As it was before in the USSR. The Soviet Union was a slave state. Culture in the USSR

Over the seven decades of its existence, the USSR drank a lot of hardship, 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 good nostalgia. The dawn of stagnation came in the 1970s. It was a time of stability - there were no major upheavals. The stagnation coincided with the improvement of relations between the US and the USSR - a threat 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 as well. In 1980, the USSR took first place 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 achievements of the Soviet Union in science, space, education, culture and sports fell. 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 a bad omen) is 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 government of the USSR closed several fabricated cases and thus stopped a new wave of repressions. However, the speech of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Nikita Khrushchev at the 20th Congress of the CPSU, in which he debunked the cult of Stalin, can be considered the real beginning of the “thaw”. After that, the country breathed more freely, a period of relative democracy began, in which citizens were not afraid to go to jail for telling a political anecdote. During this period, there was an upsurge in Soviet culture, from which the 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

Now it is customary to scold 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 its existence - the leaders of the USSR were criticized both from high tribunes and at millions of rallies. During the era of glasnost Soviet man literally collapsed such a volume of revelations about the history of the country in which he lives, which in a matter of months devalued the cult October revolution, Lenin, the Communist Party, Brezhnev and other leaders of the USSR. People sensed that turning times were coming and looked to the future with enthusiasm. Alas, times have come even more difficult.

On the eve of the Stalinist terror

“Life has become better, comrades. Life has become more fun. And when life is fun, the work is argued ... ". These words were uttered by Joseph Stalin in 1935 at the First All-Union Conference 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 just beginning to take shape. After the industrialization carried out in the USSR, by the mid-1930s, the standard of living of citizens improved markedly: wages increased, the rationing system for food was canceled, and the assortment of goods in stores increased markedly. Cheerful mood was supported by the Soviet cinema: for example, the comedy "Jolly Fellows" with Leonid Utyosov was filmed in the best traditions of Hollywood. However, the "fun life" ended in 1937, with the onset of mass repressions.

Wave of enthusiasm after the Civil War

After graduation civil war and restoration of the country, Soviet Russia was swept by a wave of enthusiasm. The Bolsheviks announced 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 falls. Rumors flew to 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 come to realize their ideas. For them, the USSR became a real creative incubator, an experimental laboratory.
True, not all ideas were supported by the Bolsheviks: for example, in Soviet Russia representatives of the most radical directions of psychoanalysis found support, and at the same time the whole world of Russian philosophy was forcibly expelled from the country. Most unlucky at this time Orthodox Church, on which cruel persecution and repression were unleashed. True, the bulk of the citizens of the USSR supported this campaign against religion. "Everything old had to die in order to reveal the dear new."

"Internal emigration" in the late 1960s

In 1964, Nikita Khrushchev was removed from the post of First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU thanks to an organized conspiracy of his "party comrades." With his displacement, the "thaw" also ended. Many were waiting for the restoration of Stalinism, but it never happened. Although about mass Stalinist repressions now it was impossible to speak publicly. During this period, when all social informal life froze, a new trend arose, which eventually embraced millions of people - the “movement of hikers”. Instead of relaxing in the Black Sea resorts, Soviet intellectuals packed their backpacks and went on long hikes - conquering mountain peaks, descending into caves, exploring unknown places in the taiga. It was probably the most romantic time in the history of the USSR. The 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 category in sports tourism. In large cities, there was practically no family in which there was no tent, kayak and camping kettle. So, the Soviet intelligentsia found, in “singing to the guitar by the fire in the wilderness” its ecological niche, where there was no pressure from countless communist slogans that had long lost their meaning, hung on almost all the buildings of the Soviet Union.

1. In the Soviet Union, hundreds and even thousands of people could drink sparkling water from a single glass in a vending machine. I drank soda, rinsed the glass, put it back. Everyone who lived at that time remembers that even "thinking for three" very rarely took a faceted glass from a soda machine.

2. In the USSR, we spent most of our free time on the street. These were parks, courtyards of high-rise buildings, sports grounds, rivers and lakes. There were not many ticks in the forests. The lakes were not closed due to epidemiological indications. In the villages, until the early 80s, children could run barefoot. Broken glass on the streets was a rarity, because all the bottles were surrendered.

3. We all drank from the tap. And in the biggest city, and in the most distant collective farm. The sanitary norms in the USSR were such that there was no Escherichia coli, hepatitis Bacillus or any other filth in the water supply.

4. It’s scary to think, but in the store the saleswoman served a pie or shortbread with her hands. Bread, sausage, and any other products were served with hands. Nobody thought about gloves.

5. Many children spent one or two shifts in the pioneer camp, without fail. It was considered good luck to go somewhere to the resort, the main children's camps were an hour's drive from home. But it was always fun and interesting there.

6. We rarely watched TV compared to today. Usually in the evenings or on weekends: Saturday and Sunday.

7. In the USSR, of course, there were people who hardly read books, but there were very few of them. And school, and society, and the availability of free time pushed us to read.

8. We did not have computers and smartphones, so all our games were played in the yard. Usually a crowd of boys and girls of different ages gathered, games were invented on the go. They were simple and not intricate, but the main factor in them was communication. Through games, we became aware of patterns of behavior in society. Behavior was evaluated neither by words, nor even by deeds, but by their motives. Mistakes were always forgiven, meanness and betrayal never.

9. Were we fooled Soviet propaganda? Suffered from a bloody regime? No no and one more time no. We didn’t give a damn about all this in our 12-14 years. I remember that each of us looked to the future with undisguised optimism. And those who wanted to serve in the army, and those who decided to become drivers and workers, and those who were going to enter technical schools and institutes.

We knew that there was a place for each of us under the sun.

Here are two more opinions about life in the former USSR.

So, the opinion of the blogger Mr Wednesday:
I quite often tell others about life in the Union. I am telling because, especially young people, they know almost nothing and think about the Union with some kind of propaganda blanks. 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. Nevertheless, I want to write about the USSR, about that 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 just nonsense, at the level that then there was nothing to eat, etc. I do not pretend to cover the entire Union, both now and then, there were many different places, perhaps with their own characteristics, the country was large)

I am not sure that I will fit into one article, because there are a lot of impressions and if there is inspiration, I will write in parts, put it on my blog. Still, I think it's important that people don't have a distorted view of those times. I will also write 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 relates 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 in St. Petersburg, I also met perestroika there, but more on that later.

Let's start with the main -

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, and they were of good quality, unlike modern times. It was really real milk, on which cream, good butter was formed. deficiency, I give you a few examples of them, evaluate the importance of these products for yourself (someone can add)

I’ll put sprats in the 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 cherished jar appeared on the festive table)) Then they go - dry sausage, canned Bulgarian food, roasted sweets, a bear in the north ... they told me here 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 some cutouts, maybe the meat wasn’t great, maybe it was sold out in the evening, but I remember, for example, there was no soup without meat, the very concept of “soup” as a whole meant that someone’s remains were floating there) In canteens, and then they ate a lot in canteens, it was fashionable in its own way, there was always meat. It was believed that “it’s not food without meat”, I don’t agree with this)) but I write 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, for my money it was)

There were all kinds of seasonal vegetables. There was a normal potato, cabbage and more. Nobody bought apples for pieces)) I think if in those days someone came up and said - “weigh 2 apples for me”, then they would think that the person is mocking or went crazy, how can you buy 2 apples?)) Well, they took a kilogram at least. All these products were not expensive, milk, apples and more, I don’t remember the prices now, well, everything is in a penny. 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 heaven or that there were no problems, there were problems, but many of the problems of that time look just nice against the background contemporary 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 sweets ... zucchini caviar)) Here are red and black caviar, there were shortages) I don’t remember a shortage from bakery shops. There was also a shortage of chewing gum) it simply was not in the union. well, for children it was the ultimate dream and every child knew that foreigners have chewing gum) Western life for children was associated with chewing gum, for teenagers it was associated with jeans and layers (vinyl records).

Now about clothes

In the USSR there were all kinds of clothes. The assortment of clothes would be small, it was sometimes unsightly, but in principle it was quite solid. 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 cap countries were far away 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 coveted 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 even more so to the USA, this was completely unrealistic for the majority, and those who were there perceived them as gods. America seemed like a 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 was really a “value”, but what about the fact that most of us had an apartment, milk and stuff, well, no one thought about it, because it was the norm. Well, I'll tell you about the apartments a little later.

The biggest mistake of the advice, 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 is, there would have been no perestroika. Perestroika began mainly due to the fact that everyone was under the illusion that “right there” is good. We must pay tribute 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 just a stupid dream, faith in the United States. As it is not funny or not paradoxical. Now, going abroad is no longer perceived as something mystical wonderful. The West is full of difficulties and it is very debatable to say that it is good there, it is very debatable, although it is clear that someone lives, but many have returned, and someone simply cannot come back, bogged down there.

Perestroika did not start as a revolution, in fact, no one expected it, not even the United States)) Perestroika did not start because there was nothing to eat in the country, everyone lived as usual. Perestroika began as a kind of positive cry, as the beginning of a new era, as an improvement in what is, and not as a struggle with what is. We are accustomed to stability, we did not like much, but this did not concern everyday life, basically. A new generation has grown up on the "Voices of America", including Gorbachev)) People simply did not know what the real USA is, what the market is, etc., everyone thought "we'll live well." I will write my attitude to this later, because I probably need a whole chapter. Now, the new generation simply does not 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 is very difficult to say what is better now ... I will say that life was rather better then, not now. This is objective. There are those other pluses and minuses, I can summarize later, but in general it was better then.

As for the deficit, it’s very touching and cool to remember) 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 oppressive, imprinting, it was some kind of philistine dream, and in fact, if not the destruction of a lot of good, the dream is quite harmless) In fact, everything was in the USSR, there was the necessary furniture, clothes, etc., there was simply nothing unusual) From the memories - one woman "thieves", went abroad to a cap country (oh dream ...) and bought a beautiful curtain in the bath for the currency) That's about at this level, there was a need in the USSR) Or in the movie "enough steam" when she tries on boots, like this it was very, very typical. Just like getting a new apartment is very typical there, it's not a New Year's fairy tale, it actually 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, standing in lines for years, but getting an apartment was a reality. Just as it was real to increase the living space for a growing family - getting a larger apartment to replace the existing one. In fact, almost anyone could get an apartment and everyone received them - young professionals, in many cases they were given benefits, families, young families, single mothers, directors, and so on. And builders received 250 percent of the apartment, just go to the construction site, work, get paid, and in 5 years there will also be an apartment, well, at least I knew this situation and real people who got apartments like that. It’s also smaller, but they built cooperatives, a single mother, 120 r salary, paid the cooperative even not so long and paid somewhere around 10-15 years, 2-room, in the center, a large city of the Union.

So, in general, they did not save up for apartments, they received apartments from the state. Utilities were quite reasonable prices. The highlight with the apartments was as follows - how quickly you can get it (but my boss, the swindler, received it after 2 years, and we are all standing in line). - What area will it be (we have two children, we need a three-room apartment). Then there were already conversations about who had what floor, balcony, etc. (they have balconies there ...) There were many 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 still lives.

They didn’t save up for apartments, they saved up for cars ...

(End of the first part)

Of course, there is a lot to tell about - school, institute, army, work, factories, trade union committees, vouchers to pioneer camps, rest homes, treatment, dissidents, communication of different nationalities, etc., what kind of children were, everything very much evokes bright memories) Well, to tell what I didn’t like in the Union for real) But to say that there was a bad life, it seems to me very difficult) In the end, there were also rich people who lived richly)

And here is the opinion of another blogger, Edward R.:

What did we eat in the USSR

I also wanted to have a hand in the memoir texts about the Soviet past. It just became interesting to refresh my memory. At the time of the death of the USSR, I was 21 years old, in theory, I should remember. outback. A mining town in the Urals, 50 thousand inhabitants. It seems that we were nowhere worse.

The supply of the townspeople was in charge of the Workers' Supply Department (ORS). It included: a vegetable warehouse, a vegetable store, a non-alcoholic beer 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 kind of sweets would we buy today? I chose either Karakum or Red Poppy, my mother took 100 grams. I somehow didn’t like sweets with white fudge. Parents alternated chocolate with hematogen, but nothing too. I also remember large red circles of cheese from that time. (in a shell).

Closer to school (76-77 somewhere), chocolate and cheese ran out. For a long time, ersatz "Alyonka" and iris in tiles reigned. But there were "petrels" and "daisies." Since then, I have ceased to be a sweet tooth.

What about fruit? Watermelons, melons, grapes were always in season. And ORS also supplied guests from the south. There were no bananas.

In general, subsistence farming was extremely developed. Everyone kept “gardens” and planted potatoes. Potatoes are a separate story. potatoes were distributed to pig breeders.

Pig breeding was also ubiquitous. Apparently, therefore, there were no real problems with meat. When grandfather pricked a pig, she completely went into business. it wasn’t. Numerous canteens with slops were the chefs of livestock breeders. And also feed mills in the surrounding collective farms and gray bread at 14 kopecks per loaf.

They also kept rabbits. Also meat. And I spent all my childhood in rabbit hats. A huge number of skins were gone.

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, quenched our thirst. Only my mother drank tea in the family.

The most popular dish we had was fried potatoes in bacon with meat for some kind of horseradish pickles. After such a meal, milk was not recommended, I 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. There wasn’t. But there was sour cream.

Of course, I stood in queues to my heart's content. When they "thrown out" smoked sausages. In one hand, they gave one and a half kilos, so they pulled me out of the amusements of street mothers and grandmothers.

By the way, they didn’t get sick. In winter, under -25, you’ll throw off your hare three and a checkered coat, maybe some kind of acute respiratory infection, you’ll get away from school and further into hockey. Nifiga, bummer.

In short, they lived somehow no worse, but otherwise than now. About the social atmosphere is also interesting, but that's another story.

Thank you for reading.

A holiday was approaching: the wedding anniversary of my parents. Mom was categorically against me paying for dinner in a cafe. Then a brilliant plan was born. Arrange a home party in the style of the nineties. Let me remind them of the past, because they got married in 1985, the dawn of their youth fell on Soviet years. She kept silent, surprise. She invited guests, downloaded the hits of the nineties and began to decorate the living room in a retro style.

USSR: a bygone era

You can regret the past, remember fragments with a smile. But it cannot be returned. I propose to "pull out of memory" good moments because life goes on. Today I will tell how they lived in the USSR. To support my words, I will cite weighty facts.

Life in the Soviet style:

• Parents dreamed that their children would become cultural workers in the future. Librarian, historian, teacher, cultural historian, musician - prestigious professions.
• Private Taxi prohibited. Cabbers who wanted to earn money risked paying a fine. At any moment, the car could be stopped and asked who you are carrying and what route. And to confirm the relationship, they even asked for documents. Public taxi was affordable, average cost trips - one ruble.
• Soviet ballet became famous all over the world. In the evening, we watched performances in front of a blue screen. Loving this art is a sign of education.
• Fartsovschiki made good money. Because they secretly sold scarce goods. Today the word "fartsovka" is unknown to young people.

How they lived in the USSR: luxury

The idea of ​​wealth then and now differ significantly. I would never have concluded that the family is rich, having seen a crystal chandelier and a sideboard with dishes in their apartment. And before that they were pride. If the family moved, they packed carpets and dishes (especially crystal) first. Soviet citizens, who did not suffer from a lack of money, tried not to display their wealth for showing.

A person who has an apartment, a car, a dacha, a TV set, imported household appliances and thousand rubles under the mattress. You won't surprise us with a Model 7 car or a dacha where you have to bend your back.

Childhood memories of the USSR
kotichok :
my grandmother told me a lot about the 30s, 40s and 50s
the story especially stuck in my memory, how in 1939, when Soviet power came, half the village ran to see how the Soviets drank vodka with granchaks
Grandmother said that earlier they could play a wedding with a bottle of vodka - and everyone had fun
* * *
my father built the Moscow, Kharkov and Kyiv subways
he worked a lot, he seemed to earn money, but he didn’t have cronyism
everything had to be delivered
I remember when tangerines, bananas and Vecherny Kyiv sweets were "gotten", my parents watched so that I didn’t eat everything at once and didn’t get covered with diathesis)))

topof , "Eaglet 1988 stew Chinese wall":
Among the lucky ones was in the All-Russian camp Eaglet in the summer of 1988 ... there were many children from all over the country ...
there were only 2 people from my city, after we were given dry Chinese stew Great Wall on a camping trip in the All-Russian camp ... I realized that the USSR would soon not be 00)) ... at that time ours still knew how to make normal stew .. .
I experienced the second shock a couple of years later, when, having arrived in the village to visit relatives, instead of cream from my cow in a 3-liter jar, as usual, they began to spread Rama butter from a plastic jar ... agriculture was gone))))

tres_a :
Kyiv, late 80s.
White bread could be bought only in one store and only within an hour after delivery - in the morning and at lunchtime. Where the stale one came from among the loaves - I still don’t understand.
Ice cream ice cream in chocolate was rarely brought in and only in milk (a special store with dairy products, in other grocery stores milk was rarely imported and stale).
In all stores there was a smell of bleach and rot (even in the central ones).
Children stood in public transport if there was someone adult (from 4-5 years old).
Few fat people, out of children, in general, one or two for the whole school (in those schools that I know, there were then up to 1000 students).
For a cigarette, they could be pulled by the ears and taken to their parents. The police 150% did this.
Subbotniks and other voluntary-compulsory events (I still don’t understand why I have to clean if someone gets paid for it).
Politics and adult topics were not discussed in front of the children.

tol39 (born 1975):
You could buy bread from us before lunch, after lunch you could fly over, because bread was usually sorted out during the lunch break, which was from one to two at enterprises, and from two to three in stores. We had four varieties of ice cream - in waffle cups, we didn’t have it on sale, my father brought it from the city. Eskimo, expensive and not very common, still weighed, very tasty, in such shells. And the products of our local dairy - in paper cups and with ice crystals. There was a specific smell in the shops, only it was not rotten, the barrels that were always in the back rooms smelled like that.
***
Well, firstly, it was childhood, and it was good, I was born in 1975. Until 87-88, everything was generally wonderful, and then the word "deficit" appeared. In fact, it was before, but it belonged to the category of things not very significant in Everyday life. There was a sense of imminent change, exhilarating, like when you roll down on a trampoline to take off, but the takeoff did not happen. All the way crashed into the dirty mess of the nineties. Black t-shirts, chains, nunchucks, Royal alcohol and all that. How I survived, who the hell knows.

true_frog (born 1952):
My year of birth is 1952. So, all my conscious life fell on the USSR.
Childhood. All the most interesting was on the street and in the yard. It was impossible to drive children into the apartment. In the evening, windows and vents were opened: mothers called the children from the yard. We played calm and active games, tennis, volleyball. On rainy days they played outside. Even in winter, in the dark, we girls were not forbidden to walk. We moved a lot. We only went to school on foot, no matter how far it was. For some reason, it was not accepted to ride the bus. Fat children - "zhirtresty" - were a rarity and despised by all.
Starting from the first grade, schoolchildren first did a little cleaning in the classroom, and then they themselves washed the floors in the classrooms.
They collected either scrap metal, or empty bottles, or waste paper. It was not scary to send children to unfamiliar apartments.
There were a lot of different circles. Only at the music school education was paid, all the rest (sports and art) were completely free. A huge House of Pioneers, where you could do anything for free - even ballet, even boxing. Each child could try himself in any occupation.
Even preschool children were sent to pioneer camps. They lived there in one-story dachas, half for boys, half for girls. Toilet with a hole in the floor on the street, only cold water in the washstands, also on the street. In the morning, a mandatory general exercise. The children themselves were on duty at the gates to the pioneer camp and in the dining room. The dishes were not washed, but the bread was cut and the dishes were arranged.
***
Yes, "the key under the rug" - it was everywhere in childhood, even in the city, and in the late 70s, in our youth, in a small village in the Far North, we inserted a wand into the latch when we left home. In the early 80s, again in the city, the entrance doors were locked only at night, sometimes I forgot, and they slept not closed all night. When we moved to a new apartment, at night the door was closed with a washing machine until the lock was inserted.
***
From youth. In the first two years of university - cleaning. We are a little surprised why the collective farmers bend their backs in their gardens while we throw grain on the current, but in general we have a great time: we learn to heat the stove, cook our own food on it, ride horses, drive a motorcycle, arrange concerts.
In the 70s, a brass band was still found at dances, which had not yet been replaced by electric music.
Girls and girls are supposed to walk with their hair tied up. "Ponytail" is cool. And loose hair - well, this is only in foreign films.
Dressed, of course, gray. I went to the first harvest in a quilted jacket, because jackets were rare, I sewed my first jacket in the atelier. It was strange to watch bright clothes in a movie Soviet heroes movies: never dressed like that in life. I remember being amazed by the bright red jacket of the professor's daughter from The Gentlemen of Fortune.
It was possible to dress not like everyone else only in the atelier, but it was not easy to get there: there was also a queue. Good, but worn things could be bought in thrift stores.
Well, I will contribute to the discussion of the food program. In the 60s we lived first on Far East. There were no problems with the products. In 1963 they lived in Tuva for a year. That's where the line for milk occupied from the night. In 1964 we moved to Tyumen and saw a food paradise. Banks of condensed milk decorated the counters, they bought 200 grams of sausage, fresh, all kinds of compotes in jars in bulk. I don't remember when it all disappeared.

razumovsky4 , "The key is under the mat....":
All right. 1951. Hide and seek, catch-up, rounders, table tennis, badminton, wars with swords, swords, toy pistols, bicycles, a river in the weather, and, of course, the king of all games is football. From morning to evening. At the little gate.
And more girls in "classic" and "shtander." And so on until dark. And it got dark - so some other thread of the game with running around with flashlights with Chinese or German daimons. On the feet are either Chinese, Vietnamese or Czech sneakers. Sports panties such as harem pants and a shirt. Forever in abrasions, bruises and scratches. In winter, skates - from snowmen - to knives, skis, sleds, hockey.
There was no time for lessons. A maximum of an hour - and then somehow, quickly, you need to run into the yard, drive the ball.
Circles - full in the House of Pioneers. In the summer - yes, a pioneer camp, with hikes and a river and a forest and amateur performances - the same games and competitions. Not boring.
That's right, there were practically no fat people. Skinny and mobile. And they almost didn’t swear (up to a certain age) And there’s nothing to say about the girls. Don't smoke that much. And about pedophiles and drugs - they have not heard at all. You fly home, there is a note in the door - "The key is under the rug"))))

lexyara :
But I'll draw. A little. (63-76 years of the last century)
I was born and lived in the city of Krasnoyarsk. My father was a pilot and often flew to our capital. From there he brought all sorts of goodies. There were no goodies in Krasnoyarsk (more precisely, they were, but some "clumsy".)
By "clumsiness" it is meant that ... Everyone wanted butter that was not salty, and the shops were packed with salty. There were no bananas or oranges. There were no batteries for the flashlight either (junk workers came and changed the junk for batteries, caps and other nonsense).
Bread and buns in the "Bread" store were always fresh. Vegetables, pasta (long ones like a modern ballpoint pen), sugar, salt, matches, soap, etc. have always been in stores. Even if the rumors were crawling - "Tomorrow - the war, there will be no salt." She was.
Deficit of course was not to buy. These are toilet paper (important), glazed curds, a cake like "Bird's Milk", sweets "Bear in the North" or "Squirrel". This dad brought from Moscow. Ice cream has always been there. "Leningradskoye" appeared quite rarely (once or twice a week, everyone knew in advance when they would bring it). Cereals - this was a blockage. That's the trouble with sausages and sausages. But sometimes it was not lying on the floor. I was not familiar with alcohol in those days, so I will not say anything. Cigarettes were always on sale (although I did not smoke, but I remember).
Shmotye somehow did not interest me. I did not iron a pioneer tie every day. There was no uniform at school.
Here's what was interesting. The streets could be walked at any time. Without fear that they will stop you and shake out all the little things from your pockets. If there was some kind of incident in the area, then they would gossip about this case for months. Children could go to all sorts of "circles", "studios", etc. For free. I went to the "circle of aircraft modeling". Ely-paly, Gazprom has not dreamed of financing such a circle to this day (the toad will suffocate).
And the machines were there, and they provided the material (pleasure is expensive), and they took us to various competitions.
In the summer it was possible (again free of charge) to go to a pioneer camp. Fed "for slaughter". I did not observe any "hazing" there.
About life. In the evenings, the neighbors would gather in the yard and play dominoes, bingo... well, and just chat in a friendly way. Neighbors (who had children) staged theater performances for us (with our participation). A puppet theater was organized, slide shows on a sheet, etc.
Yes. There were no cars for everyone (someone had, of course).
From a material point of view (sausage, delicacies, clothes, cars, roads) everything was rather unfortunate. I don't deny it. But there were also many positives.

General impressions and reasoning

alexandr_sam :
1965 USSR. Mom is a railway worker, dad is an electrician in a mine, then, for health reasons, left as a refrigeration engineer. Salary for the whole family 200 r. I am 7 years old, my sister is 5. No one has ever given us any apartments. all their lives they lived in their hut and also built something like a house, if it could be called that - conveniences in the yard.
I bought a refrigerator when I was already married in the mid-80s. We only dreamed about smoked sausage in childhood. There was never enough money. Ice cream was bought to us once or twice a year. They kept their chickens - eggs, meat. Planted in the garden (outside the city) potatoes, corn, seeds. Oil (unrefined) was obtained from the seeds.
TV appeared in the late 60s. "Dawn" was called. Black and white. The screen size is the same as the current iPad. ;-)
I don't even want to remember. Dreamed of the great "Penza". True, the used "Eaglet" was still bought. I went on it in the summer to plow at the State Farm. Carried water and watered cucumbers. They paid about 40 rubles a month. I bought myself a watch. And the stupid teacher forbade them to be worn to school. Unaffordable luxury.
Lived and fattened in our city only employees of the city committee, city executive committee, and all the trade and audit vermin. Until 1974, beggars constantly walked along the streets. Mother usually gave them a piece of bread and a couple of eggs. And there was nothing more to give. Until 1977, there was grub in stores, but there was not enough money. And by the end of the 70s, everything began to disappear in our country. They dragged sausage and butter from Ukraine, since it was nearby.
They stole everything. It was possible to steal from the state - no one condemned. The country of nesuns.
Then the army. Hazing, lies about Afghanistan, the CPSU, political studies, drill and stupidity.
Finally Perestroika and Glasnost. Glory to Gorbachev! He delivered us from that shameful and gray life.
I felt free only in the late 80s - early 90s. It was difficult, I don’t argue, but it’s better that way than with advice.
Now Russia lives in a way that it has never lived before. Putin is a chance for Russia. At the same time, I ask my future critics to note that I have never held public office and have nothing to do with oil and gas. He didn’t steal a single ruble from the budget and never had anything to do with budget money either.
That's it in a nutshell. I've lived 55 years and I know what I'm talking about. I have seen a lot in my life. And I laugh at thirty-year-old idiots who praise the Soviet government and the Soviet Union. You wouldn't even live a week there. They would burst from there like elk!
I do not need this USSR. God forbid my children from such an artificial and deceitful country.
***
It was all about lies and hypocrisy. It still hiccups. Do you think today's corruption is an invention of Yeltsin and Putin? Horseradish! Its foundation was laid by Lenin and Stalin. Just dig deeper, gentlemen, and do not nod at the kings. There was little left of them after October 1917...

mariyavs :
I won't be original. Those of my grandmothers who had no problems with food and clothes due to the positions they and their grandfathers held, have only joyful memories. Sanatoriums on trade union vouchers, free travel to and from the place of vacation, children's vouchers to camps, order desks, officer department stores ... And who was "easier" - shortages, queues, give - take it (whether you need it or not, you'll figure it out later) , "sausage tours" in Msk. But, of course, there were some good things too. Children's leisure was organized and accessible to most, an atmosphere of friendship and trust in a neighbor. All sorts of reptiles were enough, of course, even then. But the children were allowed into the yards alone and were not afraid.

psy_park :
There was a lot of bad and a lot of good - as, however, always and everywhere in the world. But about the bread - it was much better than the current one. Then there were no leavening agents, flavorings, taste improvers, etc. I especially miss rye from coarse flour for 16 kopecks - now there is no such thing in Moscow. And, of course, hearth white - 28 kopecks each. and gray - 20 kopecks each. They don't exist anymore, unfortunately.
Yes, special large two-pronged forks or spoons were tied or simply lay in bakeries - to check the "softness" of bread, and many poked and crushed bread with them. Although almost always the bread was from the same machine and all the same, but since the fork was lying, many used it. True, they were mostly old women. In our bakery in the neighboring department - in the "grocery", you could not only buy sweets, gingerbread, bagels, but also drink a glass of tea or coffee (black or with milk) near the standing table. Tea with sugar - 3 kop. Coffee - 10-15 kopecks. The taste is not great, of course, but quite tolerable. And if you also buy a bun - from 10 to 15 kopecks, then it was quite possible to have a snack. Banality, but now there is no such thing, which is a pity. All this is Moscow. In Leningrad - about the same. And in other places with products it was not so good, unfortunately. However, no one has ever gone hungry. Naturally, in the period from the late 50's - early 60's. until 89-91. Yes, I can’t resist - and the ice cream was not on palm oil.

raseyskiy :
AT Soviet time there were no chocolates in the stores, and the line for dairy products was occupied at 6 in the morning (Moscow does not count). There was no meat in the stores, and sausages too. There was such a term "thrown away" a shortage for sale, for example, instant coffee - a queue of hundreds of people, although there was a queue for coffee in Moscow.
***
... a number of cities were supplied relatively well, while in others even sprats in tomato were a rarity. ... 70s and 80s. In those years, for the most part, everyone and everything was bought in Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv, Minsk ... i.e. on vacation, business trip, etc.

tintarula :
I spent my childhood in a private house on the working outskirts of Vladivostok, and, like any childhood, it was full of sledding, fussing in the garden, vegetables and berries "from the bush", games, friendship and betrayal - in general, everything is fine. There were few books in the house, but I was subscribed to children's magazines, a school library, a TV set from my neighbors. Then there was almost no shortage, there was a small amount of money.
More or less conscious age is the end of the 60s, and then the 70s. I studied this and that, worked. In general, "what they don't know, they don't feel." I was generally satisfied with everything. Well, yes, sausage began to disappear (dry - almost completely, but Vlad is a sea city, there were fish in bulk (it never ended, so even during the "Gaidar famine" we did not starve, and the stories of acquaintances from Russian centers are strange to me, how it was difficult to get food.) In 1974 or 1975, it seems, Gioconda was brought to Moscow, and we (three friends) went to watch it - in a common carriage back and forth. We shied around Moscow for about a month, went to theaters, stopped by to Leningrad and Luga (where they knew each other, including acquaintances of acquaintances - you have to live somewhere).
The shortage of books was very disturbing, but my friend's sister worked at the Research Institute of Marine Biology, and there the people were advanced, the Strugatskys got manuscripts, and my friend and sister copied them by hand. And I rewrote The Master and Margarita. That is, we were "in the know."
And yet it was youth, and therefore good. And in general, in my opinion, "good" and "bad" are personal private feelings, not too dependent on the circumstances of life. The "dashing 90s" were not dashing for me either, in the 90s there were role-playing games- and in the same way we went to Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk (to Khabar - in a common carriage), and it was good.
Yes, it's good now.

ular76 :
I come from two specifically counter-revolutionary families.
therefore, no claims to Soviet power I have not.
childhood was happy and carefree.
I did not experience restrictions in education, sports, food, recreation and happy pastime.
for which I have deep gratitude to all the Soviet people.
no illusions about the liberoid-thieves domestic politics modern Russia I do not suffer, but calmly observe the natural course of changes and transformations.

Discussions

belara83 :
50% of some kind of nonsense is written, queues have been a phenomenon since 1989, until then, well, there were 5-10 people there, they sat down something like that. No one was starving, Everyone had a job, but there was no chic, there was a shortage of imported things, but now with a lot of choice people have problems through the roof .. I lived in the village, my mother bought ice cream home for our children in boxes .. Bread was always and cost 16 kopecks , and white 20 kopecks!!! Sausage 2.2 r kg, 2.8 kg, is a boiled sausage.
But people lived more calmly, they understood that there is tomorrow, today everything is in nervous tension They don't know what will happen to them tomorrow. Nothing happened to us without imported clothes and everything else, it was not necessary to destroy the whole country, it was possible to change something and leave a lot, no, "to the ground and then" ordinary people suffered as a result ....