Soviet public catering in the 1920s – 1930s (by the materials of Penza region)

Abstract

Background. The relevance of studying the phenomenon of public catering in the USSR is due to the need to understand the specifics of the Soviet modernity, the implemen-tation of the project of building a new society in the conditions of Stalin’s reconstruction of the national economy. The purpose of the work is to analyze the process of changes in the functioning of public catering in the 1920s – 1930s on the example of Penza region. Materials and methods. Based on the study of a wide range of sources extracted from the central (Russian State Archive of Economics) and local archives (State Archive of Penza region), as well as published documents, the features of the formation of a key branch of the modern economy – public catering in the period of the 1920s – 1930s are revealed. The methodological basis of the study was the concept of social constructionism or con-structivism, in the context of which the main emphasis is placed on the conditionality of the processes of constructing social reality by state ideology and management practice. Com-parative historical and statistical methods were used to identify the regional specifics of the formation of the Soviet public catering. Results. The main principles, features, advantages and disadvantages of the Soviet public catering in various historical periods – the new eco-nomic policy of the 1920s and industrialization of the 1930s – are analyzed on the example of Penza region. Conclusions. In the period of the 1920s – 1930s, continuity in the work of public canteens of Penza province was maintained: class orientation, advantages and problems characteristic of the previous period. A new trend was a temporary relaxation for private capital admitted to the catering sector in the 1920s. During the years of industriali-zation, it became one of the branches of the Soviet economy that contributed to the solution of important state tasks.

Keywords

• penza region
• new economic policy
• industrialization
• public catering system