4 ms·

I like that the pasta box indicates net weight at 13% humidity level. One can only wonder what led to this. https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/5419

by raquo 9y ago

I like that the pasta box indicates net weight at 13% humidity level. One can only wonder what led to this. https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/54191/image.jpg https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/54191/image.j... Does anyone happen to know the meaning of "пояс" (belt) in the pricing scheme on the same box?

krasin 9y ago
The prices were set by the government, but different parts of the Soviet Union had different prices ([1], in Russian) Belt 1: Moscow, Saint-Petersburg (named Leningrad at the time), republic capitals, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, closed cities ([2]). Those had lower prices, and more products available at the stores. Belt 3: Far North regions. Prices were higher, but so are the salaries. Belt 2: the rest of the Soviet Union. The worst option out of three. The largest. 1. http://russian7.ru/post/cenovye-poyasa-v-sssr-chto-yeto-bylo/ http://russian7.ru/post/cenovye-poyasa-v-sssr-chto-yeto-bylo... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_city https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_city
- mantas 9y ago
  Belt 1 had different tiers as well. Shopping on a trip to Moscow was pretty much a must. Another parallel tier was special shops for nomenklatura.
c-smile 9y ago
"Пояс" here means geographical area of accessibility: on the north and Siberia prices were higher but salaries were also higher. So the price included delivery cost taxes. As of "at 13% humidity level": Pasta is highly hygroscopic and being packaged in paper box can absorb a lot of moister increasing its weight significantly. Fair remark, isn't it? For that matter: all devices sold in USSR were coming with principal schemas so anyone can repair and reproduce. Open Source at its best :)
- pilsetnieks 9y ago
  > For that matter: all devices sold in USSR were coming with principal schemas so anyone can repair and reproduce. Repairability was an absolute necessity for Soviet tech. There simply wasn't enough production capacity to adequately supply most households with even one of a certain item, not to mention replacement items for those that broke down. Appliance repair was an everyday necessity and it was seen as a somewhat lucrative career path. For example, Latvia was where the washing machines were made, and here everyone had one in their homes, wheres other soviet republics had queues 10 years long just to get a washing machine. Similarly, when my grandpa wanted to get a car, he would have to sign up for a 6-7 year queue, with no guarantee, and he'd still have to pay an exorbitant price for it (I think it was something like 5000 rubles when the monthly salary was 120 rubles.) In the end he somehow (probably bribery and underhanded dealings, like so many things happened then) bought two wrecked Moskvitches and made a single working car out of them. Anyway, back to the repairability stuff - a common story heard everywhere was about women complaining about their lazy, good for nothing alcoholic husbands - that they'd get rid of them if it weren't for their "golden hands," meaning they could build or repair anything, if they got to it. Capability to repair something was more valued in a person than most other personality traits, and it mattered because if you couldn't get something built or repaired yourself, you'd never get it done. In that sense, in those matters that fell through the cracks, the Soviet Union was the ultimate libertarian society.
  - c-smile 9y ago
    "golden hands" etc. has nothing special with Soviets. It was the same at tsars times. The culture started by tsar Peter the Great who was quite good as a locksmith. He has several rooms in his palace with lathes and other tools.
    - pilsetnieks 9y ago
      Yes, and the lathe was also Prince Bolkonsky's hobby. I wasn't talking about hobbies, I was talking about necessities of ordinary people.

by raquo 9y ago

krasin 9y ago

The prices were set by the government, but different parts of the Soviet Union had different prices ([1], in Russian) Belt 1: Moscow, Saint-Petersburg (named Leningrad at the time), republic capitals, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, closed cities ([2]). Those had lower prices, and more products available at the stores. Belt 3: Far North regions. Prices were higher, but so are the salaries. Belt 2: the rest of the Soviet Union. The worst option out of three. The largest. 1. http://russian7.ru/post/cenovye-poyasa-v-sssr-chto-yeto-bylo/ http://russian7.ru/post/cenovye-poyasa-v-sssr-chto-yeto-bylo... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_city https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_city

mantas 9y ago
Belt 1 had different tiers as well. Shopping on a trip to Moscow was pretty much a must. Another parallel tier was special shops for nomenklatura.

c-smile 9y ago

"Пояс" here means geographical area of accessibility: on the north and Siberia prices were higher but salaries were also higher. So the price included delivery cost taxes. As of "at 13% humidity level": Pasta is highly hygroscopic and being packaged in paper box can absorb a lot of moister increasing its weight significantly. Fair remark, isn't it? For that matter: all devices sold in USSR were coming with principal schemas so anyone can repair and reproduce. Open Source at its best :)

pilsetnieks 9y ago
> For that matter: all devices sold in USSR were coming with principal schemas so anyone can repair and reproduce. Repairability was an absolute necessity for Soviet tech. There simply wasn't enough production capacity to adequately supply most households with even one of a certain item, not to mention replacement items for those that broke down. Appliance repair was an everyday necessity and it was seen as a somewhat lucrative career path. For example, Latvia was where the washing machines were made, and here everyone had one in their homes, wheres other soviet republics had queues 10 years long just to get a washing machine. Similarly, when my grandpa wanted to get a car, he would have to sign up for a 6-7 year queue, with no guarantee, and he'd still have to pay an exorbitant price for it (I think it was something like 5000 rubles when the monthly salary was 120 rubles.) In the end he somehow (probably bribery and underhanded dealings, like so many things happened then) bought two wrecked Moskvitches and made a single working car out of them. Anyway, back to the repairability stuff - a common story heard everywhere was about women complaining about their lazy, good for nothing alcoholic husbands - that they'd get rid of them if it weren't for their "golden hands," meaning they could build or repair anything, if they got to it. Capability to repair something was more valued in a person than most other personality traits, and it mattered because if you couldn't get something built or repaired yourself, you'd never get it done. In that sense, in those matters that fell through the cracks, the Soviet Union was the ultimate libertarian society.
- c-smile 9y ago
  "golden hands" etc. has nothing special with Soviets. It was the same at tsars times. The culture started by tsar Peter the Great who was quite good as a locksmith. He has several rooms in his palace with lathes and other tools.
  - pilsetnieks 9y ago
    Yes, and the lathe was also Prince Bolkonsky's hobby. I wasn't talking about hobbies, I was talking about necessities of ordinary people.