@CyberSocialist And while wages were like 100x less than in the West, food prices weren't so much different.

For an average salary today in Poland you can buy say ~7000 eggs or 300 kg of butter (just to compare purchasing power). Back in 80's for an average salary you could buy 700 eggs or just 16 kg of butter, if you were able to find them in official shops. If not, you'd need to buy on black market, add extra 150% price margin.