, your parents’ money for studying will disappear from the institute’s cash register. The building of science and knowledge will have nothing to exist on! But if you are a “best student”, a smart guy, but you haven’t found the money for training, then get a kick and get out of the admissions office. Preferably to the West. Because your smart brain convolutions do not pay salaries to teachers.
Price list: want to become a bachelor? Please! Thirty thousand USD Let the knowledge you have with your “gulkin’s beak”, it doesn’t matter. Is Bachelor not glamorous? But it sure looks like a grocery sale in a general store. Doesn't sound. But the MASTER... After all, it resonates: MASTER! MASTER of white and black magic, for example. Or - MASTER of Economics. Excuse me, but masters these days cost fifty thousand dollars.
School is not held in high esteem now. She is skipped en masse. And how many children don’t know, and don’t even want to know, what kind of thing school is! If you go there now, it’s just to hang out. Light a joint. Compare with the TV series “School” and decide once again that school “sucks” and only cripples the child’s psyche.
Or storm into a classroom to beat up an elderly teacher, as happened near Irkutsk. Or film the bullying of weaker students and post the video on the Internet. Who needs knowledge for such things? Here you should be able to press the “record” button and put out the “bulls” of thin cigarettes on a weak one. Accordingly, we also have faces in the style of “I’ll tear it!”
A special point is libraries. In distant Soviet times, almost every secluded corner, almost in tiny villages, had its own, albeit miniature, library. The library is the starting point of culture in rural areas and small towns! Now entire villages are disappearing (there are no people), let alone libraries. This is where the cultural face of an ordinary villager disappears.
9. Creativity
When a person creates, his face changes. If many people in a territorial and ethnic community create, the face of the nation is transformed. In Soviet times, scientists, doctors, historians and other creative people made such discoveries that amazed the whole world. A phenomenal number of ordinary Soviet citizens were engaged in creative search. There was even a joke like this: “There is no one to work in the country!” Everyone comes up with something. They invent, compose, rhyme, dance, embroider, act, weave beads. That's good! That’s why there were incomparably more joyful, creative, bright faces on the streets in those years than there are now.
Look: previously such a super popular magazine was published - “Technology for Youth”, where our Soviet “Kulibins” shared ideas, experiences, and drawings. They showed how something could be improved. How to resolder a domestic receiver so that it picks up frequencies no worse, or even better, than the Japanese one. How to assemble this or that useful, and sometimes not very useful, but remarkable in its range of functions mechanism or unit. How to create an outlandish sculpture from a broken stool and much, much more. I repeat, an incredible number of people in the USSR came up with something.
And the cunning and far-sighted Japanese were already in full swing buying copies of the magazine “Techniques of Youth” and similar publications on the territory of the USSR. After which our inventions, published for all-Union information, surfaced in the form of mechanisms, units, devices, etc. embodied in reality. in the Land of the Rising Sun. This is how our inventors were and still are valued!
So, people in Soviet times gravitated toward creativity. Now creativity has changed: everyone wants to make money. What's better? It's not the same for everybody. And yet the thought from the cycle “How to make money?” leaves its heavy imprint on the faces of our contemporaries from among ordinary passers-by. But not only them. Businessmen. Bankers Politicians. Almost everyone.
10. Entertainment
When someone entertains you, and if you are not an insensitive "dork", then your face sparkles with smiles. Leisure and rest really influence facial expressions. It is only at first glance that it seems that in the Soviet Union there was less entertainment than now. Remember the honorary title of the most reading nation. People stood in lines for hours to buy tickets to the theatre, exhibition, or stadium. The number of museums was off the charts.
But the most important feature is that all cultural events were accessible and the audience was delighted by real artists, and not by fake performers or would-be comedians. Nowadays, the faces of modern young people are often not at all overshadowed by the mark of intelligence because they do not go to cultural institutions. But to the nightclub - please! But they don’t serve diet food and drinks there, and they don’t serve aspirin for the sick. They recently showed how the anti-drug trafficking service carried out a raid at night in one of the clubs in Moscow. Syringes on the floor, torn wrappers from “wheels” (pills used in psychiatry), ecstasy, etc.
A THIRD of young people have been found to be drug intoxicated. The expression on their faces is absent. Shifting pupils. Both boys and girls have a hard time understanding what they are being asked about. And so - every THIRD! This is not dancing in a village club under Soviet rule. Then try and appear like this. They will immediately send you to the police station. Then - for treatment. What kind of inspired people are there if every third person in a particular club is inadequate!
In conclusion, I will assume that people in recent years have thrown off the mask of Soviet-era hypocrisy and shown their true colors. That is, freedom not only freed hands and tongues (perestroika, glasnost), but also showed the world the true face of the average person. Is it so? Unfortunately, there is no clear answer here. But the fact that there were hundreds, thousands of times more happy faces in the early eighties of the last century is a fact. Moreover, many of today’s embittered faces sparkled with joy and quiet happiness three decades ago. Yes, times were different. Yes, these people were young then. But why do young people now have completely different expressions on their faces? The above ten points, I hope, shed some light on this mystery.
Over the seven decades of its existence, the USSR experienced a lot of hard times, but there were times in the history of the Soviet Union that the citizens of the USSR remembered as happy.
Brezhnev stagnation
Despite the negative name of the era, people remember this time with kind nostalgia. The dawn of stagnation came in the 1970s. It was a time of stability - there were no serious shocks. The stagnation coincided with the improvement of relations between the USA and the USSR - the threat of nuclear war faded into the background. This period is also associated with the establishment of relative economic prosperity, which affected the well-being of Soviet citizens. In 1980, the USSR came out on top in Europe and second in the world in terms of industrial and agricultural production. In addition, the Soviet Union became the only self-sufficient country in the world that could develop solely thanks to its own natural resources.
It was at the end of the 1960s - the beginning of the 1980s that the peak of the Soviet Union's achievements in science, space, education, culture and sports occurred. But the main thing was that for the first time in the history of the USSR, people felt that the state was taking care of them.
The apogee of the era was the Moscow Olympic Games, which took place in 1980, and its symbol (and bad omen) was the Olympic Bear flying away in balloons at the closing ceremony of the Olympics.
Thaw
The forerunner of this era was the death of Stalin in March 1953. The USSR government closed several fabricated cases and thereby stopped a new wave of repression. However, the true beginning of the “thaw” can be considered the speech of the First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev at the 20th Congress of the CPSU, in which he debunked the cult of Stalin. After this, the country breathed more freely, and a period of relative democracy began, in which citizens were not afraid to go to prison for telling a political joke. This period saw a rise in Soviet culture, from which ideological shackles were removed. It was during the “Khrushchev Thaw” that the talents of poets Robert Rozhdestvensky, Andrei Voznesensky, Bella Akhmadulina, writers Viktor Astafiev and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, theater directors Oleg Efremov and Galina Volchek, film directors Eldar Ryazanov, Marlen Khutsiev, Leonid Gaidai were revealed.
Publicity
Nowadays it is customary to criticize Mikhail Gorbachev, but the period 1989 to 1991 can be called a standard in terms of democracy. Probably, no country, even the most liberal, had such a level of freedom of speech as the Soviet Union in its last years of existence - the leaders of the USSR were criticized both from high stands and at rallies of millions. During the era of glasnost, the Soviet person was literally bombarded with such a volume of revelations about the history of the country in which he lives, which in a matter of months devalued the cult of the October Revolution, Lenin, the Communist Party, Brezhnev and other leaders of the USSR. People felt that turning times were coming and looked at the future with enthusiasm. Alas, times have come even more difficult.
On the eve of Stalin's terror
“Life has become better, comrades. Life has become more fun. And when life is fun, work goes smoothly...” These words were spoken by Joseph Stalin in 1935 at the First All-Union Meeting of Workers and Workers - Stakhanovites. Later, Stalin was accused of cynicism, but there was some truth in the statement of the leader, whose cult was then just beginning to take shape. After the industrialization carried out in the USSR by the mid-1930s, the standard of living of citizens improved noticeably: wages increased, the food rationing system was abolished, and the range of goods in stores noticeably increased. The cheerful mood was supported by Soviet cinema: for example, the comedy “Jolly Fellows” with Leonid Utesov was filmed in the best traditions of Hollywood. However, the “fun life” ended in 1937, with the beginning of mass repressions.
Wave of enthusiasm after the Civil War
After the end of the Civil War and the restoration of the country, Soviet Russia was swept by a wave of enthusiasm. The Bolsheviks declared that they were open to all advanced ideas: from psychoanalysis to industrial design. It was during this period that the dawn of the Soviet avant-garde in art, architecture and theater occurred. Rumors reached Europe and America that the Bolsheviks were not so bloodthirsty, and most importantly, very advanced. Emigrants began to return to the country, as well as creative people and scientists from all over the world to realize their ideas. For them, the USSR became a real creative incubator, an experimental laboratory.
True, not every idea was supported by the Bolsheviks: for example, in Soviet Russia representatives of the most radical trends in psychoanalysis found support, and at the same time the entire world of Russian philosophy was forcibly expelled from the country. The most unlucky thing at this time was the Orthodox Church, which was subjected to severe persecution and repression. True, the bulk of USSR citizens supported this campaign against religion. “Everything old had to die to open up the dear new.”
"Internal emigration" in the late 1960s
In 1964, Nikita Khrushchev was removed from the post of First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee thanks to an organized conspiracy of his “party comrades.” With his removal, the “thaw” ended. Many were waiting for the restoration of Stalinism, but it never happened. Although it was now impossible to talk about Stalin’s mass repressions publicly. During this period, when all social informal life froze, a new movement arose, which over time embraced millions of people - the “hiker movement.” Instead of relaxing at the Black Sea resorts, Soviet intellectuals packed their backpacks and went on long hikes - to conquer mountain peaks, go down into caves, and explore unknown places in the taiga. It was probably the most romantic time in the history of the USSR. Geologist has become a “cult” profession, and mountaineering has become a “cult” sport. In just a few years, the USSR has become the largest number of people with a rank in sports tourism. In large cities there was practically no family that did not have a tent, kayak and camping pot. Thus, the Soviet intelligentsia found, in “singing with a guitar around a fire in the wilderness,” its ecological niche, where there was no pressure from the countless and long-lost meaning of communist slogans hung on almost all buildings of the Soviet Union.
The period of existence of the Soviet Union was marked by epic failures in the economy, hostility with the West, and unprecedented persecution of religion and the church. But there were also absolutely fantastic, unimaginable undertakings at that time. Alexey Nasedkin suggests remembering which ones exactly!
From the editors of LJ MEDIA
There are no ideal eras, and there have never been any in the history of our country. Certainly - during the existence of the Soviet Union. However, one of the brightest pages of the 20th century has been most severely ostracized in recent decades. Undoubtedly, this time was marked by epic failures in the economy, and enmity with the West, and unprecedented persecution of religion and the church, and the suppression of the initially declared freedoms, and other voluntarism-subjectivism. But there were also absolutely fantastic, unimaginable undertakings at that time. Shall we remember?
1. With the light hand of Ehrenburg, it was decided to designate the period from 1953 to 1968 as a thaw. Why 1968, and not 1964, when Khrushchev was sent into retirement? Most historians agree that, to one degree or another, echoes of the thaw accompanied the first years of Brezhnev's rule, but they finally froze after the suppression of the Prague Spring. Well, what do ordinary citizens remember most about the Khrushchev years? First of all, unprecedented mass housing construction. 
2. Today we have a mockingly condescending attitude toward unsightly five-story Khrushchev-era buildings. And half a century ago, people were simply happy to move from barracks and communal apartments to, albeit tiny and uncomfortable, but separate housing. Most of the houses were designed for 20 years, with the further goal (with the planned onset of communism) of relocating people into good, spacious and high-quality apartments. 
3. During the Khrushchev Thaw, the spirit of lightness and freedom literally pierced the lives of Soviet people who were unaccustomed to such things. This applied to literally everything - even interior design and furniture. Instead of the previous Stalinist heavy curtains and massive oak cabinets, bright, airy, almost toy-like minimalism settled in the homes of citizens. 
4. It seemed as if the sun, bursting through the open window frames, flooded the rooms and instilled in people a carefree mood, filled with a feeling of imminent happy changes. 
5. In those years, a passion for bright ceramics and other newfangled gadgets became fashionable. 
6. New literature poured in en masse, starting with the deafening “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” and ending with current thick magazines like “New World”. 
7. Monumental Stalinist socialist realism gave way to a riot of colors, which was not understandable to everyone at that time. 
8. Having had a breath of freedom, artists and sculptors went to great lengths. 
9. 
10. Of course, such revelry could not please Nikita Sergeevich, who seemed to regret what he had done. “I gave birth to you, I will kill you,” he seemed to say to the unbridled creative personalities. And he also called them homosexuals. 
11. But it was at the instigation of Khrushchev that the mustachioed killer was first exposed in 1956, and a year later an unprecedented event was organized in Moscow - the Festival of Youth and Students. A stream of foreigners poured into the capital, and the study of foreign languages became fashionable en masse. The mighty iron curtain rose with a creak. 
12. The Khrushchev Thaw was marked by an unprecedented interest of people in science and technology. Popularization of science, scientific and technological revolution - this is all that we so lack today, in the 21st century. 
13. The main characters then, of course, were the astronauts. 
14. Literally everything was dedicated to space themes - from the design of vacuum cleaners to ordinary candies. 
15. And here is one of the “computers” of those years. 
16. Rear view. 
17. At the end of the 50s, the rapid development of light industry began. Ordinary consumer goods, which had long been in use in the USA and Europe, finally became more or less available to citizens of the USSR. 
18. Unfortunately, all this affected only urban residents, the prototype of the modern middle class that appeared at that time. The village lived in deep poverty and continued to live. 
19. Mass production of goods naturally gave rise to what is today called industrial design. The everyday necessities around us have ceased to be scary and utilitarian and have become “user friendly”. 
20. Here are the first transistor radios. 
21. And here is one of the first music centers. Yes, yes, the stream of music, breaking through from under the Iron Curtain, also overwhelmed citizens who were accustomed only to waltzes, symphonies and folk songs. Jazz, twist, rock and roll - all this has now become available to domestic music lovers. And it was wonderful. 
22. Unfortunately, stereo sound was a novelty at that time. But the main thing is the mood! 
23. Just imagine, even a car, albeit small and unsightly, has ceased to be an absolute luxury. 
24. Fashion of the early 60s. 
25. Time of revival, time of inspiration, time of creation, time of unfulfilled hopes and aspirations. 
26. The eccentric and contradictory Khrushchev managed, among other things, to achieve one seemingly imperceptible achievement. After his resignation in 1964, he was not shot, imprisoned, or even expelled from the party, which would have inevitably happened under Stalin. He managed to humanize the bloodthirsty system. This is important to understand and remember. 
You can touch the fragments of that time at the exhibition, which is called “The Moscow Thaw” and is taking place these days at the Museum of Moscow in the former Provision Warehouses.
Here are two more opinions about life in the former USSR.
So, the opinion of blogger Mr Wednesday:
I quite often tell others about life in the Union. I’m telling you because, especially young people, they know almost nothing and think about the Union in some kind of propaganda terms. I will immediately make a reservation that I am not a fan of communism; moreover, in those years, I was to some extent a dissident who did not like the Soviet system. However, I want to write about the USSR, about the good country that we had, influenced by what I see now) On the one hand, such memories are nostalgic and pleasant, on the other hand, I write because sometimes I hear, well It’s just nonsense, at the level that there was nothing to eat then, etc. I do not pretend to fully cover the entire Union, both now and then, there were many different places, perhaps with their own characteristics, the country was large)
I’m not sure that I’ll fit it into one article, because I have a lot of impressions and if I get inspiration, I’ll write in parts and put it on my blog. Still, I think it is important that people do not have a distorted idea of those times. I will also write about the bad things that happened in the USSR in my opinion. I am writing about the period starting from the 70s because then I was already quite conscious) I will also be glad for objective additions) My experience of those years applies to the central cities of some republics and smaller cities, it does not apply to Moscow and Leningrad, since there I got there later) Although I lived part of the Union and in St. Petersburg, I also met perestroika there, but more on that later.
Let's start with the main thing -
Food in the USSR))
The first and most important thing I want to say is that all the main types of products have always been there, and they were of good quality, unlike in modern times. This was really real milk, on which cream was formed, good butter... The advice was somewhat conscientious and not so cunning as to fake products) Now attention - it was difficult to buy or “get”, as they said then, only certain delicacies - shortage, I give you a few examples of them, evaluate for yourself the importance of these products (someone can add)
I’ll put sprats in first place)) well, who doesn’t remember how carefully they opened and often put this precious product right in a jar, which is now probably the cheapest of all fish)) Sprats were sometimes pronounced reverently and the treasured jar appeared on the festive table)) Next come - dry sausage, Bulgarian canned food, grilled sweets, bear in the north... I was told that there was no meat, I’m not a meat lover, but I don’t remember that there wasn’t any, there was always some kind of meat, maybe there weren’t any tenderloins, maybe the meat wasn’t great, maybe it was sold out by the evening, but I remember, for example, there was no soup without meat, the very concept of “soup” in general meant that someone’s remains were floating there) In canteens, and then we ate a lot in canteens, it was fashionable in its own way, there was always meat. It was believed that “without meat it’s not food,” I don’t agree with this)) but I’m writing objectively, people ate meat)) Well, they even had a fish day in public catering, it was Thursday in my opinion) But it’s clear that on Thursday, it was worth the money)
There were all kinds of seasonal vegetables. There were normal potatoes, cabbage and more. Nobody bought apples by the piece)) I think if in those days someone came up and said, “weigh me 2 apples,” they would have thought that the person was mocking or lost his mind, how can you buy 2 apples?)) Well, they took a kilogram at least. All these products were not expensive, milk, apples and others, I don’t remember the prices now, well, everything was in kopecks. Prices were fixed, no one could sell for more, state prices rarely changed, remaining the same for years. I’m not saying that there was paradise or that there weren’t problems, there were problems, but many of the problems of that time look just nice against the backdrop of modern problems) There was always food (pun intended), it was not expensive and accessible to everyone.
There was always black and white bread, buns, ice cream, simple candies... squash caviar)) Red and black caviar, there was a shortage) From bakeries, I don’t remember a shortage. There was also a shortage of chewing gum; it simply wasn’t available in the union. well, for children it was the ultimate dream and every child knew that foreigners had chewing gum) Western life for children was associated with chewing gum, for teenagers it was associated with jeans and plastas (vinyl records).
Now about clothes
There were all types of clothes in the USSR. The assortment of clothes was small, sometimes it was unsightly, but in principle it was quite good. There was no problem with shoes or anything else, the only thing was that there was a shortage of Western clothes, mainly from socialist countries, since the capital countries were quite far from us at that time. In general, the West seemed like a kind of paradise, where everyone wears jeans and listens to cool music and everyone has a treasured headset) Where everyone has a car!! (Oh wow). A lot of people listened to Western voices and secretly or openly dreamed of their clothes or going to Bulgaria or Poland... a trip to Germany and especially to the USA, this was completely unrealistic for most and those who were there perceived them as gods. America seemed like paradise, by the way, I didn’t understand why we thought so)) Ahhh, well, because there were jeans)) Cool guy, it was the one who had jeans, long hair, and a “Japanese” cassette recorder (Chinese soap box) , it really was a “value”, but most of us had an apartment, milk, etc., well, no one thought about it, since it was the norm. Well, I’ll tell you about the apartments a little later.
The biggest mistake of the Soviets, I think, was that they did not show real life in the West. If the Soviets had really shown or given a sense of what the West was, there would have been no perestroika. Perestroika began mainly because everyone was under the illusion that “over there” it was good. We must give credit to the CIA, they worked efficiently, one of the main reasons for the collapse of the USSR was not the lack of housing products and other things, but there was simply a stupid dream, faith in the USA. No matter how funny or paradoxical it is. Now, going abroad is no longer perceived as something mystical and wonderful. The West is full of difficulties and it is very controversial to say that it is good there, it is very controversial, although it is clear that someone lives, but many have returned, and some simply simply cannot return, being stuck there.
Perestroika did not begin as a revolution, in fact, no one was expecting it, not even the USA)) Perestroika did not begin that there was nothing to eat in the country, everyone lived completely normally. Perestroika began as a kind of positive cry, as the beginning of a new era, as an improvement of what is, and not as a fight against what is. We got used to stability, we didn’t like a lot of things, but this didn’t apply to everyday life, basically. A new generation grew up listening to the Voice of America, including Gorbachev)) People simply didn’t know what the real USA was, what the market was, etc., everyone thought “well, we’ll live well.” I’ll write my opinion on this later, because a whole chapter is probably needed. Now, the new generation simply doesn’t know what happened, of course, if people think that there would be nothing to eat, well then now it really is paradise) But I lived then and what is happening today in everyday life... it’s very difficult to say what is better now... I will say that life was probably better then, not now. This is objective. There are other pros and cons, I may summarize later, but overall it was better then.
As for the deficit, remembering this is very touching and cool) You see, as Raikin said then - “let there be everything, but let something be missing” - the deficit was the highlight of Soviet society)) You see, it made life more fun) the deficit was not something pressing, sealing, it was some kind of philistine dream and, in fact, if not the destruction of a lot of good things, the dream is quite harmless) In fact, in the USSR there was everything, there was the necessary furniture, clothes and so on, there was simply nothing unusual) From memories - one woman “thieves”, she went abroad to a capital country (oh a dream...) and bought a beautiful curtain for the bath with foreign currency) That’s about the level the need was in the USSR) Or in the movie “Enjoy Your Bath” when she tries on her boots, like this it was very, very typical. Just as it is very typical there to get a new apartment, this is not a New Year's fairy tale, it really happened.
Apartments in the USSR
People received free housing from the state. Of course, all this was not easy, an apartment is a serious thing, we stood in queues for years, but getting an apartment was a reality. Just as it was realistic to increase living space for a growing family - getting a larger apartment to replace the existing one. Almost anyone could get an apartment and they all did - young professionals, in many cases they were given benefits, families, young families, single mothers, directors, etc. And the builders received 250 percent of the apartments, just go to the construction site, work, get paid and in 5 years you will also have an apartment, well, at least I knew this situation and real people who received apartments this way. Also less, but they built cooperatives, single mother, 120 rubles salary, paid the cooperative not even that long and paid for about 10-15 years, 2-room, in the center, a large city of the Union.
So, in general, they didn’t save for apartments; they received apartments from the state. Utilities were quite reasonable prices. The highlight with the apartments was according to the following scheme - how quickly you can get it (but my boss, a scoundrel, got it after 2 years, and we are all standing in line). - What size will it be (we have two children, we need a three-room apartment). Then there were conversations about who had which floor, balcony, etc. (they have loggias there...) There were a lot of new buildings and housewarmings, the situation with light steam was very common in those years. A typical house - yes, a typical building, in which basically everyone lives to this day.
They didn’t save for apartments, they saved for cars...
(End of the first part)
Of course, there is a lot to talk about - school, college, army, work, factories, trade union committees, trips to pioneer camps, rest homes, treatment, dissidents, communication between different nationalities, etc., what the children were like, everything evokes very fond memories) Well, tell me what I really didn’t like about the Union) But to say that life was bad seems very difficult to me) In the end, there were also rich people there who lived richly)
And here is the opinion of another blogger, Eduard R.:
What we ate in the USSR
I also wanted to have a hand in memoir texts about the Soviet past. It was just interesting to refresh my memory. At the time of the death of the USSR, I turned 21, and, in theory, I should remember. The most interesting thing is what we ate. After all, I was born in the very outback. Mining town in the Urals, 50 thousand inhabitants. It seems like there was nowhere worse than us.
The supply of the townspeople was managed by the Labor Supply Department (OSD). It included: a vegetable warehouse, a vegetable storehouse, a beer and non-alcoholic shop and all shops.
I remember myself from the age of four. On the way from kindergarten, my mother and I went to Khlebny. They asked me what sweets we would buy today? I chose either Karakum or Red Poppy, my mother took 100 grams. There were also chocolate truffles from delicacies, chocolate medals from foil. I didn’t like the candies with white fudge. My parents alternated chocolate with hematogen, but that was okay too. I also remember the big red circles of cheese from that time (in a shell).
Closer to school (76-77 somewhere) the chocolate and cheese ran out. For a long time, ersatz “Alenka” and toffee bars reigned. But there were “petrels” and “daisies”. Since then, I have ceased to have a sweet tooth.
What about the fruit? There were always watermelons, melons, and grapes in season. And guests from the south also supplied ORS. There were no bananas. The “northerners” ate their own pears.
In general, natural farming was extremely developed. Everyone kept “gardens” and planted potatoes. Potatoes are a different story. We planted a lot, for future use. Once we planted 8 acres and the Harvest happened. I remember I almost died, we dug all day. In the fall, old The potatoes were distributed to pig breeders.
Pig farming was also widespread. Apparently, that’s why there were really no problems with meat. When my grandfather stabbed a pig, it went into full use. From the head of boiled pork, the bones for jellied meat, the liver for pies, the stomach and intestines went into delicious blood sausage. There were problems with feeding livestock. that was not the case. Numerous canteens with slops were the chiefs of livestock breeders. And also feed mills in the surrounding collective farms and gray bread for 14 kopecks per loaf.
They also kept rabbits. Also meat. And I spent my entire childhood wearing rabbit hats. A huge number of skins were lost. Rabbit fur coats weren’t fashionable or what?
My sacred duty was to deliver milk home. Every day I carried six bottles. If in the states they drink beer from refrigerators, my father and I drank milk from the refrigerator, quenching our thirst. Only my mother drank tea in the family.
Our most popular dish was fried potatoes in lard with meat and some horseradish pickles. After such a meal, milk was not recommended; we had to drink blackcurrant juice.
Another mystery of that time. We didn’t have mayonnaise. After all, what’s simpler is vinegar and egg powder. We didn’t have it. But we did have sour cream.
Of course, I stood in lines to my heart’s content. When they “threw away” the smoked sausages. They gave me one and a half kilos per person, so my mothers and grandmothers pulled me out of the fun of the streets.
By the way, you didn’t get sick. In the winter it’s -25, you’ll throw off your hare’s fur coat and checkered coat, maybe some kind of acute respiratory infection, you’ll be excused from school and continue on to hockey. No big deal, bummer.
In short, they lived somehow no worse, but differently than now. It’s also interesting about the social atmosphere, but that’s a different story.
Thanks for reading.
The deeper into the past they go from us Soviet times, the more they are covered with a thick layer of oblivion, and therefore no one tells today’s children about the happy and prosperous time in which their fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers grew up.
Meanwhile, exactly Soviet times and were a time of equal opportunity for us. IN Soviet times The son of a milkmaid and a tractor driver or the daughter of a steelworker and a cook could enter Moscow State University. Tuition was free, and students received a stipend. At the same time, there were no current pseudo-universities, which now serve only as an excuse from the army.
In Soviet times, the son of a milkmaid and a tractor driver or the daughter of a steelworker and a cook could enter a prestigious university.
And the children dreamed of becoming not bankers, but astronauts.
And in the army itselfSoviet timesit was prestigious to serve, and not to serve was shameful, and not a single decent girl would “walk” with a young man who had abandoned the army.
The girls are in Soviet times the vast majority were decent. Until the wedding, they did not sleep with the grooms, but “walked.” Smoking girls were rare and were strictly condemned by public opinion.
Soviet schoolchildren had access to not only school, but also extracurricular education. Both were free. Schoolchildren attended clubs, sports clubs, and studied at stations for young technicians and young naturalists. Much attention was paid to the patriotic education of the younger generation. The word “patriot” was not a dirty word - every Soviet person was obliged to be a patriot.
But, most importantly, our man did not have his current main drawback - lack of money. On the contrary, there was so much money that there were not enough goods - industry and transport did not have time to satisfy effective demand. Unlike his Western contemporaries, Soviet people did not pay a mortgage and did not spend on rent - housing was free. Soviet people paid purely symbolic taxes, including, however, a tax on childlessness, which stimulated the birth rate, and utility bills for a two-room apartment amounted to 9 rubles 61 kopecks - 1816 rubles in 2013 money.
A ride on the metro or bus cost 5 kopecks (9 rubles 50 kopecks at today’s exchange rate), and on a tram or trolleybus it cost 3 kopecks (57 kopecks in today’s money). Lunch in the student canteen cost one ruble (189 current rubles).
An American paid 56 cents (39.5 kopecks) for a loaf of bread, and a Russian paid 13 kopecks, that is, three times more. A Russian made a phone call for two kopecks, and an American for 25 cents (17.67 kopecks), that is, he paid 8,837 times more for a phone call.
IN Soviet times there was no unemployment. Moreover, those who were unemployed were imprisoned for parasitism.
IN Soviet times Huge amounts of money were invested in agriculture.
Most of the products on the shelves were domestically produced. Some were tasty and safe for health.
Every remote village had medical and obstetric stations.
And to assist in a difficult birth, the doctor could even fly in by helicopter.
Soviet pediatrics closely monitored children's health.
All children received the necessary vaccinations on time, and preventive medical examinations were carried out in schools and kindergartens.
In Soviet times, any work was held in high esteem, and a working person enjoyed no less respect than a mental worker.
In Soviet times, fertility was encouraged in every possible way, and large families enjoyed state support. They were allocated houses and multi-room apartments, and the head of the family received RAFik free of charge from the state.
Settlements remote from communications were served by small aircraft.
