Like in the 30s, in the 80s, the USSR had to resort once again to ration cards for staples. The cards seen here were valid for three months for olive oil, soap and matches.

“You shouldn't show off!” This poster criticizes state-run and Soviet farms’ theoretically abundant production. In fact, while agricultural production was not exceptionally hard hit by the shortages, nor did it allow farmers on state-run farms to prosper. Which is why, in order to discourage black marketeering, farmers were allowed to sell their private production at kolkhoz markets, where prices were not set by the state. While those markets did allow farmers to supplement their income, they were not actually able to become as wealthy as this poster implies.

The word “poverty” was practically banned from official Soviet discourse. Yet in the early 80s, surveys in the USSR showed that 90% of those questioned had been unable to purchase foodstuffs – particularly meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables – several times a month. On the other hand, provisions seemed sufficient for other items, including fish, sugar and… vodka!

In November, 1988, the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, paid an official to General Jaruzelski’s Poland. In a social climate marked by negotiation with the banned opposition union Solidarnosc, the Polish government wanted to give the “Iron Lady” the impression that the population could now find what they wanted on the market thanks to recent “reforms,” so that she could safely consider Western financial aid for Poland.

During the 70s, Polish debt increased twentyfold. The failure of economic policy led to sudden, sharp increases in consumer-goods prices in the early 80s. On July 1st, 1980, the government announced an increase in the price of meat, setting off demonstrations and strikes. Nine months later, the system of meat-rationing cards was established, but the butcher seems skeptical.

In the early 1970s, the collectivization of Rumanian agriculture seemed complete. Yet the state-run or collective farms that you can see in this excerpt could not seem to produce enough to fulfill demand. Rumania had invested single-mindedly in industry, and agricultural shortages were increasing through the 1980s, despite propaganda images like these. Agricultural production statistics were also regularly falsified during this period.

In both Poland and the USSR, the entire process of producing and distributing books was run by the Minster of Culture, who controlled the publication schedule. In addition to strict censorship which limited the number of titles available, the paper shortage accentuated the development of a parallel market of western books that were circulating more and more widely by the 80s.

In the early 80s, since the Polish government was unable to maintain the level of importation of animal feed, meat production collapsed and meat prices skyrocketed. Per capita meat consumption decreased by 30%, and the government had to put a system of ration cards into place, setting off strikes and encouraging both the black market and the production of counterfeit ration tickets.

Housing construction is one of the sectors affected by shortages. Despite governmental efforts, building of well-equipped apartments does not meet demand. Consequently, these apartments are only accessible to a small minority – members of the nomenklatura – or after extremely long waiting periods, of up to 10 years or more.

In the late 1980s, Erich Honecker’s East Germany was confronted with massive shortages. Granted, consumption of staple foods was high, and fixed, state-subsidized prices that had been stable for some 30-odd years allowed the population to live decently. But demand had evolved, and families wanted new goods (hi-fi equipment, cars, furniture etc) which were heavily taxed and for which supplies were low, leading to waiting lists that seemed unbearably long to a generation that had watched its counterparts in the West join consumer society; so the social climate had become tense by 1989.