Nina Markovna

Food was always in short supply in the Soviet Union. As new industrial communities sprang up across the nation, the ability of central planners to supply these communities with the needed foodstuffs was severely strained. This situation existed partly because supply could not keep up with demand, and partly because the Soviet transportation system was simply not capable of delivering perishables over thousands of miles before they spoiled. As a result, Soviet shoppers bought whatever was available in the stores and were happy to have it.

Nina Markovna was born and raised in Dulovo, a small factory town in western Russia. In this selection from her memoirs, she recalls a trip she made to the local grocery store as a young girl in the 1930s. The poor availability of items and the time-consuming buying process she...