Aside from the discussion on to what extent are these pictures actually representative of the overall conditions of the era, it's worth noting that the 1980s in

Aside from the discussion on to what extent are these pictures actually representative of the overall conditions of the era, it's worth noting that the 1980s in Poland were particularly gloomy even by communist standards. The system was clearly in the final phase of decline, and the crisis had struck hard. The living standard had deteriorated considerably in comparison to the much more cheerful 1970s (when foreign credits helped to boost the consumption). This shows in numerous statistics such as eg. alcohol or nicotine consumption, which peaked in the 1980s.