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The Soviet economy was somewhat surreal and it is difficult to explain it well to the Western audience. Including vacations, vacation tickets («путёвки»), summe

The Soviet economy was somewhat surreal and it is difficult to explain it well to the Western audience. Including vacations, vacation tickets («путёвки»), summer camps, sanatoriums and the like. I still remember some parts though, so if you are interested in how it worked, I can answer your questions. Most definitely it wasn't all that rosy.

Aaronstotle 4y ago
My grandparents and my father grew up in the Soviet Union. I always find it fascinating hearing about my grandparent's childhood and what it was like to grow up there. One anecdote for not all rosy: My father is permanently traumatized because he had to get his tonsils removed when he was young and they didn't give him any anesthetics.
- helge9210 4y ago
  > they didn't give him any anesthetics This is a description of the most of the Soviet health services. For example, dentists were using short metal pipe on a thumb when treating kids, so they don't bite or close their mouth.
  - diuddnbsb 4y ago
    >"and there was boy in sewer... and he was eating the rat...and the rat was eating the dog...and the dog was eating me...but i was runned away... and it was so bad..." >"and then the police shoot the dog...and the dog raped the boy...and then the rat shot the police..." >"and then you have to eated the police...but the dog was eating the rat..." >"and my grandmother ate the police...and the police turned the dog into lampshade....but the rat raped the police...and now my grandmother is dead inside lampshade dog...."
- Toutouxc 4y ago
  I got my (pharyngeal) tonsil removed without anaesthesia, in 2001 I think, as a kid, in the Czech Republic. It didn't hurt at all, but I still remember the loud crunch of the cutting and the whole setup — I sat on one doctor's lap, he grabbed me with his arms around my whole body AND my arms, so I couldn't move at all, and a second doctor did the cutting. It only took a few seconds, there was a lot of blood, but I got many cold drinks and ice-cream in the next few days, so that was good. But I can definitely see someone getting traumatized by this.
  - weberer 4y ago
    >It didn't hurt at all Sounds like you got local anesthetics. You probably just didn't see the needle due to the angle.
    - Toutouxc 4y ago
      Possible, but wow that must’ve been quick. The whole thing was over in a few seconds.
- lnsru 4y ago
  Anesthetics were only for the higher caste kids of party members. Basically they had everything the westerners had :-) General population however had nothing.
  - thriftwy 4y ago
    This cannot be further from truth. High ranking party members had access to "special distribution" stores whose selection of goods available was inferior to what your local 7-11 offers (not to mention the modern Russian supermarket chains for that matter). They could get some of the things westerners had, but with extremely low bandwidth.
    - lnsru 4y ago
      Lol. As a very high level party member you could murder anyone. And if the crowd wasn’t too big you could get fine with it. I am not talking about the poor souls who got party books just to get mid career promotion.
      - thriftwy 4y ago
        Any known examples?
- pavel_lishin 4y ago
  I had teeth pulled as a child, and other dental work done, without anesthetics. Going to the dentist now is ... challenging.
izacus 4y ago
Interesting thing that was common in, at least Yugoslavia, was for companies to own bungalows and vacation houses near the sea and then allow workers to use them for a time for vacations. Didn't think it strange at the time.
- rospaya 4y ago
  This lasted well into the 90s. Nowadays there's no cheap vacation for anyone, not just the working class.
dubcanada 4y ago
What are "vacation tickets"?
- justsomehnguy 4y ago
  Remember what USSR had a planned economy? There was a system of distribution of pre-paid by the government (and maybe, not sure, there were a subsidized ones) and by big factories, ministries, which often had their own resorts/sanatoriums, vouchers[0] to rest/vacate/heal there. Add: Sometimes they were a part of incentive and motivation for fulfilling a quota or finishing a project, sometimes as means to penalize someone ("You've been seen in the state unacceptable for a Soviet man, so you are out from the list for putyovka this year!") and of course as means to gamble or obtain something, trading it for things or services. [0] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%82%D1%91%D0%B2%D0%BA%D0%B0 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%82%D1%91%D0%B...
- ymolodtsov 4y ago
  How you get a vacation in a capitalist country: you earn enough money and buy it. How you get a vacation in the USSR: most people just don't earn enough money to buy it on the "open market", so instead you apply for one. And the supply is very limited. So you need to know someone, pull some strings, provide something in return to the people who make decisions and maybe you get a subsidized tour. The people making these decisions have an additional income (not always monetary) through the power they yield.
Nzen 4y ago
What was the process for reserving a vacation ? Were y'all able to select the time and location ? If so, what was the lead time like ? Did you manage to form a relationship with someone outside of your initial social circle that persisted beyond the duration of the vacation ? I recommend amending your offer with some specifics, so that we may better focus our questions on the particulars of time and place. Not to identify you (though that is a risk), but to draw context about the time (relationship with NATO, do computers exist) and perhaps about the specific locale (Okhotsk beaches are probably not like Astrakhan beaches).

Aaronstotle 4y ago

My grandparents and my father grew up in the Soviet Union. I always find it fascinating hearing about my grandparent's childhood and what it was like to grow up there. One anecdote for not all rosy: My father is permanently traumatized because he had to get his tonsils removed when he was young and they didn't give him any anesthetics.

helge9210 4y ago
> they didn't give him any anesthetics This is a description of the most of the Soviet health services. For example, dentists were using short metal pipe on a thumb when treating kids, so they don't bite or close their mouth.
- diuddnbsb 4y ago
  >"and there was boy in sewer... and he was eating the rat...and the rat was eating the dog...and the dog was eating me...but i was runned away... and it was so bad..." >"and then the police shoot the dog...and the dog raped the boy...and then the rat shot the police..." >"and then you have to eated the police...but the dog was eating the rat..." >"and my grandmother ate the police...and the police turned the dog into lampshade....but the rat raped the police...and now my grandmother is dead inside lampshade dog...."
Toutouxc 4y ago
I got my (pharyngeal) tonsil removed without anaesthesia, in 2001 I think, as a kid, in the Czech Republic. It didn't hurt at all, but I still remember the loud crunch of the cutting and the whole setup — I sat on one doctor's lap, he grabbed me with his arms around my whole body AND my arms, so I couldn't move at all, and a second doctor did the cutting. It only took a few seconds, there was a lot of blood, but I got many cold drinks and ice-cream in the next few days, so that was good. But I can definitely see someone getting traumatized by this.
- weberer 4y ago
  >It didn't hurt at all Sounds like you got local anesthetics. You probably just didn't see the needle due to the angle.
  - Toutouxc 4y ago
    Possible, but wow that must’ve been quick. The whole thing was over in a few seconds.
lnsru 4y ago
Anesthetics were only for the higher caste kids of party members. Basically they had everything the westerners had :-) General population however had nothing.
- thriftwy 4y ago
  This cannot be further from truth. High ranking party members had access to "special distribution" stores whose selection of goods available was inferior to what your local 7-11 offers (not to mention the modern Russian supermarket chains for that matter). They could get some of the things westerners had, but with extremely low bandwidth.
  - lnsru 4y ago
    Lol. As a very high level party member you could murder anyone. And if the crowd wasn’t too big you could get fine with it. I am not talking about the poor souls who got party books just to get mid career promotion.
    - thriftwy 4y ago
      Any known examples?
pavel_lishin 4y ago
I had teeth pulled as a child, and other dental work done, without anesthetics. Going to the dentist now is ... challenging.

izacus 4y ago

Interesting thing that was common in, at least Yugoslavia, was for companies to own bungalows and vacation houses near the sea and then allow workers to use them for a time for vacations. Didn't think it strange at the time.

rospaya 4y ago
This lasted well into the 90s. Nowadays there's no cheap vacation for anyone, not just the working class.

dubcanada 4y ago

What are "vacation tickets"?

justsomehnguy 4y ago
Remember what USSR had a planned economy? There was a system of distribution of pre-paid by the government (and maybe, not sure, there were a subsidized ones) and by big factories, ministries, which often had their own resorts/sanatoriums, vouchers[0] to rest/vacate/heal there. Add: Sometimes they were a part of incentive and motivation for fulfilling a quota or finishing a project, sometimes as means to penalize someone ("You've been seen in the state unacceptable for a Soviet man, so you are out from the list for putyovka this year!") and of course as means to gamble or obtain something, trading it for things or services. [0] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%82%D1%91%D0%B2%D0%BA%D0%B0 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%82%D1%91%D0%B...
ymolodtsov 4y ago
How you get a vacation in a capitalist country: you earn enough money and buy it. How you get a vacation in the USSR: most people just don't earn enough money to buy it on the "open market", so instead you apply for one. And the supply is very limited. So you need to know someone, pull some strings, provide something in return to the people who make decisions and maybe you get a subsidized tour. The people making these decisions have an additional income (not always monetary) through the power they yield.

Nzen 4y ago

What was the process for reserving a vacation ? Were y'all able to select the time and location ? If so, what was the lead time like ? Did you manage to form a relationship with someone outside of your initial social circle that persisted beyond the duration of the vacation ? I recommend amending your offer with some specifics, so that we may better focus our questions on the particulars of time and place. Not to identify you (though that is a risk), but to draw context about the time (relationship with NATO, do computers exist) and perhaps about the specific locale (Okhotsk beaches are probably not like Astrakhan beaches).