Princess Sophie of the Netherlands

At the table

Potatoes as the working class staple

Potatoes became the primary food staple for the working class, often eaten at least twice a day with vinegar or mustard instead of fat.

What people wore

Clothing signaled marital status

A woman's marital status was often signaled by her clothing, such as the position of a forehead pin under her cap or the knot of a neckerchief. For example, a forehead pin worn on the left indicated an unmarried woman, while the right side indicated she was married.

Getting around

Measuring distance by time or pipes

The trekschuit moved at a steady pace of about 7 kilometers per hour, allowing people to measure distances by the time it took to travel rather than by miles. Locals sometimes even measured distances by the number of pipes smoked during the journey.

What it cost

Diet of the laboring class

Potatoes were the main food for laborers, often eaten with vinegar and mustard, while meat was a luxury item that most workers could rarely afford. Wheat bread was too expensive due to taxes, so laborers typically ate rye bread or bread made from barley or potato flour.

Music

Visser’s violin book (1817–1821)

Between 1817 and 1821, Frisian amateur musician Wieger Michiels Visser compiled a violin book featuring over 100 traditional dance melodies and 20 songs, specifically collecting minuets, madlots, and schotsen dances.

Daily life

Living in a single room

Many ordinary households relied on a single room for cooking, eating, sleeping, and working, with beds often tucked into wall cupboards to save space. Fuel for cooking and heating was expensive, so families sometimes cooked multiple meals at once to economize.