After the Berlin Blockade of 1948 to 1949, the three Western city commandants ordered West Berlin in 1950 to keep stocks, the Senatsreserve. The goal was to keep normal life going for at least 180 days in case of a new blockade. The reserve held staple foods, medicine, coal, fuel, raw materials and everyday goods, among them 189,000 tonnes of grain and four million light bulbs. At one point there were more than 700 storage sites, most of them secret. The goods were rotated, and old stock was sold cheaply to Berliners. The reserve was dissolved in 1990.