#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. In the 1930s and especially in the 1940s, it was not easy for Norilsk residents to make their homes. All efforts were thrown to the metal production, it was almost impossible to buy household items in Norilsk stores. Therefore, the new Norilsk people brought with them a piece of home life from the mainland.
In the late 1950s, the TV set became the most popular household appliance in Norilsk. On December 31, 1958, the Norilsk television center broadcast the first test program. Over the next year, Norilsk residents purchased about five thousand TV sets.
A television service shop was also opened in the city, at the expense of the owners it installed televisions, indoor and outdoor antennas.
The first specialized store of household appliances was Kulttovary (Cultural Goods). A very wide list belonged to cultural goods: from accordions and button accordions to radiogramophones and television antennas.
Here are the approximate assortment and prices in Kulttovary of the late 1950s and early 1960s:
outdoor TV antenna – 120 rubles;
children’s bicycles – 190 rubles;
cameras FED-2, Zorkiy-2-3, Kyiv – from 300 rubles;
binoculars – 370 rubles;
hunting rifle – from 500 rubles;
fishing nets – 221 rubles;
watercolor paintings – from 300 to 1000 rubles.
They also sold goods on credit. In the early 1960s, for example, Norilsk residents bought Vyatka scooters, imported boots or watches by installments.
In the History Spot’s previous publication, we told that in the Soviet years in Norilsk honor boards were an encouragement for the best workers.
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Text: Svetlana Ferapontova, Photo: Nornickel Polar Branch archive
