Hello!
As my players have been going through towns, I've been struggling with describing shop fronts and other businesses (cafes, bars, etc) that existed in Communist Poland. I really have no idea what would be historical accurate for a Polish village or city. I've tried to find resources about Polish shops and restaurants but haven't had much luck besides learning of Polish milk bars. Anyone have any good resources or personal experiences?
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- andresk
- Posts: 177
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Re: Stores and Shops in Communist Poland
Here's one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8LtQhIQ2AE
Note that this is during the fall of the soviet union, so the stores are probably emptier than usual (they would usially not be full either). For a lot of things you would need stamps to buy (in addition to money, these things were rationed).
This might be closer to the village stores.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfxCa2WWsJM
A few others
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAvV6z2FG24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFA0TSWPQ-U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKVhrzhAI8I
The average store would be like a mix between a warehouse (often an empty one) and what a convenience store should be like. Most everything is rationed and/or expensive, there's no real choice, you get what you get and the quality is often times questionable. This is mostly because from the start to finish, everyone that's a part of the supply line would take their piece of the pie first, not to mention the privileged classes that would get the most premium products - be it food or whatever else. Then the factory workers would take some, the truck drivers, the border guard, the store employees and thus the common man would get whatever is left, if that. Pretty much the only concrete way to get any kind of premium product was to offer services or goods for services or goods. You could have all the money, but without ration stamps or permits you couldn't do anything with that, thus the bartering.
Stuff that would be available would be any kind of grain products, vegetables, and meat and dairy in smaller amounts and depending on the location. Pretty much everything else you could consider a premium product.
Note that this is during the fall of the soviet union, so the stores are probably emptier than usual (they would usially not be full either). For a lot of things you would need stamps to buy (in addition to money, these things were rationed).
This might be closer to the village stores.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfxCa2WWsJM
A few others
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAvV6z2FG24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFA0TSWPQ-U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKVhrzhAI8I
The average store would be like a mix between a warehouse (often an empty one) and what a convenience store should be like. Most everything is rationed and/or expensive, there's no real choice, you get what you get and the quality is often times questionable. This is mostly because from the start to finish, everyone that's a part of the supply line would take their piece of the pie first, not to mention the privileged classes that would get the most premium products - be it food or whatever else. Then the factory workers would take some, the truck drivers, the border guard, the store employees and thus the common man would get whatever is left, if that. Pretty much the only concrete way to get any kind of premium product was to offer services or goods for services or goods. You could have all the money, but without ration stamps or permits you couldn't do anything with that, thus the bartering.
Stuff that would be available would be any kind of grain products, vegetables, and meat and dairy in smaller amounts and depending on the location. Pretty much everything else you could consider a premium product.
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- Requete
- Posts: 10
- Joined:
Re: Stores and Shops in Communist Poland
Are you running a game with the 1st edition continuity (Poland still Communist in 2000), or maybe something based on other Cold War gone hot scenarios (Third World War, Team Yankee etc.)?Hello!
As my players have been going through towns, I've been struggling with describing shop fronts and other businesses (cafes, bars, etc) that existed in Communist Poland. I really have no idea what would be historical accurate for a Polish village or city. I've tried to find resources about Polish shops and restaurants but haven't had much luck besides learning of Polish milk bars. Anyone have any good resources or personal experiences?
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- Ser Stevos
- Posts: 48
- Joined:
Re: Stores and Shops in Communist Poland
Are you running a game with the 1st edition continuity (Poland still Communist in 2000), or maybe something based on other Cold War gone hot scenarios (Third World War, Team Yankee etc.)?Hello!
As my players have been going through towns, I've been struggling with describing shop fronts and other businesses (cafes, bars, etc) that existed in Communist Poland. I really have no idea what would be historical accurate for a Polish village or city. I've tried to find resources about Polish shops and restaurants but haven't had much luck besides learning of Polish milk bars. Anyone have any good resources or personal experiences?
That's a very good question. I run a game that's mostly based on the Fria Ligans timeline with a few tweaks here and there. The major change I have is though the Berlin Wall fell and Germany reunited, most of the Warsaw Pact has stayed together on a case by case basis. It's pretty vague on purpose because I don't need to worry myself with wondering about Romania or Hungary until someone decides to play a character from there! Regardless, Poland happened to stay Communist until the start of the war when a Polish Civil War kicks things off as NATO and the Soviet Union enter to help their respective sides. The rest is very much the same.
Even in the purest Fria Ligans timeline, I imagine people in Poland would be having a very hard time at establishing small businesses in their new democracy. I suppose you could do research into business growth in '90s Poland and it's be pretty much the same as the Fria Ligans timeline.
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- Ser Stevos
- Posts: 48
- Joined:
Re: Stores and Shops in Communist Poland
Here's one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8LtQhIQ2AE
Note that this is during the fall of the soviet union, so the stores are probably emptier than usual (they would usially not be full either). For a lot of things you would need stamps to buy (in addition to money, these things were rationed).
This might be closer to the village stores.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfxCa2WWsJM
A few others
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAvV6z2FG24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFA0TSWPQ-U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKVhrzhAI8I
The average store would be like a mix between a warehouse (often an empty one) and what a convenience store should be like. Most everything is rationed and/or expensive, there's no real choice, you get what you get and the quality is often times questionable. This is mostly because from the start to finish, everyone that's a part of the supply line would take their piece of the pie first, not to mention the privileged classes that would get the most premium products - be it food or whatever else. Then the factory workers would take some, the truck drivers, the border guard, the store employees and thus the common man would get whatever is left, if that. Pretty much the only concrete way to get any kind of premium product was to offer services or goods for services or goods. You could have all the money, but without ration stamps or permits you couldn't do anything with that, thus the bartering.
Stuff that would be available would be any kind of grain products, vegetables, and meat and dairy in smaller amounts and depending on the location. Pretty much everything else you could consider a premium product.
Thanks so much for this. Really a great collection of sources.
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- ZibiAlglos
- Posts: 1
- Joined:
Re: Stores and Shops in Communist Poland
Hi
here you have links to photos of Poznań and Wrocław from the year 2000, use the left / right arrows to browse
https://gloswielkopolski.pl/pamietacie- ... d/21696585
https://gazetawroclawska.pl/tak-witalis ... d/31070662
The year 2000 was probably the best for the development of Poland (it must be remembered that in 1989 we finally freed ourselves from the Soviet captivity) and there was no shortage of goods in stores. I think you can safely use these pictures to visualize the less damaged and still inhabited cities in the game.
here you have links to photos of Poznań and Wrocław from the year 2000, use the left / right arrows to browse
https://gloswielkopolski.pl/pamietacie- ... d/21696585
https://gazetawroclawska.pl/tak-witalis ... d/31070662
The year 2000 was probably the best for the development of Poland (it must be remembered that in 1989 we finally freed ourselves from the Soviet captivity) and there was no shortage of goods in stores. I think you can safely use these pictures to visualize the less damaged and still inhabited cities in the game.
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