Web comments about a historic photo

Comments responding to this historic photo are more interesting than the image.

In Romania those times the ration was much lower than what this photo shows, for reference 100g butter/person… and meat wasn’t even on ration, you could go to queue 5 hours in case the shop got some twice a month, but most of the times it would run out before you get to the till… Though you could get as much sweets as you wanted if you were happy with the “only one type of candy” 😊 Good old days!

Wasn’t it also one egg per person and month?

I’ve heard stories from a friend from Romania and it was horrifying. I remember 1980’s in Yugoslavia and we have rations too but not that extreme like in Romania.

As I remember it was 3-4 eggs, but there could be slight differences depending on which part of the country you lived maybe….

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I had a classmate from Sepsiszentgyörgy at high school, she told the class at one of the very first lessons in September 2000, that she went to primary school in the morning as a child to line up in front of the store. She had been standing there for 2 hours, it wasn’t her turn, so she went to school with a stomach upset. A couple of my classmates listened in disbelief, but unfortunately that was the case.

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did you live in Poland in the 80’s? To think I grew up in the 80’s in UK and didn’t want for anything. We always had plenty food and lots of non essential food too. I always think of rations as something that was during ww2. Not in the 80’s when I was a kid/teenager. This shows how lucky I was

No, it was during the Soviet Union rule over the Eastern Europe in the 80s. SU fell in 1991 and practically in 1989. The things started to get better since then. Very quick luckily.

did they still have there ration card? My nan did,she would swap her cigarette rations for sweets as she didn't smoke. They sounded harsh times.

Russian rationing in the '90s is due to the fall of the Soviet Union and because their economy collapsed.

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The problem was that even with "card" you couldn't buy it anywhere...

Actually, vodka was the best currency at that time. Without it, you couldn't buy anything except what is listed here.

Still works today. I mean…would you do me a favor for 20 PLN? Nah. Would you do me a favor for a bottle of vodka? Sure, my friend, what is it that you need? 😀

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In socialist Yugoslavia, I and everyone I know had all the food we wanted + Italian clothes. My friend in Australia from Poland says there were rations and long lines, but everyone had a way of working around them. Life is always more complex than what we see on FB pics

absolutely! In Hungary there were also no rations or long lines and you could by as much you needed and could afford. I really dislike the distorted picture it’s given to this audience from whom most can’t think for themselves.

Suzana Sukovic We had money but no prducts, now You have products but no money. PP (purcasing power) of Yugolsavia citizens was bigger than today PP of Croats or Serbs.

An there werent any homeless people in Yugoslavia 😉

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What I have transcribed is just what has been posted during the last few hours!