The daughter of a Soviet commodities expert asks questions about trade in times of scarcity

A generation of people has already grown up for whom the phrase “Soviet trade” is something distant and incomprehensible, akin to the Babylonian kingdom. Those born in the USSR have not forgotten. No way. This is the part of life that we face every day.





Today's edition. "Site" I prepared a test for you about Soviet shops and goods that you could buy in them. For older readers, this is an opportunity to refresh their memory and postalgize. And for the young, a chance to better understand how their fathers and grandfathers lived at that time.

Soviet trade What, where and how much?

1. What were the names of shops in the USSR where goods were sold for foreign currency, checks or certificates?
   (a) “Rabine”;
   (b) “Birch”;
   (c) “Topol”.
   
   
   
2. In what form were dairy products sold in the USSR?
   (a) rectangular;
   (b) oval;
   (c) triangular.
   
   
   
3. A half-liter mug of draught Zhigulev beer in Soviet times cost:
   (a) 15 kopecks;
   (b) 22 kopecks;
   (c) 40 kopecks.
   
   
   
4. What material were the famous avosaki made of, which Soviet women always wore with them?
   (a) lines;
   b) yarns;
   (c) synthetic or cotton threads.
   
   
   
5. How much did you have to pay in 1970 to become a happy owner of the Volga GAZ-21?
   (a) 8,500 rubles;
   (b) RUB 11,500;
   (c) 6200 rubles.
   
   
   
6. What in the USSR could you buy for 5 cents?
   (a) a glass of lemonade;
   (a) a cake with vulture;
   (c) boxes of matches.
7. Which Soviet cake was cheaper than the rest and was almost always on the shelves?
   (a) Kievan;
   (b) Prague;
   c) Waffle;
   d) Bird's milk.
   
   
   
8. How much did a kilogram of doctoral sausage cost in 1974?
   (a) 2 roubles 20 kopecks;
   (b) 3 rubles 40 kopecks.
   (c) 4 rubles 10 kopecks.
   
   
   
9. How much did a cake potato cost in a Soviet school buffet?
   (a) 9 kopecks;
   (b) 16 kopecks;
   (c) 22 cents.
   
   
   
10. What was the name of the popular caramel with a mint taste in the USSR?
    (a) Barbaris;
    (b) “Snowdrop”;
    (c) “Attack”.

Correct answers

1. The network of shops "Berezka" was established in the USSR in 1961. At first, its stores traded only for currency. Since 1967, certificates of Vneshtorgbank have been accepted. By the way, in the Latvian SSR the same shops were called "Dzintars" (amber), and in the Azerbaijan SSR "Chinar".
2. Strictly speaking, the packets we call triangular are tetrahedron-shaped. The Swedish company Tetra Pak began producing them in 1952. But in the West, pyramids for packaging milk were used only 7 years.
   
   
   
   It turned out that they are inconvenient to fold in rectangular boxes and, as a result, increase transportation costs. In the USSR, tetrapacks appeared in 1959 and immediately appealed to buyers.
   
   
3. For bottling Zhigulev beer, people in the USSR stood in queues and took cans or three-liter cans with them. A half-liter mug of foam drink cost 22 cents.
4. Rumor has it that woven from strong cotton threads avoska could withstand the weight of up to 70 kg and could hold up to 20 bottles of alcohol!
   
   
   
   Few people know that the name “Avoska” came from the word “maybe”. It became popular thanks to the humorous monologue of Arkady Raikin (1935): “... it is avoska”. I'll bring something in it.
   
   
5. "Volga" GAZ-21 was produced from 1957 to 1970 and officially cost 8500 rubles. But to buy it, money alone was not enough. I had to write a statement at the local office first.
   
   
   
   If it was approved, the lucky person was in line for the purchase. How lucky is it: a year, two or five?
   
   
6. For three cents in the USSR you could buy a glass of carbonated water with syrup. And for five kopecks - a pie with a vive.
   
   
   
7. And "Prague", and "Bird's milk" invented in the confectionery shop of the Moscow restaurant "Prague" wonderful confectioner Vladimir Mikhailovich Guralnik. The queues for these cakes in the USSR were always long. Waffle cakes were not as tasty but relatively cheap and never disappeared from the shelves.
8. In 1974, a kilogram of the most popular boiled sausage in the USSR cost 2 rubles 20 kopecks.
9. Legendary cake potatoes - a favorite delicacy of Soviet children. “Potatoes” were prepared from the remains of biscuit cakes after pruning, dry cookies and other things. Everything was crushed and mixed with butter or cream. After that, they sculpted cakes, which should still be dumped in cocoa. It's simple, but it's delicious! This treat cost 16-18 cents.
   
   
10. They say that as much as you don't say halva, it won't get sweeter in your mouth.
    
    
    
    But now I really felt the mint taste of "take-off" caramel.
    
    

We hope you have successfully answered at least 7-8 of 10 questions. If so, you were born in the USSR.