Decades have passed since the era, but it still evokes strong emotions among those who lived through it. Groups that collect historical materials often share images from that period.
Because life was difficult then, people had to take on all kinds of extra work to put food on the table for their families. Some occupations became especially popular, like refilling ballpoint-pen ink. The photo was taken in 1985 by journalist Daniel Roussel during his time as the Vietnam correspondent for L'Humanité.
Ballpoint pens were not widely available at the time, and so people kept refilling them if the ink ran out. Refilling shops appeared on streets such as Hang Ngang and Hang Dao. They would use syringes to refill the inks, which came in a number of colors.
A woman refilling ballpoint pen ink, captured through the lens of journalist and photographer Philip Jones Griffiths.
The subsidy period began in 1964 in the north and 1976 elsewhere, and lasted until 1986. During this period, most of people’s daily essentials were distributed by the state through a system of ration coupons and rice books.
Diplomat John Ramsden took a photo once of a bicycle tire resizing shop on Tran Xuan Soan Street, and featured it in his 2016 book "Hanoi: Spirit of Place" that portrayed daily life in the capital more than 40 years ago.
In the 1980s, bicycles were the primary means of transportation and a valuable asset for people. But tires were a scarce commodity, so scarce that sometimes people had to draw lots multiple times to buy just one.
Historian Duong Trung Quoc once wrote: "Owning a bicycle was hard enough; buying replacement parts was even more difficult. Sometimes a person might own a bicycle with a 650 mm rim but be allocated a 680 mm tire by their government workplace, which gave rise to the tire resizing service.
“They would cut the steel wire inside the tire bead, or tanh, and shorten it to fit the rim. There was also a tire retreading trade: salvaging worn-out tires or torn beads, applying layers of raw rubber, and putting them into a hot press mold to continue using them."
People jostling to buy goods at a state-run trading store.
Most goods were scarce, and so clerks at the state ration shops were seen as very influential. They were primarily children of families working in the trade sector. To be allowed behind the counter, they had to complete a two-year elementary vocational program in commerce, where they learned about consumer goods, weighing merchandise, inventory management, and customer service.
An elderly man repairing sandals on a sidewalk, captured through the lens of John Ramsden.
Amid the severe shortages, most people owned only a single pair of rubber or plastic sandals. Whenever they broke, people would seek out repairsmen to mend and keep wearing them.
The service committee was a familiar sight in almost every neighborhood of Hanoi during the subsidy years. These centers sold boiled water and helped buy food and essential rations for households short on labor. They also took orders for boiling banh chung, and assisted families with buying pre-packaged gift bags for Tet, the Lunar New Year.
*All photos are compiled from the archival sources of Daniel Roussel, Philip Jones Griffiths, John Ramsden
