Why TV was a measure of the wealth of Soviet families, and what difficulties they faced to acquire it

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

During the formation of the Soviet Union, not every citizen could freely acquire everything that today is an integral part of ordinary life. So, the familiar thing to us - the TV - for many remained a dream. This appliance was not only entertaining and informing. The TV in the house directly testified to the wealth and luck of the owner. After all, everyone who wants to buy a TV, having accumulated a sufficient amount, had to manage to get an expensive and often scarce product.

Soviet teleengineering and 1st production sample

Soviet engineers have profoundly influenced the development of not only domestic, but also international TV. With the help of the Soviets of televisions and satellite systems "Orbit", "Ekran" developed in the country, it was possible to establish regular television broadcasting in the most remote parts of the country. The start of the Soviet industrial television epoch fell on the pre-war period.

On May 10, 1932, the first trial batch of B-2 devices was produced at the Komintern plant in Leningrad, which only vaguely resembled the televisions we are used to. The first serial television devices were equipped with a black and white screen smaller than a matchbox. These TVs were among the first in the world. State television broadcasting began in 1938 in two cities - Moscow and Leningrad. At the pass of the 30s - 40s, several television models were already produced in the USSR, but the level of mass production could not be reached - the war intervened.

Famous post-war models

In the Soviet Union, development was at the forefront even in the difficult post-war period. The USSR became the first state to resume television broadcasting. In test mode, the Shabolovsky television center turned on on May 7, 1945, and regular broadcasts began by December.

In 1946, a new standard for teledetection was approved, which significantly improved the quality of the transmitted TV picture. Moskvich-T1 became the first television device to support these innovations. But the model, due to its unreliability, did not take root in families for a long time. Kinescope "Moskvich-T1" was out of order after a few months, so the production of this TV was stopped at the beginning of 1949. The first truly massive Soviet TV favorite was KVN-49. A model with a miniature screen and a lens was released in the same 1949. Its name contains the date of issue and the first letters of the names of the Leningrad development engineers - Kenigson, Varshavsky and Nikolaevsky. True, there was another humorous version of the abbreviation deciphering among the people: “I bought it, I switched it on, it doesn’t work”. "KVN-49" was produced in several modifications right up to 1967.

50s TV boom

In the 50s, the first experiments with color television started. The tests were carried out using TV sets under the bright name "Rainbow". By that time, “Start” and “Record” were gaining momentum. The latter took the first medal at the international exhibition in Brussels in 1956. By the beginning of the 60s, every 5th owner of a Soviet TV drew information from the "Record" screen, and the total number of devices sold exceeded a million. During this period, the TV era began under the Rubin brand - the production of this device lasted for 10 years. Potentially, Rubin-102 received as many as 12 channels, which, however, the TV broadcasting industry could not offer. In October 1967, Moscow announced the first color broadcasts. The following month, a radio and television broadcasting station was launched in Ostankino, and the television center on Shabolovka was shut down.

It is noteworthy that at that time the USSR was not lagging behind in the development of pan-European television. The exception was Japan, where color TV appeared in 1960. The first serial color TV in the USSR was "Rubin-401" weighing as much as 65 kg. However, for a full color difference, it was recommended to watch this TV in dark rooms. By 1965, most of the structural part of Soviet TVs had undergone changes. Previous devices were assembled on lamps, and now the main units with blocks were based on transistors. The general variety of TVs continued to grow, the most popular of which were Berezka, Kaskad, etc. And by the eighties the age of color TV was crowned with Electron, Horizon and Spring I must say that some representatives of those models served their owners until the 90s.

Prices and queues

According to official statistics, in 1955, approximately 1 million TV owners were registered in the country. By 1960, their number had increased fivefold, in 1963, 10 million devices were already sold, and in 1970, 25 million families in the USSR owned televisions. Manufacturing enterprises were building up their power, trying to keep up with the massively growing demand. Waiting lists of potential buyers appeared in stores, who sometimes had to wait for their turn for long months.

In the 70s and 80s, almost any family could painlessly acquire a black and white TV rarity. The situation was different with color TV equipment: such a TV set already cost from 700 rubles. To make such a purchase, an ordinary Soviet citizen could use the services of a mutual assistance fund (at some enterprises there were trade union funds, in which workers saved a few rubles from each salary) or purchase expensive goods on credit.

In the years of the late USSR, it was possible to hand over a used TV and get a coupon for purchasing a new one on credit. True, with the obligatory queuing in anticipation of receipts on the shelves of the next batch of TVs. And no one could predict exactly how long it would take to live away from the television world. Well, with the arrival of a new product, a new queue awaited the buyer at the store - a live one. Now it remained to overcome the last line at the store doors, which sometimes resulted in several days of communication in a lively company of excited citizens.

But in the USSR, they still knew how to create television content. Because there was 10 Soviet serial films, when shown, the streets were empty.