Domino wrote:I suspect that rainwear in Russia (USSR) and indeed in most of the East European countries in this period would have been mostly nylon or proofed cotton. I do not think I have ever seen a photograph of an East European girl in her native country in a transparent raincoat prior to the creation of the Russian Federation, since when there have been lots.
Domino
what about Sky Without Stars (1955) Himmel ohne Sterne
The reason I said it, Paul, is that in all the East European films and also newsreels from the Cold War period that I have seen, there just aren't any transparent macs to be seen.
Many thanks to Slicker Lover and Regenhoedje for acqainting me with "Himmel ohne Sterne". I wasn't aware of the rainwear content of this fim. It was, of course, made in West Germany, although set in East.
I can remember seeing a TV documentary in the early 1960's (it was probably either BBC's "Panorama" or ITV's "This Week") about the lack of consumer goods in Moscow shops other than GUM (whose prices were way outside the reach of the ordinary Russian). There were several street scenes shot in the rain. No plastic, but a lot of military cut (i.e. trenchcoat style) nylon macs and rather shapeless proofed cotton ones. There was certainly much less pvc in Eastern Europe than in the West. I don't know why that was.