You haven't been standing here!

"You haven't been standing here, sir!!!" were the most popular words in Poland during the communism time. In Polish they sound "Pan tu nie stał!!!" and they were used to express the frustration connected with somebody else taking a place in a looong queue to the shop. Sounds strange? It was a pretty normal situation in every place in Poland 40-50 years ago. Under the communist rule, shops were constantly running out of products. Shop supplies weren't sufficient for peoples' needs and people were living in constant lack of something, for example toilet paper, soap, ham, chocolate etc. Even basic products like those were almost impossible to get. That's why gigantic queues were formed in front of the shops. When the goods were delivered, everybody wanted to get some. But unfortunately it was always not enough to please everybody... That's why words "Pan tu nie stał!" became so legendary, everyone was fighting for a place in the queue.

There is a shop called "Pan tu nie stał" (shop online or in Łódź on Kilińskiego street) selling clothes and home accessories bringing back "sweet memories" from that period in Polish history. The graphics used on the t-shirts are old fashioned and most of them is originally from the PRL time (that's how we call the communist period in Poland). Have a look:

"Cześć" is a word for "Hi" in Polish.

T-shirt with a graphic of a traditional Polish dinner served in milk bars

A mug from a Polish milk bar. It was popular also in Polish homes.

A queue to the butcher's in 70's in Poland