What was fashionable in the USSR

Boiled jeans



In place of the usual jeans, which have become much more affordable, came jeans made of boiled fabric. The degree of digestion was different, cooking recipes and the name of the necessary chemicals were transferred secretly. The most daring boiled blue jeans to the limit, turning them into white. White jeans were the pinnacle of pygeonry.

Fantiques and liners


Surprisingly, the wrappers and inserts from gum that appeared in children turned into the subject of a fetish. And the usual collection was not limited. In parallel with collecting, the game on inserts became fashionable. Slapping the palm on the liner had to turn it over with the reverse side. Surprisingly, this game was elevated to the rank of gambling, players in schools were caught, collected materials were selected and severely punished up to the summons to school parents.

Monopoly game.


To get such a game was almost impossible. I got it from Yugoslavia. Because we didn't know Serbian, we came up with our own rules, which I suspect had little to do with the original ones. There was no one to explain the real rules. And yet, the game of monopoly was surprisingly exciting and gambled (in the best sense of the word).

Paper cars.


A kind of liner game. The only difference is that gaming machines were made with their own hands from paper and painted with colored ink. Two players were blowing into cars that clashed. If someone else's car turned over, it went to the enemy.

Electronic naval combat


Amazing game, with sound and light effects. Of course, there was no polyphony. The creaking sound simulated an explosion from a torpedo.

Elk.


At some point, among the girls, tight tight tights made of dense material came into fashion, which immediately received the name of leggings (after the same stockings worn by men in the Middle Ages and which were made of moose leather). It was a necessary attribute of sesuality. The standard was leggings worn under a miniskirt or under an elongated sweater. No one was embarrassed that in Europe leggings are the working clothes of prostitutes. Another (later) name "lollecki" (as the colored leggings were usually called), apparently, had its roots in the name of the company Dolce and Gabbana.

Bulbs.


Special leather wristbands for weightlifters were decorated with metal rivets and spikes. The result was the attribute of a person who positioned himself as a “metalist”, that is, a fan of music of the corresponding direction. However, after a while, brutal wristbands began to wear all the others. It looked extremely intimidating.

Electronic games of the Zelenograd plant.


Now it is difficult to surprise anyone with a portable gaming console. And then that was the limit of dreams. And no one was embarrassed that you had to play only one game on a small monochrome display (the illusion of color was created by applying drawings on top of the display). The game cost 25 rubles, which corresponded to the cost of some models of bicycles. Originally it was "Well, wait", then there were "Fun baker", "Secrets of the ocean" and others. There was a rumor that when you score a thousand points, the device shows a cartoon. Apparently, the myth was based on the idea that it is simply impossible to score such a number of points. Personally, I was disappointed when, after typing such a figure, I did not see any cartoon.

Bicycles.


A personal vehicle has always been a boy’s dream, no matter the age. In my childhood, the main models were “Eagle” (the most democratic in price, with a horizontal frame on which you could carry a second passenger), “Salute” (considered the record for speed due to the size of the wheels), and inferior to him in speed, but won in cross-country and maneuverability “Kama”. Of the children's models, I would note "Friend" and "Butterfly" - an additional pair of wheels was attached to them, which helped to keep balance. Standard tuning for the bike were additional catafos and rattles installed on the wheels to give an additional noise effect.

Brain guns.


Simple design of a wooden forearm, plastic tube and rubber band, which allowed you to shoot balls of plasticine. Reflection of boyish passion for guns. They were called suicide bombers.

Table hockey.


For all the flashy primitivism of this game, it was one of the most popular and popular. It was divided into hockey with flat metal players (they were made in the form of characters of the famous cartoon “Puck, puck!” and more modern – with plastic, voluminous players). My classmates and I even played tournaments. Of course, the USSR team should have won.

Sprinklers.


I don't know where it came from, but the fashion for pouring water on each other with spray sheets and disposable syringes came from. The designs of the sprinklers were very different. As a rule, a plastic bottle (then it was a big deficit - usually a bottle of household chemicals was used), with a ballpoint pen case inserted into it. However, the syringe allowed for a much higher hit accuracy. Moreover, the syringe, even “charged” was really carried to school in the pocket of the form unnoticed.

Adidas sneakers.


Status indicator. The ability to buy such sneakers was a hallmark of a well-off person with capabilities. Those sneakers were a terrible shortage. And this despite the fact that they sewed in Moscow at the plant located in Beskudnikovo. Surprisingly, sports shoes have become ceremonial shoes, “on the way out”.

Ping-pong


The deficit was all that was needed for this game. Rockets, balls, tables, net. The most affordable racket is the “crumb”. The most honorable is “Soft” (it could be “twisted”, and its quality was checked by conducting a plane through the hair). It was fashionable to paint the surface of the soft racket with the names of your favorite musical groups. The simplest balls are domestic, “wooden”. The most progressive ones are Chinese.

Painted bangs


The impact of the new culture, which is called the “new wave”, was so strong that it was able to overcome the “iron curtain”. People who had no idea what Duran Duran was, with the help of hydrogen peroxide, brightened their bangs just like the members of this group. This ensured almost a hundred percent success among the girls around him. The girls responded with a “standing bang”, the creation of which took a significant amount of hairspray.

Pyramid jeans.


Amazing in its shape look of denim pants, which have gained incredible popularity. Clothing ensemble of “pyramids”, coupled with moccasins, white socks and a signature T-shirt or white shirt was designed to signal that a person knows a lot about fashion.

Rock band photos.


Images of Kiss band members and photocopies of Iron Maiden album covers sold for 50 kopecks to a ruble in the toilet of any school. The popularity of these photos is still a mystery to me.

Electronics 302 tape recorder


The biggest musical fetish of my generation. Surprisingly tenacious, resistant to destruction from frequent falls, simple as a PPSh machine gun, he has always been the main participant of all companies and parties. With his help, it was possible to organize a compact disco. The tape recorder was placed on the floor, and those who wanted to dance became a circle around it. The main criterion for the quality of the recording was its volume. Often the recording was made directly from the speaker of one tape recorder to the microphone of another. The main technological problem of the interface of this device was an unfixed rewind button. To solve this problem, a screwdriver was used, which fixed the button. The most valuable were extremely scarce batteries, which (in the presence of a special “battery” power supply) made it possible to make the device mobile. The tape recorder lay perfectly in a bent hand at the elbow. Particularly chic were the company's walks with the tape recorder on.

Audio tapes


At first, they were a terrible shortage, despite the fact that the price for one cassette was 10 rubles. Cassettes were divided into domestic and imported, and the sound time - 30 minutes, 90 and 120 (the latter were the most capricious - in them the film was thin and perishable from frequent listening). Then in large numbers began to breed tents, where you could buy a tape with a record. You could also hand over your cassette so that you recorded the right artist (lists of artists with albums were hung on the wall of the tent). There was, however, a risk that you handed over a decent cassette Denon removed tape mechanism with film and in return stuffed tape from the domestic cassette. Then there were Polish cassette tapes with a recording, the distinguishing feature of which was the design “under the native”. The printing on the official tape was terrible, but it was cool. If there was no socket for a tape recorder nearby, then rewinding the cassette was carried out using a pencil - a hole of the tape mechanism was ideally put on it. This allowed to save extremely scarce batteries in the tape recorder.

Movie footage


Also quite a strange hobby – the collection of footage from the film “Guest from the future”. Somehow there was a film that was cut into footage. They could then be viewed through a film projector. One day I was lucky enough to find a stash in which there was a huge package with pieces of film with frames. It was a real happiness.

Video


The ability to charge a tape recorder with a movie you want to see at the moment, worried the minds of all. That is, now you were independent of the official media, you did not have to wait for them to show you what you want to watch right now. Not to mention the fact that most of the videos were almost impossible to wait for on TV. This was perhaps the biggest blow to the official media. In fact, the device itself could not be banned. They could only complain about the movies they watched. A favorite tactic of the police to combat watching banned film production was an unexpected power outage to the entrance (it was impossible to get a tape of their VCR without current). After that, fighters for morality broke into the apartment and seized the tape. And woe was to the owners of the device if there was anything on that tape included in the list of forbidden movies. Later, “videosalons” began to be organized, in which you could watch Western films – from 50 kopecks to one and a half rubles per viewing. Of particular interest were films with elements of eroticism. The salon was a room with chairs standing in a row, in front of which there was a TV of a less decent diagonal with a connected VCR.

Badges


At some point in tents and trays began to sell badges with images of movie heroes, musical idols and cheerful sayings. The most popular phrase was “Strike iron while Gorbachev”. No one saw anything wrong with having all your clothes covered with badges like that.

Player.


A personal portable source of music was something to sell your soul for. The ability to listen to your favorite music in any environment – in the subway, in class, at home, on the street – was the limit of dreams. The possibility of obtaining a normal walkman did not immediately appear. Initially, I had to use domestic products. The thing was heavy and stupid. The headphones were something frightening. The body was made of metal. But this device performed its function.

Chew.


Officially in the USSR it was possible to buy four types of gum: mint, orange (with Neznaika on the package), crimson and the most disgusting - "coffee aroma". Unofficially, gum was imported from outbound trips (this was the best souvenir). Chewing had a surprisingly sacred meaning. In fact, it didn’t matter what you chewed (the craftsmen created homemade gum from toothpaste, baking it on a normal heating battery). The very fact of chewing symbolized your involvement in modern culture and fashion. Chewing was fashionable. No talk about the harmfulness of this action to the stomach and comparison with ruminants could not discourage the desire to chew. The gum itself (especially imported gum) was a universal currency for which you could exchange anything.

Beer in cans


That was really cool. The realization that normal beer could not be stored in tin came later. The very fact of absorbing beer from tin cans was an occasion to indulge in illusions about a beautiful life, which I saw only in the video. They only drank from cans. And it was also customary to arrange a collection of tin cans of beer in the kitchen, on a special shelf.

Microsh computer


It will be very difficult for a person born after 2000 to prove that games can be downloaded to a computer using tapes. To be honest, it is still a mystery to me how this creaking-squeaking cacophony turned from a tape recorder speaker into a primitive (in today’s terms) computer game on a monochrome TV that served as a monitor. For the opportunity to play such primitives in special "computer centers" paid a lot of money.

Cola


Pepsi-Cola was quite realistic to buy in the store, although it cost one much more expensive than domestic lemonade - 45 kopecks against Pepsi against 18 kopecks for the same, for example, Pomerants Flora. But bottles of Coca-Cola came across much less often, and therefore were valued much higher. There were people who seriously stated that they felt the taste difference between these drinks.

The Young Chemist kit.


A great opportunity to feel like an alchemist, mixing anything with something that is not clear. The instructions were lost first. The process of mixing substances in test tubes, flasks and retorts was much more fascinating than any instructions there. The result is an acid-burnt T-shirt and the first homemade lemonade powder.

Full-length cartoons


There were very few of them, and they were all incredibly successful. I personally watched Lords of Time in the cinema 12 times, and every time I caught my breath in the last shots. In addition to them were “King and Bird” and “Wook the Fox”, and the rarer cartoon “Ghost Ship” was retold at night as a “scary story”.

kvass


At that time, it was not perceived as a domestic alternative to Coca-Cola and was sold in a bottle from a tent or a mobile tanker. I could never deny myself the pleasure of drinking a large (beer) mug for 6 cents. And I was very sorry when leaven tents disappeared from the streets of Moscow. Kvass was fresh, unpasteurized. And the okroshka from it turned out to be the most delicious.

Driving Simulator


Controlling a magnet in the shape of a car, which moves in a circle, gave indescribable pleasure. It was especially chic to be able to skip through a small section of road that was not designed for traffic (who played, he should remember). This required filigree control of the steering wheel and a sense of the moment.

Arabic cigarettes


I do not know who came up with the idea to bring cigarettes from Arab countries to our market, but I do know that they were wildly popular among young people. The reason for this was a bright pack (black or dark blue), giving the full feeling that you smoke "firm", that is, scarce imported cigarettes. The charm of imported cigarettes was very strong.

Channel 2x2


It was a real breakthrough. A completely new approach to information. Now it was not necessary to catch cartoons and music programs in the broadcasting grid. They've been spinning all day. It was almost a dream. The first music videos were shown on this channel. Savage, Duran Duran, Sabrina, Alphaville, Bachelor party - the first of these videos showed 2x2. The rotating emblem of the channel under cheerful classical music produced an almost magnetic effect.

Skateboard.


They were brought as an expensive gift from the Baltic States. Few people knew how to ride them, but to have a skate was the dream of any boy. It differed from the modern one in the same way that Giguli differed from Mercedes. Immortalized in the cult picture “Courier” by Karen Shakhnazarova. That's what Ivan and Basin ride on.

New Year's candy set


As a rule, it was packed in a box in the form of one of the Kremlin towers. Contained a variety of sweets - from banal toffees "Kitty-kitty" to the most honorable - lollipops on a stick. The contents of the candy set have always been subject to exchange, depending on the taste preferences of the owner. They were the ones I loved toast.

Programmable tank


The excitement was not so much about the tank itself as the ability to program its actions. A whole performance was invented with his participation - movement, shooting, making sounds.

Snowballs


At first it was a classic "Chuk and Huck", but soon it was joined by a more futuristic "Argamak", with almost a car steering wheel. It was much cooler than a simple sled. For the sharpness of sensations, the snowmobile could be tied to the bumper of the car.

Electronic watches


Having a watch has always been a boy’s dream. However, the age of progress was coming, and having a normal watch was no longer so honorable. An electronic watch became a dream. Their design is still a reason for reflection of modern designers, but then the criteria for evaluation were quite different. The clock had to have a soundtrack. Quality was measured by the number of tunes set in the clock.

Ice cream


A treat for all time. Perhaps the most brilliant of all invented by mankind. The choice was small – Plombir “for 48 kopecks”, Eskimo, milk in a waffle cup and fruit in a paper, as well as the most inconvenient for eating on the go – “Lakomka” and waffle briquette. It was believed that the most delicious ice cream was sold at the corner of the GUM (from time to time a cart with an aunt went out). This ice cream had a significant disadvantage - it was superimposed into a glass with a ball. And there was empty space underneath. The cup was not filled to the end. And the most unusual - ice cream "Flight" in the restaurant of the hotel "Russia".

A sandpaper.

(can't find pictures)

One of the most unusual at that time ways to identify drawing
talent. Drawing on plain paper and in coloring books was boring.
But driving two manipulators, forcing a mechanism hidden from view
Drawing lines on the silver sand that plastered the screen - it was
Very fashionable.

Writer Volkov's books.


Against the background of a general book shortage, Volkov’s books about the adventures of Urfin Jus, Eli, Totoshka and their derivatives stood apart. “Urfin Juice and his wooden soldiers”, “Yellow fog” could still be found, but the last book (written for the deceased by the artist of the book) “Mystery of an abandoned castle” was extremely scarce. I never had time to find and read it. It was given for one night and was strictly monitored for return. The popularity of this book series could be envied by many venerable authors.

Snake puzzle


A great way to kill time and develop imagination. What figures did not have to be put out of it...

Juice flasks.


Almost every supermarket had a department where juices and milkshakes were poured. The juice was poured from special cones. It was ordinary juice, but the very fact of pouring it from such an unusual container turned the process into something mysterious.

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