Figure 1.-- Here we have what looks like a Soviet Apparatchik family on their summer vacation. We assume that they are Russian, but they could have been in one of the other European Soviet republics. There was no notes on the back of this snapshot, so we can only pick up on the clues. There is a car in the background. This tells us a great deal. The average Soviet family could not afford a car. There was a classic Soviet joke about orfring a car. The buyer was given a date 10 YEARS from the order to be picked up. He asked the salesman, moring or afternoon? The salesman asked what possivle diference it could make 10 years in the future? He answered, because the plumber is coming in the morning. But for most Soviet citizens the 10year lag in delivery made little difference. There simply was no way they could afford a car and if they could afford one, getting permision to buy one was aa equal if not more difficult hurdle.

Here we have what looks like a Soviet Apparatchik family on their summer vacation. We assume that they are Russian, but they could have been in one of the other European Soviet republics. There was no notes on the back of this snapshot, so we can only pick up on the clues. There is a car in the background. This tells us a great deal. The average Soviet family could not afford a car. There was a classic Soviet joke about orfring a car. The buyer was given a date 10 YEARS from the order to be picked up. He asked the salesman, moring or afternoon? The salesman asked what possivle diference it could make 10 years in the future? He answered, because the plumber is coming in the morning. But for most Soviet citizens the 10year lag in delivery made little difference. There simply was no way they could afford a car and if they could afford one, getting permision to buy one was aa equal if not more difficult hurdle. One Russian source says that bit was eassier for industrial workers to get cars than doctors and lawyers bcause of the ieological preference for workers. [Blažys] The result was that car ownership as a fraction of that in the West. Even by the 1980s, only about Soviet car ownership was 45 cars per 1000 people by 1985. American car ownership in contrast is someyhing like 800 per 1,000 people. (The Soviet Red Army in contrast had three times more tanks.) Soviet propaganda during the 1930s showed the Oakies (Dust Bowl refugees) trying to get to Califoria. The reaction of the population was, how did they get cars? And the whole process of buying a car is a itself a fascinating story. Another interesting matter is that in Communist countries like Russia, used cars (even with high milage) cost more than new cars. So very likely the family here was well positioned in Soviet society. Another interesting matter, is that there were not well developed highways between Soviet cities or amnties like motels, restaurants, and filling statons located along the often unimproived roads. A well off Soviet family might be able to drive out of the city to their dacha, but not go on a road trip like an American family.

Sources

Blažys, Gabrielius. "What it was like to buy and own a car In the USSR, JALPONIK (July 22, 2016).

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Created: 7:19 PM 6/29/2019
Last updated: 7:19 PM 6/29/2019