Joséphine Koberwein

Work

Memorable facts of Parisian labor life

A Paris water carrier typically made 35 to 40 trips daily, delivering 20-liter buckets suspended from a wooden shoulder yoke, and could earn 5 to 6 francs for a 4 to 5-hour moving job. Families often relied on cheap, filling meals like boiled dried chestnuts, which cost 0f60 per kilogram.

What people wore

Political symbols adorned daily attire

Public display of political allegiance became mandatory or prudent through small, inexpensive accessories like the red, white, and blue tricolor cockade. True republicans also wore civic-themed jewelry featuring revolutionary emblems like phrygian caps, sometimes even fashioned into shapes resembling miniature guillotines.

Getting around

Travel durations and costs in France

A journey from Paris to Rouen by carriage took 18 hours, while traveling to Barèges required 11 days. During the era of stagecoaches, a dinner at a good inn typically cost two francs.

News and letters

Newspaper subscription prices in the era

In 1790, a newspaper subscription cost 36 livres per year, roughly the price of a pair of leather breeches.

Music

Handwritten dance music manuscripts for families

Young people in wealthy families kept handwritten manuscript books of dances, such as quadrilles, waltzes, and bourrées, to enjoy and practice during leisure time.

Daily life

Cramped and dark living conditions

Ordinary urban homes were often cramped and poorly ventilated, with many workers living in simple apartments of one or two rooms, while some lived in communal boarding houses where rooms were shared dormitory-style. Interior spaces were frequently dark and smoky, as homes relied on open hearths for both heating and cooking, and floors were often made of packed earth rather than wood.