Grocery Shopping in the USSR. Stores "FRUITS & VEGETABLES" #ussr

Introduction

The video introduces the topic of Soviet retail stores and encourages viewers to support the channel by becoming a patron.

Soviet Union Retail Stores for Fruits and Vegetables

This section discusses the types of items sold at Soviet retail stores for fruits and vegetables, how they were sold, and what customers needed to bring with them.

Types of Items Sold

• Customers could purchase potatoes, beets, apples, pears, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, carrots, garlic, juices in jars or from dispensers.

• Pickles and pickled cabbage were also available for purchase. Customers had to bring their own glass jars.

How Items Were Sold

• Most items arrived at the store in bulk containers or sacks.

• All items were sold by weight on classic Soviet scales.

• Juice was sold by glass either from large 3-liter jars or dispensers.

What Customers Needed to Bring

• Customers needed to bring their own bags since items were not bagged at the store.

• Customers who wanted salty tomato juice could add salt using spoons provided at the store. They would then wash these spoons in a community glass full of water.

Conclusion

The video concludes with a summary of the different types of juices available for purchase and their prices.

Soviet Union Food and Drink

In this section, the speaker talks about the food and drink situation in the Soviet Union during the 80s and early 90s.

Scarcity of Tomato Juice

• The speaker's mother had cravings for tomato juice when she was pregnant with her.

• Tomato juice was made from freshly squeezed tomatoes, not concentrate.

• When there was a bad crop of tomatoes, tomato juice would disappear from stores.

• The speaker tried to make her own tomato juice by mixing tomato paste and water but it tasted horrible.

Limited Selection of Produce

• The selection of produce in stores was limited to potatoes, beets, onions, carrots, garlic, and seasonal tomatoes or cucumbers.

• Bananas were only available once a year in the summer. Oranges and mandarins were sold by people from Georgia or Armenia at bazaars.

• Some people grew their own produce or had a small plot of land called dacha where they could grow their own vegetables.

Cold Storage for Produce

• Some people made storage on their balconies to store their homegrown produce during winter months.

• The speaker's family had two balconies in their three-room apartment. Her dad built an insulated box on one balcony to store potatoes during winter months.

Deficit Juices

• Besides tomato juice, other juices like apple juice, apricot juice, plum juice, pear juice were popular but not always available.

• White birch "juice" was also sold in three-liter glass jars. It was made by draining the sap from white birch trees in the spring and sometimes mixed with water and sugar.

Long Lines at Stores

• People had to wait in long lines to buy anything they needed from stores. Sometimes there were limits on how much people could purchase so that more people could buy.

Grocery Shopping in Soviet Union

The speaker talks about the experience of grocery shopping in the Soviet Union, where there were long lines and a lot of time was wasted.

Long Lines for Basic Necessities

• Grocery shopping in the Soviet Union was a painful and long process.

• Customers had to wait in line for at least an hour just to buy basic necessities like potatoes or beets.

• This resulted in a lot of time being wasted standing in lines.

• The speaker shares their personal experience of waiting in lines to buy groceries.

Vegetables and Fruits Store

• In addition to regular grocery stores, there were also specialized stores for vegetables and fruits.

• The speaker shares their story about one such store.

• No further details are provided.