I had a fascinating conversation with a few people at work the other day about a bright light in a gray world: Pewex!
It first came up while I was talking to Kasia and the topic somehow shifted to old days during communism. She suddenly remembered Pewex and lit up as extremely fond memories came to the front of her mind. The store near her home was pink and she remembered getting Barbie dolls and other wonderful things a young girl would love to have, and she also remembered Coca-cola as introduced into Poland through Pewex.
Magda also lit up and recalls a jeans jacket she got from Pewex with very special fondness. Nothing like this was available in communist Poland elsewhere; these were valued possessions cared for with great personal pride and joy.
Kuba's first comment when I asked about this brand was "lots of color in a very gray world". Both Kuba and Kacper quickly thought about Lego. A small box of Lego blocks (80 pieces?) was a treasured toy for a young boy... colorful building blocks and an infinite imagination provides many hours of entertainment. Kacper received a Lego Fire Station set after eye surgery, as promised by Mom and Dad, because he was such a good boy... a great prize and another fond memory.
During the 80s, communist economic policy was having problems. Money was tight. Inflation was high. Some had more ability to purchase these goods than others. Parents could provide a great joy to their children with a small purchase; children would save to buy their own prize.
Pewex was a view into a different world. Literally a lot of color in a place that saw little, but also a hope for a brighter future like Dorothy landing in Oz... so many colors it is hard to believe.
There is definitely a generation born in the late 70s to mid 80s that remembers Pewex in the same way as I remembered Toys-R-Us and several other stores... a place of pure children joy, where wonderful things happened (at least they were possible, if you could save the money). As communism fell in 1989 and imports increased, shopping malls began to open providing so much more access to these items, Pewex because less THE store and eventually the brand faded away.
Pewex was a store brand in Poland during the 80s that brought western world products to Poland and all sales were completed in US Dollars, Deutschmark, and a few other foreign hard currencies, USD was the most common everyone remembers. Owning foreign currency was illegal (I believe), but many people had it (often sent by family living in the US, generally Chicago) or bought on a black market of currency. Did I mention these stores were run by the bank, which was run by the government? The government wanted to get this foreign currency off the street and into their hands to help support the Poland economy.
Growing up, there were so many things that I wanted, yet I had so much (in the discussion, I reflected on the few huge Lego sets I had growing up)... Learning what real life was like in Poland (not information written into history books) can be so humbling.
