"Seryoga, throw the ball!": what gadgets made our summer as children

[jisansorkar12]

In childhood, everything seemed different: adults were smarter, trees were taller, friends were more loyal. Those who came of age in the 80s – the last generation without computers and mobile phones – remember their childhood years with warmth and a smile, despite the shortage of fashionable clothes and the absence of foreign trips at that time. They enjoyed simple things and came up with entertainment for themselves from improvised means.

This article will be useful for those who are not confused by the words "siphon" and "slide uruguay whatsapp list projector". And also for those who have forgotten a little that life is not only work. On a hot July day, we remembered the activities that once sincerely brought us joy, put our gadgets aside and planned to build a hut in the forest with our children and make a fire to bake potatoes in the coals, just like in our childhood.

Children of the streets
In the summer, city children in the USSR had a choice of where to go: either to a pioneer camp or to their grandmother's in the village. Some spent the warm days in city courtyards. In all cases, summer holidays in the late 80s - early 90s, no matter in the city or in the countryside, were always spent outdoors and playing active games. On the street, we quarreled and made peace, learned to forgive and keep our word, take responsibility and protect the weak. All this strengthened not only our character, but also our health. Although we thought about health last of all.

"I spent my childhood with such a set: ripping up car batteries to extract and smelt lead, carbide bombs. Then cassette players, "Dendy" and a computer class at the House of Pioneers. At the dacha, collecting Colorado beetles in a can of gasoline and a "Riga" moped. Yes, there was a lot. Everything was like all the boys of that time, plus or minus with an adjustment for the mountainous terrain. We survived by a miracle!" - says Mikhail Pirogov, head of the operation and administration department of Megaplan.

The kids gathered in large gangs: it was normal to drop in on friends at their homes. We could also just shout under the windows and no adults would scold us. We would pack our pockets for a walk as if we were going on a long hike: we would stuff our pockets with black bread and salt and disappear for days on end, exploring wastelands and testing the strength of garage roofs. In the heat, we would buy a glass of kvass for 3 kopecks or run to the vending machines for soda. In the village, we would bungee jump into the local lake, build headquarters in the trees and play "Cossacks and Robbers". We would drink from a pump, snack on sweet wild raspberries and enjoy complete freedom.

But among all these familiar things there were objects and activities that were truly sacred.

Bike
A source of pride, which they did not forget about all summer. From the "Druzhok", having barely learned to ride on two wheels, they transferred to the adult "Aist", "Salut" or "Desna". The legs of beginner cyclists often did not reach the pedals, but the clever ones still managed to ride: they rode downhill on the seat, and then slid down onto the frame to pedal. To stand out, they wrapped the spokes with wire with a colored braid - this way they got a rainbow glow when riding, and they also hung reflectors wherever possible. Almost every boy, sometimes not without the help of his dad, could "fix an eight" or patch a tube. Is it possible to imagine such a thing today?!