Domestic Refrigerators

This chapter is a preliminary investigation into the levels of technology and quality of the Soviet domestic goods industry. Refrigerators have been selected for special study, since two surveys1 of consumer acquisition patterns for domestic appliances, show quite clearly that a domestic refrigerator is invariably the first and most essential of the household appliances acquired by the average family in industrial societies. Other surveys, analysing the technical merits and other features of a whole range of refrigerators, made reference to the importance attached to the ownership of a refrigerator.2 They also included evidence to show that of all the domestic electrical appliances in common use, the refrigerator is usually the most reliable.3