[euroderf]

I visited Soviet Estonia in 1987, on an overnight from Helsinki. A treasured purchase was a simple stamped metal bottle opener. Even the price was stamped: 15 kopecks.

This told me that for the very simplest consumer items, they might easily be contracted out and sold at just above production cost. Consumers would be free to buy fancier bottle openers, but sometimes a hunk of stamped metal does the trick.

Likewise for many other consumer basics ? Like, a Gotham store brand ?