government looked to teach Soviet citizens about Marxist-Leninist ideology along with table manners and discerning taste in food and material goods. Bolsheviks were expected to be cultured and mannered. Being able to discuss luxury goods with comrades was an important social skill. The government used consumer items as legitimate awards to honor comrades whose work contributed to the building of socialism. However, the culturalization of society legitimized the formerly despised bourgeois concerns about status and possession, and the practice of giving special goods to a subset of the population also created a new social hierarchy which received special privileges. Distribution and supply In the early 1930s, the closed distribution system was the primary method of consumer goods distribution. By 1933, two thirds of Moscow's population and 58 percent of Leningrad's population were served by these stores. The closed distribution system consisted of stores and cafeterias accessible only to workers registered at that enterprise. These centers distributed rationed goods. The system was set up to protect the workers from the worst effects of limited supply and shortages. It also linked the rationing system with employment. At the same time, there were three other legal alternatives to closed distribution stores: commercial stores, Torgsin stores and Kolkhoz markets. All had higher prices than the closed distribution stores. Since the state controlled all of these distribution methods, it could exercise a distribution monopoly. The first five-year plan caused the closure of all artisan methods of consumer goods production, such as small private factories and workshops. In the mid-1930s, these methods of production were allowed to return on a small scale. In May 1936, a law was passed that slightly improved the supply of consumer goods by legalizing individual practice of trades such as cobbling, cabinetmaking, carpentry, dressmaking, hairdressing, laundering, locksmithing, photography, plumbing, tailoring, and upholstery – it slightly improved the shortage of consumer goods. Artisanal activity related to food was still banned. Kolkhoz markets were set up for artisans and peasants to sell their homemade goods. The State regulated the amount of participation in these markets but prices were allowed to float. This floating caused the prices at these markets to normally be higher than prices in the closed distribution stores. Individual service was illegal until May 1936. The State also set up Torgsin stores that sold scarce goods in exchange for foreign currency, gold, silver, and other valuables. The purpose of these stores