Why refrigerators in the USSR had locks: reasons why

Probably the last thing you hope to see on a refrigerator door is a massive lock. However, it was not uncommon to see something similar on the refrigerators of the USSR residents.

Now it seems wild, but then it was a necessity. OBOZ.UA tells why Soviet citizens closed their refrigerators on the key.

Household appliances in the Soviet era was more of a luxury item - produced it little, and prices were very biting. Engineers tried to make appliances, though inconvenient and clumsy, but durable. A refrigerator could serve for decades.

In the same way, residents of communal apartments could wait for decades to be moved into separate housing. But while they had to huddle together, their property had to be protected from not always conscientious neighbors. So there was a need to install locks on refrigerators.

In addition, the refrigerator could be turned into a safe if the family had to go somewhere. For example, to a country house or, if lucky, to a vacation at the sea. The appliance was disconnected from the power supply, defrosted and put valuables in it. The doors were locked and the key was taken away with them.

This approach was fully justified in the postwar years. Then the inhabitants of the USSR were suffering from a deep economic crisis, thefts were many, and anything that managed to "get" was protected as a real jewelry.

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