Russia in the 1980s..

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2007-02-25 03:37pm

Russia in the 80s

You know, there are quite a few photos in there that really do remind me of the 1980s here in the US, especially the ones with the kids.

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2007-02-25 03:41pm

Well, the high rise apartment buildings reminds me a lot of Stockholm's suburbs, but other than that there isn't much I can identify myself with. A very, very interesting find though!

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2007-02-25 03:44pm

What the hell are the bubbles on that guys back?

*Edit: These bubbles.

Losonti Tokash · Post by **Losonti Tokash** » 2007-02-25 03:45pm

WTF

Any idea what the hell those kids are doing?

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2007-02-25 03:48pm

Losonti Tokash wrote:WTF

Any idea what the hell those kids are doing?

The is a medical preventive care procedure - phototherapy. The lamp in the middle beams ultraviolet and bright visible light. Sessions were held in schools and kindergartens during late autumn and winter time, when there was little natural insolation, to prevent hypovitaminosis, and improve immunity in children.
Reply to this comment

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2007-02-25 03:50pm

Gaahh!

Those soda-pop vending machines!

They had a glass in them, and they dispensed a measured amount of pop into it after you deposited your money, and then you returned the glass to it's spot to be rinsed out by an exceedingly weak flow of water...so nasty.

Lord Zentei · Post by **Lord Zentei** » 2007-02-25 03:56pm

Cpl Kendall wrote:What the hell are the bubbles on that guys back?

*Edit: These bubbles.

I don't know what they are called, though I have seen something like it before: it's a theraputic thing, with the air in the glass spheres being heated with a lighted wick before placing it upon the skin. The heating drives out some of the air. Thus, the pressure in the bubbles becomes lower than the ambient pressure when it cools again, forcing blood to the skin, inducing circulation.

Losonti Tokash · Post by **Losonti Tokash** » 2007-02-25 04:03pm

MKSheppard wrote:The is a medical preventive care procedure - phototherapy. The lamp in the middle beams ultraviolet and bright visible light. Sessions were held in schools and kindergartens during late autumn and winter time, when there was little natural insolation, to prevent hypovitaminosis, and improve immunity in children.

Thanks, that's the sort of thing that would have bugged me for days otherwise.

Ritterin Sophia · Post by **Ritterin Sophia** » 2007-02-25 08:40pm

I wasn't aware Russia was covered with red x'es in the 80's...

Edit: Visiting the link fixed it.

Master of Cards · Post by **Master of Cards** » 2007-02-25 09:15pm

The first picture the third from the right looks like a guy but is a girl

Post by **fgalkin** » 2007-02-25 09:40pm

Losonti Tokash wrote:WTF

Any idea what the hell those kids are doing?

That's a quartz lamp. It empits UV light, that's supposed to be good for you. My parents used to have one of these for me, back when I was a kid (in the 80s!)

What the hell are the bubbles on that guys back?

Medical cups

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Post by **Vympel** » 2007-02-25 11:35pm

Pfft- "Medical Cups". My grandmother just grabbed a glass out of the cupboard, heated it up then whacked it on my back. Vendouzes, it's pronounced in Greece.

EDIT: I'm surprised they still took T-55s out on parade in the 1980s. You'd think it'd be all T-72s.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2007-02-25 11:48pm

Heh. Saw that. It's good. Rather nostalgic.

This is an awesome place. Soviet Photo daily:
http://sov-photo.livejournal.com

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2007-02-25 11:58pm

Linka

Damn!

All hail the VDV!

Pelranius · Post by **Pelranius** » 2007-02-26 12:25am

I suppose that the vending machine maintenance people didn't worry about hooligans smashing/stealing the cup?

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2007-02-26 12:37am

100-cubic meter walking excavator...

Natalia Arkovenko, a builder on the Kurskaya AES. Naturally sexy.

And something more serious:

Famous war poet Tvardovsky returning in his home village Zagorie, in 1943, to find it totally ravaged by the war.

This sort of made me shed a tear:

Interceptor:

VDV:

And de-jour... Triumph of the land of the workers, probably our finest hour.

Pelranius wrote:I suppose that the vending machine maintenance people didn't worry about hooligans smashing/stealing the cup?

Not that much. Gas water machines were usually placed in well-overseen streets.

Shogoki · Post by **Shogoki** » 2007-02-26 12:56am

Russian AA in WW2.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2007-02-26 01:11am

Looks like a nice country actually, from what's in the photo spread.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2007-02-26 01:19am

Heh, we did that too on the last day of school of the year, on summer break; ran the hell down the hall and out

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2007-02-26 01:20am

Pelranius wrote:Looks like a nice country actually, from what's in the photo spread.

Until you got beaten up by the police for celebrating 3rd of May...oh, sorry. That was in Poland in the 80s

I don't know about Russia, but from what I remember from my childhood, everything was drab, gray and empty (especially the stores). There were some nice things, sure, like boiled corn sold by street vendors or soda pop that was prepared by mixing carbonized water and fruit syrup on the spot when you bought it, but that's little childhood memories. As a child, you didn't have to worry about "fixing" meat or gas or fruit for your family.

Or running away from police with your little child (me

The youngest revolutionary...).

Patrick Degan wrote:I suppose that the vending machine maintenance people didn't worry about hooligans smashing/stealing the cup?

There were less hooligans back then, which is natural in a totalitarian state.

disclaimer: This post concerns Poland in the 80s. Another socialist worker-paradise state, but I'm told there were crucial differences.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2007-02-26 01:25am

Patrick Degan wrote:Looks like a nice country actually, from what's in the photo spread.

What did you think it was, a Third World shithole?

PeZook wrote:This post concerns Poland in the 80s. Another socialist worker-paradise state, but I'm told there were crucial differences.

Of course. Poland wanted to break free from the USSR, which caused political unrest, etc. etc. Provincial USSR, on the other hand, didn't think jack shit about politics. Life was calm and still, even during Gorbachov times. And, well, it was great.

We cared little for what was going on the capital. By 1991, we understood what happened only when prices soared, we suddenly ran out of food, all factories stopped and those which didn't, stopped paying any salary whatsoever, street shootouts and murders of factory bosses became common.

Post by **Beowulf** » 2007-02-26 01:37am

Stas Bush wrote:
Patrick Degan wrote:Looks like a nice country actually, from what's in the photo spread.
What did you think it was, a Third World shithole?

Nah, it's a Second World shithole by definition.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2007-02-26 01:44am

Beowulf wrote:Nah, it's a Second World shithole by definition.

The "Second World" (and the Third, too) wasn't uniform either. Most of the ~0.8 HDI countries enjoyed a decent level of life. Those who were below the threshold, not quite so.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2007-02-26 01:49am

Star Bush wrote:
PeZook wrote:This post concerns Poland in the 80s. Another socialist worker-paradise state, but I'm told there were crucial differences.
Of course. Poland wanted to break free from the USSR, which caused political unrest, etc. etc. Provincial USSR, on the other hand, didn't think jack shit about politics. Life was calm and still, even during Gorbachov times. And, well, it was great.

Hey, it was a nice country, nicer than 90% of the world. The province in Poland was pretty much as you described the USSR's, and standard of living was high enough so that people didn't starve. It's just life wasn't all rosy, especially when dealing with the government, because it was full of assholes who could do stuff to you if they wanted, and nobody could really stop them...

One thing very good about the times was the education system. The Communists built a lot of universities during their rule, which means that every major city has it's own one. It really made a huge difference, especially after the transition to capitalism, and I fully credit the socialist system for doing that.

Star Bush wrote:We cared little for what was going on the capital. By 1991, we understood what happened only when prices soared, we suddenly ran out of food, all factories stopped and those which didn't, stopped paying any salary whatsoever, street shootouts and murders of factory bosses became common.

It was almost exactly like that here. The system collapsed not because of periodic student uprisings, but because of a prolonged period of economic crisis, when worker's unions started to rebel. Prices soared, the country was up to it's ears in foreign debt, there was literally nothing but peas and vodka in the stores, and the government was so heavy handed in dealing with some strikes (that is: live ammo) that it all just came crashing down after a brief period of social unrest.

Really, by 1989 the economy was fucked enough that all it took was a little nudge and it was over.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2007-02-26 01:49am

PeZook wrote:
Patrick Degan wrote:I suppose that the vending machine maintenance people didn't worry about hooligans smashing/stealing the cup?

Um, not anything I said, actually.

Stas Bush wrote:
Patrick Degan wrote: Looks like a nice country actually, from what's in the photo spread.
What did you think it was, a Third World shithole?

Just an observation.