In one of the FB communities there was a question whether or not people still remember their parents and friends’s landline number, and I answered that I do. Many Soviets didn’t have a landline (it was regarded as a luxury), and to call our relatives who lived in other cities/republics, we had to go to our post-office and order a call, then wait up to an hour to connect to the recipient. It cost peanuts (several kopecks) yet the waiting part was unbearably boring. Whilst waiting, I wasted a lot of ink from the ink-holders on the post office tables, drawing silly doodles.

My family was “granted” a landline, because two members of it were Honoured Polar Explorers (I know, sounds weird), and were put forward in the waiting list for obtaining a home phone quicker. So, we got it either at the end of 1985 or in the beginning of 1986.

41-53-17 it was.