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Comment by krasin | Hacker News Reader

USSR had multiple classes (despite being a classless society on paper).

Nomenklatura ([1]) and some other smaller classes had access to western press and were often allowed to travel to the "capitalist countries". Even at home, they had access to special stores for foreigners and elite paying a special currency that regular Soviet citizens didn't have ([2]) to purchase Western goods. They watched Bond movies and wanted to read reviews as well.

That said, all of my relatives were regulars. I don't miss USSR.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomenklatura

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryozka_(Russian_retail_store...

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You forgot to mention фарцовка, which was essentially a grass-roots sort of a fix to this quasi-unofficial class divide.

There isn't even an en wikipedia article about it, while it had a order or two of magnitude larger turnover than Beryozka shops and "распределители".

I so do not miss this all, but it seems to come back right now most anywhere.

Oh, yes. A thousand times yes.

(that said, фарцовка was less prevalent in smaller cities than Moscow / Leningrad)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartsovka