Wow, these are fascinating, cmonkey, and thanks for posting them. I sent the links to a friend of mine whose family emigrated here when she was a child, in the early 80s--I think they'll ring some chords for her.

Those are really interesting. The 1970s was kind of the apex of the USSR. Things seemed to be almost going well for them in many sectors, until they screwed up and invaded Afghanistan. All downhill from there. Englishrussia.com is full of fun photos.

(Cool photos, especially the ones of the marriage bureaus.)

You've got a good point, burhanistan. The USA had just had its ass handed to it in Vietnam. Communist parties were powerful in Europe. Marxism provided the concepts and vocabulary to resistance movements throughout the Third World. I can imagine a loyal Party member -- and there were quite a few people in the USSR who did believe in socialism, at least through the 70s -- feeling very optimistic about the future.

I can imagine a loyal Party member -- and there were quite a few people in the USSR who did believe in socialism, at least through the 70s -- feeling very optimistic about the future.

I don't think they could honestly believe that the future was going to be bright. It wasn't, however, about to become any worse, since things weren't about to change. The 1970's were all about sustaining the status quo. In the longer term, it contributed to the coming disaster. In the short term, however, people were content, since all changes had been (and, at least in Russia, still are) perceived as being for the worse.

The Soviet society of the 1970's in general wasn't looking forward to the future. I'd even say that they avoided thinking about it. Instead, they were busy creating myths. Some of the biggest and strongest myths about the past were born in that era. These myths still keep coming back to the surface. The myth of the Golden Age of 1970's is one of them...