Made from scraps. Informal production in the workplace - chapter 3

During the period of state socialism, followed by the deindustrialisation of the 1990s, the manufacture of household or decorative items on the side had become an impressive industry in itself at the Reșița workplace. Those objects were referred to as ‘DIY’ by the local residents, most of whom worked at either the steel plant or the engineering plant.

Mariana, a former teacher, would ask her husband, a technician at the steel plant, to make certain items she needed or wanted that were either unobtainable or too expensive. He would also surprise his family with gifts of his own design rather than imitations of mass-produced objects. She recalls the competition for the best ‘DIY’ items, which would often become a source of envy between families.