Radio Yerevan (Radio Erewan)#

H. Maurer, 2013

During Sowjet times this radio station (the building and the station still exist) was quite famous: the idea was that questions that were asked (real or invented) were answered by the station, often shedding a poor light on the situation in the country, to which Armenia belong till 1991.

Here are some examples:

Question: “Is it true, that our last gold medal winner received a golden Ferrari for his achievements?”
Answer: “Yes, in a sense. But it was not golden, but just plain metal. And it was not a Ferrari but a bicycle. And he did not get it, but it was stolen from him."

Question: “What will be the results of the next elections?"
Answer: “Nobody can tell. Somebody has stolen yesterday the exact results of the next elections from the office of the Central Committee of the USSR”

Question: “What is chaos?"
Answer: “We do not comment on national economics"

Question: “Why did they establish a Ministry of Navy in landlocked Armenia. We have no acces to a sea"
Answer: “ Well, after all Azerbaijan just established a ministry of culture“

Question: “Is it true that there is freedom of speech in the Soviet Union the same as there is the USA?"
Answer: “In principle, yes. In the USA, you can stand in front of the Washington Monument in Washington, DC, and yell, ´Down with NATO!´, and you will not be punished. In the Soviet Union, you can stand in the Red Square in Moscow and yell, ´Down with NATO!´, and you will not be punished, either “

Question: “Would it be possible to bring Socialism to the Sahara?"
Answer: “In a sense yes, but after the first five year plan, the Sahara will have to import sand “

Question: “Is it true that Adam and Eve were the first communists?"
Answer: “Probably, yes. They both dressed very sparingly, they had modest requirements concerning food, they never had their own house, and on top of all that, they were told that they were living in the paradise “

Question: “Can Communism also be established in the USA?”
Answer: “Yes. But where would we then get wheat from?”

Question: "I love wearing black undies. My husband says, that's a dirty rotten shame. So what can I do"?
Answer: "Wash more often".

It is interesting to note that since independence no more new such jokes seem to appear. This is also true in many similar situations, where jokes are told to tide over annoying problems. Like in former East Germany there were jokes like:

After ten years of saving to get a new car the man goes to the car dealer and pays in cash for a new Trabi (the standard car)in December 1975.
"When can I pick it up?" "You can pick it up on Jannuary 25, 1978". "This is impossible. That is when the plumber said he is available the first time".

Or, again about the Trabi: A driver stops at an auto mechanic station and walks in : "Can I have a new set of whiper-blades for my Trabi?" The mechanics answers: "Yes, I guess this is a fair deal."