Hello, comrades! My name is Sergei. I was born in the USSR in 1971. Since 1999 I have lived in the USA. Ushanka Show channel was created to share stories as well as my own memories of everyday life in the USSR. My book about arriving in America in 1995 is available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B08DJ7RNTC You can support this project here: www.patreon.com/sputnikoff with monthly donations Support for this channel via PAYPAL: paypal.me/ushankashow Ushanka Show merchandise: teespring.com/stores/ushanka-show-shop If you are curious to try some of the Soviet-era candy and other foodstuffs, please use the link below. www.russiantable.com/imported-russian-chocolate-mishka-kosolapy__146-14.html?tracking=5a6933a9095f9 My FB: facebook.com/sergey.sputnikoff Twitter: twitter.com/ushankashow Instagram: instagram.com/ushanka_show/ Reddit: www.reddit.com/r/The_Ushanka_Show/
In the USA you could get anything you wanted in the 1980’s. Just need money but I watch you guys and you couldn’t get everything that we could. You know in USA that Soviet Union was mysteriously! We didn’t know how you lived over there. It was very interesting to me. Always wanted to see Russia and Ukraine but to old now and it probably won’t ever happen now. But I still look for information about life during those times
I haven't had tomato juice in years, but this video made me retry tomato juice. Now, every once in a while I get myself a glass of tomato juice and put this video on.
You ought to mention the importance of the Barter system in Soviet times, and having various personal connections to get various items, the only way to survive! Also, the Food and Cloth, etc Ration Cards!!
We have in the United States what's known as white Birch beer. It's a soda and traditionally it was made from white Birch sap but today it's probably mostly sugar water, carbonation and artificial flavoring.
In Australia I remember in the 80s/90s everything was seasonal, you could only buy certain fruits and vegetables and foods when they were in season. Also god forbid you had like a bad Banana season because then you would be paying $5+ for a single banana. Now everything is preserved for months and gets shipped around the globe. The apple you buy in a supermarket today? has probably been in cold storage and preserved for literally a couple months. It's why fresh fruit/grocers markets tastes so different from what you get in the super market.
Wow. To go from stores that can't keep things in stock and waiting in lines just to purchase goods, to a place where the stores literally throw tons of fresh, perfectly good food away. That must be a surreal experience. I had a friend from Bali and he was used to being dirt poor, and, when he got here, he told me how his family ate better than they ever had in their home country for weeks by dumpster diving in the rich supermarket trash bins of LA County. They had never had beef before. Matter of fact the only thing they had trouble getting was decent rice. So coming to this land of what must've seemed like incredible overabundance, what was that like for you?
Wow, really cool and insightful story. That wasteful tendency is one major gripe I have with western grocery stores, especially how it affects farmers.
@@DoReMi123acb Lol thanks! Part 2 to that story is my friend is a true wasteful American now. About 2 weeks ago I saw him throw away not 1 but 2 Hamburgers because he had never eaten at Carl's Jr. before and he got 3 hamburgers he didn't like. I watched him toss 2 $6 burgers away like so much garbage. He laughed and said "3rd times the charm, eh?" . I just smiled thinking back to the Balinese child who couldn't get food in his home country because it was all gobbled up by the tourists. Just thinking I'd that juxtaposition makes me giggle for some reason. On a more serious note, you're correct. The way food is simple wasted is disgusting, especially when there's hungry people just waiting for it. If you're gonna toss it anyway, JUST GIVE IT TO THEM!!! IDK how many freaking times I've heard of stories where people are prosecuted for dumpster diving. It's infuriating! I'm like "These people are already at rock fuckkng bottom, literally living off of our refuse, and you're going to charge them and put them in jail??!!!!? What the absolute fiznuck??!!? Do police have NOTHING better to do with their days??!!! Cuz I got an unsolved medicine robbery I'd love to see solved...
MetaSynForYourSoul You’d have to blame the consumer for that waste. We’ve come to expect nothing but “absolutely fresh”, especially when we’re paying money. Since the food that is thrown away is still perfectly edible, not criminalizing dumpster diving would incentivize people (who’d otherwise be paying customers) to wait for closing time for free food. Why pay for something when you could just get it for free? It’s another example of a few people ruining a good thing.
@Mo Chow They didn't come by air. He came on a ship, spent 2 months on the boat, or it might've been 2 different boats i can't recall, disembarked when they docked in California. They took a skiff from the boat to Manhattan Beach, and along with 3 other families just didn't go back to the ship. Stayed illegals for quite some time before I believe his father was granted some kind of asylum or something. That's what he told me. Also you came in the "right ✅ way" , he came the "wrong ❌ way". The wrong way is far cheaper. You go hike to an open field and cross. Passport? I got 2 feet, 2 hands, a strong back and an open mind, and THERE'S the "Golden Mountain!" I shall not be stopped by lack of means. Once I am in, they will need a God to dislodge me.
@Mo Chow that's 110% true! A lot of Americans have never met an immigrant, illegal or otherwise. They hear 1 or 2 stories about an illegal immigrant making it from nothing and think "Wow! Every immigrant story is SO INSPIRING!" It's really kind of sad that they do this and does a complete disservice to other countries. Especially Africa in my opinion because yes there's poverty, there's people living in "the bush", there's terrorism, but there's also wealthy grand cities and unique architecture, rich ancient culture, and many things to be envious of. It holds us back from truly seeing where help is required and just thinks "All anybody needs to do is get to America. All problems solved!" IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY! 😆
Some of my neighbors took a trip to the Soviet Union in the early 1980s, and showed their slides when they returned to the U.S. The biggest impression upon them was seeing lemonade being sold on the street with everyone sharing glasses, like you showed in this video. Of course, we considered providing disposable paper or foam cups, or using glasses washed in a commercial dishwasher after use, the minimum for sanitation. That really was what drove home the relatively low standard of living for average Soviet citizens.
The one thing we should have kept: Bring your own containers for bulk goods. I remember everything being in a sack/barrel/crate. You could sometimes get paper bags or waxed paper for meat products, but that was it. And it was great. Absolutely no waste of plastic. All the glass got recycled or reused. Of course it was a bit of a hassle, but if we managed then, when few people had cars, why can't we do it now? I still have three crates of mineral water bottles that we used to return every time when we got filled ones. Now I have sacks of plastic bottles that go in the garbage, because the city doesn't care about recycling.
I like it. Theres something healthy about calling a store by its product rather than some corporate advertisement. Something very traditional about it.
I use to walk around a lot and the Lines that you would see were amazing....I would pass an area and nothing was happening then on the way back there would be a line ..likely a delivery had arrived ....
i have been making those market bags for weeks now..i love them...if you would like one..i can get one made right up..let me know your fav color....take care i just love this show
One thing I miss about Ukraine is the fruit and fruit juices. One particular brand is pronounced "sagochok" (I think) had really good grape and apple juice.
Kiev, where I lived, was supplied pretty well, so we didn't have the ration coupons (talons). Small towns out in the country did use those, so the locals could purchase several kilos of meat, butter, etc
Somethings the Soviet Union did that made sense, carry your own grocery bag! The United States is littered with plastic and bags are the worse. It seems more noticable in winter ,and all it took was for me to live in another country for a while. My eyes were open.
pop would best descried it soory were i live any fizzy drink is called soda but this is some quick goggle of different brands www.pasnacks.com/birch-beer-and-soda.html there are more makers but these are the big 3 brands
I have done my graduation from Soviet Union means when I reached Moscow it was Sept 1990.I did my Russian language course from Tibilisi. And further studies from St. Petersburg. Your vedio flashed back all my memories. Really it was absolutlylike that as you have described. But you have said nothing about compot(Компот) which was avilble in stalovyas. Thanks for vedio it is really nice vedio. Love from India.
Great story as always, I admire how people in USSR were efficient with resources and didn't waste like America does, from what I see every day here. I guess you could say... "Economics must be economical." ~Brezhnev
Being diplomats, my parents lived there but here's the deal - subsidy leads to waste so for example, houses had no insulation, no double glazing, no thermostat - indeed, you couldn't actually control the heating so if the apartment got too hot, everyone just opened a window to cool it down! The distribution system was antiquated to put it mildly resulting in loads of food rotting away and the list goes on regards waste as in truth, getting things repaired wasn't easy either.
Perhaps I came across as praising the economic model of USSR, to be clear I'm not a communist or anything remotely close. What I admire is how, under the serious constraints of the Soviet system, the people of USSR led lives that were not wasteful in comparison to how people like me in the US live. Don't get me wrong, I love what I have and I'm grateful for it, but I wish we could reuse more shit, basically. You're absolutely correct on the failure of centralized planning, and I'd go as far to say people who support a completely centralized economy today are delusional.
O man i hear yea and agree. We waste over 40% of the food we produce, thats is horrible. As you know if it sits on the shelf too long in a grocery store its thrown away even though its completely good. When i was a corrections officer in Texas we threw tons and tons of food away, it was disgusting. They used to feed pigs with it, not anymore.
Was there anything plastic made available in the USSR? I know this is a weird question but I was wondering because of the thing with the jars, glasses and all that
Looking at those pictures, shops in Soviet Union were putting effort into spreading their wares to make it look like they're full of goods. Shops in the west have to pay for space, so the spaces between shelves are narrower and moslty everything is quite packed.
You know, this is how we grew up in Mexico. There were stores for bread, fruit and vegetable stores, meat, chicken, and fish stores. This is very familiar. They still exist, including bringing your own bag. These days they exist side b6 side with supermarkets.
When Kruschev came to America in the 1960’s and went in an American grocery store he didn’t believe that the products on the shelves were all real because he was convinced it was impossible to have our the variety of our ordinary grocery items available everywhere in America and as plentiful as he saw in these supermarkets. He was convinced it had to all be fake because he didn’t believe it could even be possible to supply a wide variety of items we take for granted in our grocery stores.
Actually, the lack of advertising in the USSR was a nuisance. Canned goods sometimes didn't have labels. No one knew what (if anything) was available in the stores. People would often join lines at stores without knowing what was being sold at the head of the line. Shopping was extremely inefficient, and people wasted huge amounts of time shopping.
Russians dependent a lot on their elderly relatives to stand in endless lines! One stood a whole day in a lineup at times, with no guarantee of purchase! ! Also depended on the word of mouth from neighbors, coworkers, etc about certain goods available!
Of course, there were many pets! We fed worms and pond mosquito larvae for tropical fish! There was dry fish food, also! You could buy grain and seeds for birds! No specialized dog or cat food! Table scraps worked well!
Peter Wilson - Most likely, you're asking about collective-farm markets once were called 'kolkhoznyye rynki' in the USSR. In that case, you're right. Indeed, people had the right sell there their products and handicraft stuff.
USHANKA SHOW ah ok awesome! I really enjoy learning about Russian history specifically the Soviet era so I really enjoy this channel as a whole. Thanks for responding
The Yugoslav government allow people to keep what was called "family land". That was an acre or two that a family had to prove had been owned by members of the family going back to about 1800. Other than those plots, all land was owned by the government, and all farming was done on collective farms. If anyone doesn't believe capitalism is the only system that assures the maximum supply of goods to the people, they should have visited Slovenia in the 70's and, I imagine, the Ukraine at the same time. People who lived in the city would always go out to the country and work their family lands. Estimates I've read is those plots produced almost 40% of the food grown in Slovenia. Family plots produced food from literally even square inch of soil while the collective farms always looked half empty, and the plants looked half dead.
LOL.Yes, it seems Russia has gone from one of the poorest debtor nations to one of the wealthiest in the space of 35 years. What could have changed? I'm not a great fan of Putin, but one of the things he understands is the value of private property and getting out of the way of people using it. The amazing thing is the number of people in the West who are still admirers of Soviet socialism and think the problems with socialism is the Soviets just didn't do it right.
Soviet agriculture was basically sabotaged by Stalin with a system called "Lysenkoism" which was completely anti-science rubbish. If Lysenkoism wasn't a thing, the USSR and it's collective farms would have no problem feeding everyone, but Lysenkoism was party line because Stalin basically destroyed anybody who criticised it. Honestly, even though farms today are "private" they're still collectivized by massive agricultural mega corporations that can actually basically control production on the farm from data centers in the head office. Combines, planters etc can all be remotely controlled from anywhere on earth these days. It's collectivisation in all but name only, but it's done by massive private organisations who just then automate the ever living shit out of everything. I doubt in 20 years Farmers in the west will even really be a thing in terms of mass commercial food production. On Russia today. Russia is actually economically far more poor today than it was in the Soviet period. It has a lower GDP than Italy. The Soviet period they weren't even really in that much debt honestly.
@@MacakPodSIjemom For comparison: in Lithuania under soviets, a family could get a 'collective garden' plot, which was 3 to 6 ares ( yes, 20x15 to 20x30 meters). Basically, that would be several km2 divided into such plots of land for thousands of people. It was not even guaranteed to be proper land- in ours, soil was very sandy, and you would reach pure sand after digging 50cm. Growing things there was not easy, although vegetables from there were at least healthy- no uncontrolled pesticides/fertilisers, like in things grown at collective farms. So, we rarely went into the vegetable/fruit shops, described in this Ushanka episode. As a kid, I only remember that shop for potato chips (a rarity/novelty), and dried bananas, which would appear there once every few years (i never had a luck to try a fresh banana in USSR).
I honestly cannot believe as late as the 80s you did not have grocery stores with everything in them. It must have been such a pain to shop for food for a week. 5 or 6 different stores (butcher, dairy, fruits and veg...ALL separate????). Dear Lord.......how inefficient. Love these videos!
In some places it is still the same. If you want to pinch a penny you have go through 5-6 stores, this way you can save 10-20% on at least half of your groceries. I do it all the time. For example a beans can costs 1.8$ in one store, and 100m further you can find the same can for 1.2$
Can't blame the USSR for things like this. Since the beginning of the USSR, big capitalists countries like the US and UK made it nearly impossible for them to trade or have any resource relations with other countries. If you try a different system from capitalism, the capitalists retaliate by cutting off the rest of the world from you. As a result the USSR had to be basically self sufficient and it is amazing how well then managed in spite of that.
@@lenitaa7938 Are you kidding me? You don't know that ALL of the Western aligned capitalist countries began the most aggressive campaign of economic sanctions in world history on the Soviet Union for nearly all of its existence? The Capitalist countries have made it nearly impossible for any country to even attempt socialism. Even though over 70% of Venezuela's economy is in the private sector, the US imposes such harsh sanctions that over 60k people have died from them. All because their democratically elected president is part of a socialist party. You are clueless and disgusting. Stop talking to me.
Just a random comment: Did you know that "Car Talk" on National Public Radio has an enormous staff with several Russians? For example, the banker for the poker pot is Nicolai Putin; one of the Assistant Back Seat Drivers is Mischa Turnov; my favorite is their Russian Chauffeur, Pikov Andropov.
Larry Brennan they mocked and had a heart attack are both brothers dead now?? Listed to them every Saturday before the liberal clowns aired only thing that was worth listening to on NPR other than the music
Scott Pomeroy They quit doing the "Car Talk" program several years ago, and it is now a compilation of recorded shows. Tom Magliozzi died a few years ago. He had Alzheimer's. Ray is still alive. He writes a column for newspapers, answering questions about cars. They were funny and quite a change from the usual pompous pretentiousness of most NPR programs.
I love those guys. They laugh the entire time. When some guy calls in and says, " My wife and I have a debate... " And they go(always) " Your wife is right, buddy."
Спасибо Сергей за видео,вспомнил своё детство,у нас в Москве было всё точно так же как и в Киеве. Такие же магазины с разными отделами,такие же продукты так же соки продавали в розлив и в банках трёхлитровых,так же ходили в магазин с авоськой.
Community glasses for juices and even soda machines would’ve made covid spread like wildfire in the Soviet Union. That or everyone would have highly developed immune systems from all those shared germs. Lol
In Decadent West you CAN get any fruit/veg at any time, but if it's off season it's terrible. I call them "ghost melons" "ghost tomatoes" ect...you cut into them and there's no color
It got better since tomatoes are coming from Mexico, not Florida. Florida tomatoes were always junk. But in January Florida tomato is still better than no tomato.
@@mardikermardiker8514 funny how that works isn't it? Still, i prefer American capitalism every time but yes, our views on eachother are humorous. Fair to say neither of us like oppressors/tyrants.
Some of those Soviet balconies look in a pretty poor state. The crumbling concrete is a sign that then metal rebars are rusting away. I'm surprised they didn't collapse, especially as they were also used for storage.
Sir can I make a request to you if you can make a video about religion availability of christian Bible and about judiciary in the Soviet union thank you very much
Everyone canned vegetables and fruits, if possible! By the barrel! A necessity, with so many vegetable and fruit shortages! Russians were also addicted to salt due to eating so many pickled vegetables! Sauerkraut, pickles, pickled tomatoes, pickled watermelon, pickled mushrooms! Jams!
Amazing.. actual fresh fruits, baked breads, and _juices??_ No wonder Charles Koch hated the Soviets so much! Quality over quantity- _very un-capitalistic._
We have fresh baked breads in every grocery store. If you're too impaired to find the bakery, that's on you. We also have much more variety and quality of fresh fruits and vegetables. On site juice squeezing is only popular in countries now where food adulteration is common.
I would not be a happy camper during Soviet times and I love my Safeway with 5000 different kinds of cereals and two aisles filled from floor to the tops of the shelves with competing capitalists vying for my dollar. And all the V8 AND Tomato juice my little heart desires. As much meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables as can fit in my cart with my big wasteful gas guzzling powerful SUV waiting to take me home waiting in the parking lot. I'm sorry but that's the way it is.
That same shit food will probably give you cancer. Their are pros and cons in everything. Supermarkets bring immigrants, immigrants bring crime and terrorism. No good without evil and all that. I'm a fascist but prefer communism to slave capitalism.
Can't blame the USSR for things like this. Since the beginning of the USSR, big capitalists countries like the US and UK made it nearly impossible for them to trade or have any resource relations with other countries. If you try a different system from capitalism, the capitalists retaliate by cutting off the rest of the world from you. As a result the USSR had to be basically self sufficient and it is amazing how well then managed in spite of that.
You’re mom looked really pretty back then! I’m sure that’s why you’re daughter looks so pretty! Americans just don’t pickup the pretty genes? I don’t know why? Ukrainians and Russian women look so pretty? But you guys were lucky! Because there wasn’t many pretty girls! Maybe 10 out of 100 girls in high school
Can't blame the USSR for things like this. Since the beginning of the USSR, big capitalists countries like the US and UK made it nearly impossible for them to trade or have any resource relations with other countries. If you try a different system from capitalism, the capitalists retaliate by cutting off the rest of the world from you. As a result the USSR had to be basically self sufficient and it is amazing how well then managed in spite of that.
If you can't produce enough food to stock grocery stores in literally the largest country in the world, with alliances with tropical countries that can make everything you can't, you are a failure. The UK hasn't fed itself since the 1800s. They weren't denying Russia food.
@@mikeyorkav4039 Initially, the Soviets wanted to take over the entire world and make it communist. No carpet bombing, agree. Just a carpet take over with killing off "exploiter class"
Hello, comrades!
My name is Sergei. I was born in the USSR in 1971. Since 1999 I have lived in the USA.
Ushanka Show channel was created to share stories as well as my own memories of everyday life in the USSR.
My book about arriving in America in 1995 is available on Amazon:
www.amazon.com/dp/B08DJ7RNTC
You can support this project here: www.patreon.com/sputnikoff with monthly donations
Support for this channel via PAYPAL: paypal.me/ushankashow
Ushanka Show merchandise:
teespring.com/stores/ushanka-show-shop
If you are curious to try some of the Soviet-era candy and other foodstuffs, please use the link below.
www.russiantable.com/imported-russian-chocolate-mishka-kosolapy__146-14.html?tracking=5a6933a9095f9
My FB: facebook.com/sergey.sputnikoff
Twitter: twitter.com/ushankashow
Instagram: instagram.com/ushanka_show/
Reddit: www.reddit.com/r/The_Ushanka_Show/
Was the Soviet Union anything like the movie Moscow on the Hudson
In the USA you could get anything you wanted in the 1980’s. Just need money but I watch you guys and you couldn’t get everything that we could. You know in USA that Soviet Union was mysteriously! We didn’t know how you lived over there. It was very interesting to me. Always wanted to see Russia and Ukraine but to old now and it probably won’t ever happen now. But I still look for information about life during those times
My mom craved pizza when she was pregnant with me and pizza is my favorite food also all the pizza gave me red hair 🤣
I haven't had tomato juice in years, but this video made me retry tomato juice. Now, every once in a while I get myself a glass of tomato juice and put this video on.
My father had a lemon and orange groves in Italy and most of his produce went to Soviet Russia
You ought to mention the importance of the Barter system in Soviet times, and having various personal connections to get various items, the only way to survive!
Also, the Food and Cloth, etc Ration Cards!!
I remember cuing up for bananas once a year as a kid in Russia. We weren’t hungry, but we didn’t have much available.
We have in the United States what's known as white Birch beer. It's a soda and traditionally it was made from white Birch sap but today it's probably mostly sugar water, carbonation and artificial flavoring.
I just recently had a craft red burch beer. It was fantastic and had real extract. The craft is not dead
In Australia I remember in the 80s/90s everything was seasonal, you could only buy certain fruits and vegetables and foods when they were in season. Also god forbid you had like a bad Banana season because then you would be paying $5+ for a single banana. Now everything is preserved for months and gets shipped around the globe. The apple you buy in a supermarket today? has probably been in cold storage and preserved for literally a couple months. It's why fresh fruit/grocers markets tastes so different from what you get in the super market.
Americans get a lot shipped from South America. It's not actually that old. We get lettuce from Bolivia in the summer.
Do you remember when the supermarkets had cordial dispensers with a plastic cup
I really like your show Mr. Sputnikoff! I often listen to it in the background when I cam cleaning or working from home.
Really enjoy the videos, very interesting and informative.
Wow. To go from stores that can't keep things in stock and waiting in lines just to purchase goods, to a place where the stores literally throw tons of fresh, perfectly good food away. That must be a surreal experience. I had a friend from Bali and he was used to being dirt poor, and, when he got here, he told me how his family ate better than they ever had in their home country for weeks by dumpster diving in the rich supermarket trash bins of LA County. They had never had beef before. Matter of fact the only thing they had trouble getting was decent rice. So coming to this land of what must've seemed like incredible overabundance, what was that like for you?
Wow, really cool and insightful story. That wasteful tendency is one major gripe I have with western grocery stores, especially how it affects farmers.
@@DoReMi123acb Lol thanks! Part 2 to that story is my friend is a true wasteful American now. About 2 weeks ago I saw him throw away not 1 but 2 Hamburgers because he had never eaten at Carl's Jr. before and he got 3 hamburgers he didn't like. I watched him toss 2 $6 burgers away like so much garbage. He laughed and said "3rd times the charm, eh?" . I just smiled thinking back to the Balinese child who couldn't get food in his home country because it was all gobbled up by the tourists. Just thinking I'd that juxtaposition makes me giggle for some reason.
On a more serious note, you're correct. The way food is simple wasted is disgusting, especially when there's hungry people just waiting for it. If you're gonna toss it anyway, JUST GIVE IT TO THEM!!! IDK how many freaking times I've heard of stories where people are prosecuted for dumpster diving. It's infuriating! I'm like "These people are already at rock fuckkng bottom, literally living off of our refuse, and you're going to charge them and put them in jail??!!!!? What the absolute fiznuck??!!? Do police have NOTHING better to do with their days??!!! Cuz I got an unsolved medicine robbery I'd love to see solved...
MetaSynForYourSoul You’d have to blame the consumer for that waste. We’ve come to expect nothing but “absolutely fresh”, especially when we’re paying money. Since the food that is thrown away is still perfectly edible, not criminalizing dumpster diving would incentivize people (who’d otherwise be paying customers) to wait for closing time for free food. Why pay for something when you could just get it for free? It’s another example of a few people ruining a good thing.
@Mo Chow They didn't come by air. He came on a ship, spent 2 months on the boat, or it might've been 2 different boats i can't recall, disembarked when they docked in California. They took a skiff from the boat to Manhattan Beach, and along with 3 other families just didn't go back to the ship. Stayed illegals for quite some time before I believe his father was granted some kind of asylum or something. That's what he told me. Also you came in the "right ✅ way" , he came the "wrong ❌ way". The wrong way is far cheaper. You go hike to an open field and cross. Passport? I got 2 feet, 2 hands, a strong back and an open mind, and THERE'S the "Golden Mountain!" I shall not be stopped by lack of means. Once I am in, they will need a God to dislodge me.
@Mo Chow that's 110% true! A lot of Americans have never met an immigrant, illegal or otherwise. They hear 1 or 2 stories about an illegal immigrant making it from nothing and think "Wow! Every immigrant story is SO INSPIRING!" It's really kind of sad that they do this and does a complete disservice to other countries. Especially Africa in my opinion because yes there's poverty, there's people living in "the bush", there's terrorism, but there's also wealthy grand cities and unique architecture, rich ancient culture, and many things to be envious of. It holds us back from truly seeing where help is required and just thinks "All anybody needs to do is get to America. All problems solved!" IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY! 😆
Some of my neighbors took a trip to the Soviet Union in the early 1980s, and showed their slides when they returned to the U.S. The biggest impression upon them was seeing lemonade being sold on the street with everyone sharing glasses, like you showed in this video. Of course, we considered providing disposable paper or foam cups, or using glasses washed in a commercial dishwasher after use, the minimum for sanitation. That really was what drove home the relatively low standard of living for average Soviet citizens.
The one thing we should have kept: Bring your own containers for bulk goods. I remember everything being in a sack/barrel/crate. You could sometimes get paper bags or waxed paper for meat products, but that was it. And it was great. Absolutely no waste of plastic. All the glass got recycled or reused. Of course it was a bit of a hassle, but if we managed then, when few people had cars, why can't we do it now?
I still have three crates of mineral water bottles that we used to return every time when we got filled ones. Now I have sacks of plastic bottles that go in the garbage, because the city doesn't care about recycling.
I like it. Theres something healthy about calling a store by its product rather than some corporate advertisement. Something very traditional about it.
I guess but i still like everything to be in one place
I use to walk around a lot and the Lines that you would see were amazing....I would pass an area and nothing was happening then on the way back there would be a line ..likely a delivery had arrived ....
i have been making those market bags for weeks now..i love them...if you would like one..i can get one made right up..let me know your fav color....take care i just love this show
One thing I miss about Ukraine is the fruit and fruit juices. One particular brand is pronounced "sagochok" (I think)
had really good grape and apple juice.
Sadochok - A small Orchard. Of course, that brand didn't exist during the Soviet days.
Very interesting information. Thank you for making this video. So you guys didn't have to turn in a ration coupon when you bought groceries?
Kiev, where I lived, was supplied pretty well, so we didn't have the ration coupons (talons). Small towns out in the country did use those, so the locals could purchase several kilos of meat, butter, etc
They should make a bag like that today for a reusable bag.
So cosy, that intro cartoon. Thank you.
Somethings the Soviet Union did that made sense, carry your own grocery bag! The United States is littered with plastic and bags are the worse. It seems more noticable in winter ,and all it took was for me to live in another country for a while. My eyes were open.
Great video!
8:03 LOL!! I remember that story about the dispenser you said it was like kissing the whole neighborhood!
here in pa we have a white birch soda made from thew white birch sap never seen the straight sap fro sale tho
pop would best descried it soory were i live any fizzy drink is called soda but this is some quick goggle of different brands www.pasnacks.com/birch-beer-and-soda.html there are more makers but these are the big 3 brands
was kinda funny when when i watched this i was drinking a can of the weis brand birch beer
We had those net bags in the UK still do
I have done my graduation from Soviet Union means when I reached Moscow it was Sept 1990.I did my Russian language course from Tibilisi. And further studies from St. Petersburg. Your vedio flashed back all my memories. Really it was absolutlylike that as you have described. But you have said nothing about compot(Компот) which was avilble in stalovyas.
Thanks for vedio it is really nice vedio. Love from India.
Thank you, Aman! One of recent videos covered the topics of Stolovaya and kompots. Love Bollywood love stories! ))
Aren't you indian why were studying in Russia instead of india
Birch Beer is what we would call it in Alaska. I have found it in Illinois.
Great story as always, I admire how people in USSR were efficient with resources and didn't waste like America does, from what I see every day here. I guess you could say... "Economics must be economical." ~Brezhnev
Being diplomats, my parents lived there but here's the deal - subsidy leads to waste so for example, houses had no insulation, no double glazing, no thermostat - indeed, you couldn't actually control the heating so if the apartment got too hot, everyone just opened a window to cool it down! The distribution system was antiquated to put it mildly resulting in loads of food rotting away and the list goes on regards waste as in truth, getting things repaired wasn't easy either.
Perhaps I came across as praising the economic model of USSR, to be clear I'm not a communist or anything remotely close. What I admire is how, under the serious constraints of the Soviet system, the people of USSR led lives that were not wasteful in comparison to how people like me in the US live. Don't get me wrong, I love what I have and I'm grateful for it, but I wish we could reuse more shit, basically.
You're absolutely correct on the failure of centralized planning, and I'd go as far to say people who support a completely centralized economy today are delusional.
O man i hear yea and agree. We waste over 40% of the food we produce, thats is horrible. As you know if it sits on the shelf too long in a grocery store its thrown away even though its completely good. When i was a corrections officer in Texas we threw tons and tons of food away, it was disgusting. They used to feed pigs with it, not anymore.
They didn't waste because they didn't have the luxury to waste.
The individual was extremely economical. The planned economy was not
Doesn't sound bad to me, if the produce you did get was always in peak season. Even in off season there is amazing nutrition in a potato.
Was there anything plastic made available in the USSR? I know this is a weird question but I was wondering because of the thing with the jars, glasses and all that
@@statinskill plastic was pretty common by the 1980s in the US. Margarine and cottage cheese and yogurt and milk all came in plastic by the early 80s.
Ushanka Show shoutout.
We have birch beer in America! It's delicious, better than root beer. Unfortunately it's not all that common.
Kompot! I see it! And I love it when my grandma makes it!
Looking at those pictures, shops in Soviet Union were putting effort into spreading their wares to make it look like they're full of goods.
Shops in the west have to pay for space, so the spaces between shelves are narrower and moslty everything is quite packed.
money and time, in a linear combination. I suspect it's quicker in Kiev these days, but it also costs you more too.
Was black currant juice common?
You know, this is how we grew up in Mexico. There were stores for bread, fruit and vegetable stores, meat, chicken, and fish stores. This is very familiar. They still exist, including bringing your own bag. These days they exist side b6 side with supermarkets.
Nice nice video and photos. Good to see Russians are just people like us.
When Kruschev came to America in the 1960’s and went in an American grocery store he didn’t believe that the products on the shelves were all real because he was convinced it was impossible to have our the variety of our ordinary grocery items available everywhere in America and as plentiful as he saw in these supermarkets.
He was convinced it had to all be fake because he didn’t believe it could even be possible to supply a wide variety of items we take for granted in our grocery stores.
to be fair, what's the point of putting several brands of canned corn from the same field on the shelf. like what's the point?
We have white birch soda in the US Foxon Park is the brand that makes it. Always had it when I was a kid It’s produced in East Heaven CT.
could you do an episode about G.U.M department store?
Do you have any old photos from that department store? BTW..thank you for your follow ups. :)
CUM?
In Soviet Russia,you don't buy fruit and vegetables,fruits and vegetables will buy you. Just kidding and great videos.
Advertising has ruined everything in US and outside world. At least in USSR people were not made fools by ad agencies.
Actually, the lack of advertising in the USSR was a nuisance. Canned goods sometimes didn't have labels. No one knew what (if anything) was available in the stores. People would often join lines at stores without knowing what was being sold at the head of the line. Shopping was extremely inefficient, and people wasted huge amounts of time shopping.
No, instead they were made fools by the state.
In a village close to mine a nice lady makes white birch sirap.
Privet Sergei,
This is KGB officer, you're under arrest!!
Nah, i'm kidding. Seriously, how can i wash/clean my ushanka?
Thanks!
What if you could manage to get out of work early? Would that help with the line situation?
Russians dependent a lot on their elderly relatives to stand in endless lines! One stood a whole day in a lineup at times, with no guarantee of purchase! ! Also depended on the word of mouth from neighbors, coworkers, etc about certain goods available!
Did people have pets in the USSR and if they did how did they feed them?
I don't recall any pet food being sold. People gave their pets food scraps from the table.
@@Sputnikoff выдавали колхозникам зерно , солому .
Of course, there were many pets! We fed worms and pond mosquito larvae for tropical fish! There was dry fish food, also!
You could buy grain and seeds for birds! No specialized dog or cat food! Table scraps worked well!
Birch beer is what it was called here, although it was non alcoholic
I've heard that their where special commission stores where people could legally buy and sell their produce at a farmers market. Is that true?
Peter Wilson - Most likely, you're asking about collective-farm markets once were called 'kolkhoznyye rynki' in the USSR. In that case, you're right. Indeed, people had the right sell there their products and handicraft stuff.
Yeah, the same type as American Pawn.
Could you do a video on the famous Soviet rock band Kino?
USHANKA SHOW ah ok awesome! I really enjoy learning about Russian history specifically the Soviet era so I really enjoy this channel as a whole. Thanks for responding
The Yugoslav government allow people to keep what was called "family land". That was an acre or two that a family had to prove had been owned by members of the family going back to about 1800. Other than those plots, all land was owned by the government, and all farming was done on collective farms. If anyone doesn't believe capitalism is the only system that assures the maximum supply of goods to the people, they should have visited Slovenia in the 70's and, I imagine, the Ukraine at the same time. People who lived in the city would always go out to the country and work their family lands. Estimates I've read is those plots produced almost 40% of the food grown in Slovenia. Family plots produced food from literally even square inch of soil while the collective farms always looked half empty, and the plants looked half dead.
LOL.Yes, it seems Russia has gone from one of the poorest debtor nations to one of the wealthiest in the space of 35 years. What could have changed? I'm not a great fan of Putin, but one of the things he understands is the value of private property and getting out of the way of people using it. The amazing thing is the number of people in the West who are still admirers of Soviet socialism and think the problems with socialism is the Soviets just didn't do it right.
Soviet agriculture was basically sabotaged by Stalin with a system called "Lysenkoism" which was completely anti-science rubbish. If Lysenkoism wasn't a thing, the USSR and it's collective farms would have no problem feeding everyone, but Lysenkoism was party line because Stalin basically destroyed anybody who criticised it.
Honestly, even though farms today are "private" they're still collectivized by massive agricultural mega corporations that can actually basically control production on the farm from data centers in the head office. Combines, planters etc can all be remotely controlled from anywhere on earth these days. It's collectivisation in all but name only, but it's done by massive private organisations who just then automate the ever living shit out of everything. I doubt in 20 years Farmers in the west will even really be a thing in terms of mass commercial food production.
On Russia today. Russia is actually economically far more poor today than it was in the Soviet period. It has a lower GDP than Italy. The Soviet period they weren't even really in that much debt honestly.
@@MacakPodSIjemom For comparison: in Lithuania under soviets, a family could get a 'collective garden' plot, which was 3 to 6 ares ( yes, 20x15 to 20x30 meters). Basically, that would be several km2 divided into such plots of land for thousands of people. It was not even guaranteed to be proper land- in ours, soil was very sandy, and you would reach pure sand after digging 50cm. Growing things there was not easy, although vegetables from there were at least healthy- no uncontrolled pesticides/fertilisers, like in things grown at collective farms. So, we rarely went into the vegetable/fruit shops, described in this Ushanka episode. As a kid, I only remember that shop for potato chips (a rarity/novelty), and dried bananas, which would appear there once every few years (i never had a luck to try a fresh banana in USSR).
lysenkoism is a bitch.
@@sarjim4381 lol...30 years of capitalism and the soviet union went from a superpower to a shithile that still relies on Soviet-era infastructure
They do have Birch beer in the US not too popular these days.
I had some great watermelon 🍉 in Kiev the summer of 1991.
I honestly cannot believe as late as the 80s you did not have grocery stores with everything in them.
It must have been such a pain to shop for food for a week. 5 or 6 different stores (butcher, dairy, fruits and veg...ALL separate????).
Dear Lord.......how inefficient.
Love these videos!
In some places it is still the same. If you want to pinch a penny you have go through 5-6 stores, this way you can save 10-20% on at least half of your groceries. I do it all the time. For example a beans can costs 1.8$ in one store, and 100m further you can find the same can for 1.2$
Would you be interested in talking about your experiences with Soviet life/consumer conditions with an American college class?
Can't blame the USSR for things like this. Since the beginning of the USSR, big capitalists countries like the US and UK made it nearly impossible for them to trade or have any resource relations with other countries. If you try a different system from capitalism, the capitalists retaliate by cutting off the rest of the world from you. As a result the USSR had to be basically self sufficient and it is amazing how well then managed in spite of that.
@@anaxa4883 Soviet Union closed its own borders! Censorship was strict and punitive!
@@lenitaa7938 Are you kidding me? You don't know that ALL of the Western aligned capitalist countries began the most aggressive campaign of economic sanctions in world history on the Soviet Union for nearly all of its existence? The Capitalist countries have made it nearly impossible for any country to even attempt socialism. Even though over 70% of Venezuela's economy is in the private sector, the US imposes such harsh sanctions that over 60k people have died from them. All because their democratically elected president is part of a socialist party. You are clueless and disgusting. Stop talking to me.
Just a random comment: Did you know that "Car Talk" on National Public Radio has an enormous staff with several Russians? For example, the banker for the poker pot is Nicolai Putin; one of the Assistant Back Seat Drivers is Mischa Turnov; my favorite is their Russian Chauffeur, Pikov Andropov.
Larry Brennan they mocked and had a heart attack are both brothers dead now?? Listed to them every Saturday before the liberal clowns aired only thing that was worth listening to on NPR other than the music
I imagine the big city's went commercial since then but is this old style still the way they serve things??
Scott Pomeroy They quit doing the "Car Talk" program several years ago, and it is now a compilation of recorded shows. Tom Magliozzi died a few years ago. He had Alzheimer's. Ray is still alive. He writes a column for newspapers, answering questions about cars. They were funny and quite a change from the usual pompous pretentiousness of most NPR programs.
I love those guys.
They laugh the entire time.
When some guy calls in and says, " My wife and I have a debate... "
And they go(always) " Your wife is right, buddy."
I like socialism, it is environmentally friendly. The US the beacon of capitalism, with 4.5% of the world population, produces 40% waste
Any poor society is environmentally friendly. We saved every empty tin can or a glass jar to re-use for something. That's what poor people do
Спасибо Сергей за видео,вспомнил своё детство,у нас в Москве было всё точно так же как и в Киеве. Такие же магазины с разными отделами,такие же продукты так же соки продавали в розлив и в банках трёхлитровых,так же ходили в магазин с авоськой.
Неплохо бы еще русские субтитры прикрутить. Сейчас такую ахинею про совдепию несут, что просто уши вянут.
Did they give you bottles or jars for the juice or did you just pour it in the avyoshka
No juicero in Soviet Union either, I guess? No juicero in Soviet Murica either.
qe have birch beer here in America, Basically carbonated Birch juice
As soon as I read the title I was like... He means potatoes.
And he did.
Community glasses for juices and even soda machines would’ve made covid spread like wildfire in the Soviet Union. That or everyone would have highly developed immune systems from all those shared germs. Lol
One kulak disliked this
Trotckist!
does birch juice taste like birch beer soda?
No! It wasn't fermented! Birch nectar!
@@lenitaa7938 You can get birch syrup in the US. It's usually produced in Alaska.
In Decadent West you CAN get any fruit/veg at any time, but if it's off season it's terrible. I call them "ghost melons" "ghost tomatoes" ect...you cut into them and there's no color
It got better since tomatoes are coming from Mexico, not Florida. Florida tomatoes were always junk. But in January Florida tomato is still better than no tomato.
The soviets had birch beer?
Nope. Just "burch juice"
@@UshankaShow oh.... and I imagine theres an emphasis on the "BURCH" huh?
I'm guessing there wasn't much of an obesity proble
Not really because everyone had to walk a lot
why place looks like north korea
They didn't sell kiwis in the states till the mid 80s!
We have berch beer try some
Do you think tomatoes are fruits or vegetables?
In my mind it's a vegetable
"There was a lot of Jews...." lmfao Your accent amuses me. {:-p
Real birch sap is nature's energy drink.
Do u have a facebook comrade
They had money in russia? I thought people lived in plantations like the blacks did in the 1600s. WOW thank you!
Everyone had money in ussr )) But ironically - there was nothing to buy ))
welcome to the Real Except for the things there were to buy, which makes what you said hilariously wrong.
You are funny guy! We, soviets, thought that all western workers were working chained by their owners - capitalists.
@@mardikermardiker8514 funny how that works isn't it?
Still, i prefer American capitalism every time but yes, our views on eachother are humorous.
Fair to say neither of us like oppressors/tyrants.
No hypermarkets in Soviet Union. I guess yet another special store for buying alcohol?
Gastronoms ? ))
Wonder if the birch juice had xylitol in it 🤔
Did you like the Soviet Union?
Tomato is good to aged men for prostate .
Some of those Soviet balconies look in a pretty poor state. The crumbling concrete is a sign that then metal rebars are rusting away.
I'm surprised they didn't collapse, especially as they were also used for storage.
were there any jews in the USSR?
Obviously
Sir can I make a request to you if you can make a video about religion availability of christian Bible and about judiciary in the Soviet union thank you very much
Nobody canned their vegetables, I guess?
You have to have extra for that. Planned economy doesn't allow for extra anything let alone land, seeds and crop yields.
Everyone canned vegetables and fruits, if possible! By the barrel! A necessity, with so many vegetable and fruit shortages!
Russians were also addicted to salt due to eating so many pickled vegetables! Sauerkraut, pickles, pickled tomatoes, pickled watermelon, pickled mushrooms! Jams!
@@diesect33 Many factories, etc gave small parcel of land to grow own produce in the city! Lucky to grow own potatoes, important staple for Russians!
Canning is a very Western thing because it's energy intensive. Pickling was far more common.
Not much packaging trash produced!
Amazing.. actual fresh fruits, baked breads, and _juices??_ No wonder Charles Koch hated the Soviets so much! Quality over quantity- _very un-capitalistic._
We have fresh baked breads in every grocery store. If you're too impaired to find the bakery, that's on you. We also have much more variety and quality of fresh fruits and vegetables. On site juice squeezing is only popular in countries now where food adulteration is common.
@@toomanymarys7355 ''On site juice squeezing is only popular in countries now where food adulteration is common'' Or in any European mall
This isn't USSR anymore is it? I thought just Russia. Thank you.
Correct. But this channel is about life in the USSR.
I would not be a happy camper during Soviet times and I love my Safeway with 5000 different kinds of cereals and two aisles filled from floor to the tops of the shelves with competing capitalists vying for my dollar. And all the V8 AND Tomato juice my little heart desires. As much meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables as can fit in my cart with my big wasteful gas guzzling powerful SUV waiting to take me home waiting in the parking lot. I'm sorry but that's the way it is.
That same shit food will probably give you cancer. Their are pros and cons in everything. Supermarkets bring immigrants, immigrants bring crime and terrorism. No good without evil and all that. I'm a fascist but prefer communism to slave capitalism.
Can't blame the USSR for things like this. Since the beginning of the USSR, big capitalists countries like the US and UK made it nearly impossible for them to trade or have any resource relations with other countries. If you try a different system from capitalism, the capitalists retaliate by cutting off the rest of the world from you. As a result the USSR had to be basically self sufficient and it is amazing how well then managed in spite of that.
Covid: hold my beer
F@ck! I have so much food here in California that I throw most of it away! You can only eat so much.
You’re mom looked really pretty back then! I’m sure that’s why you’re daughter looks so pretty! Americans just don’t pickup the pretty genes? I don’t know why? Ukrainians and Russian women look so pretty? But you guys were lucky! Because there wasn’t many pretty girls! Maybe 10 out of 100 girls in high school
Can't blame the USSR for things like this. Since the beginning of the USSR, big capitalists countries like the US and UK made it nearly impossible for them to trade or have any resource relations with other countries. If you try a different system from capitalism, the capitalists retaliate by cutting off the rest of the world from you. As a result the USSR had to be basically self sufficient and it is amazing how well then managed in spite of that.
Would you trade with somebody that told point blank that their ultimate goal to destroy you and take over the world?
If you can't produce enough food to stock grocery stores in literally the largest country in the world, with alliances with tropical countries that can make everything you can't, you are a failure. The UK hasn't fed itself since the 1800s. They weren't denying Russia food.
@@UshankaShow the soviets werent the ones carpet bombing and destabilizing the world
@@mikeyorkav4039 Initially, the Soviets wanted to take over the entire world and make it communist. No carpet bombing, agree. Just a carpet take over with killing off "exploiter class"
@@UshankaShow but even the soviets tried many times to reach out to the west with overall human cooperation snd was met with hostilities
all these community glasses are nasty... did soviet people not know about germs and diseases?
It worked fine! Glasses were washed! Didn't hear of any illness breakouts!
@@lenitaa7938 in soviet russia you infect germ.