Elżbieta Szydłowska

What people wore

Festive Attire Regardless of Weather

Peasants often prioritized wearing their best festive clothes for Sunday church services regardless of the weather, sometimes wearing heavy wadded caftans or fustian skirts even in summer heat. These outfits served as a visual marker to distinguish sacred festive time from the everyday grind of work.

Getting around

Splendid processions of the magnates

Magnates displayed their immense wealth by traveling in elaborate caravans that included dozens of wagons, hundreds of horses, and sometimes exotic animals like camels and pack mules. These processions were grand spectacles that required hundreds of attendants to manage, protect, and serve the noble traveler.

At the table

Buckwheat as a Local Delicacy

Buckwheat porridge was a popular delicacy among urban residents, who sometimes used it to bake a cake called tatarczuch.

Music

Musical instruments used in local ensembles

Music ensembles at a boarding school in Slutsk regularly used instruments like trumpets, French horns, oboes, violins, and kettledrums purchased in Königsberg.

Daily life

Peasant homes and cooking smoke

Peasant homes were often smoky huts where smoke escaped through roof holes, though some had chimneys to heat and cook simultaneously. Noble homes separated kitchens from living areas to avoid smoke and heat.

What it cost

Uniform cost for a militia guard

In Toruń during the mid-18th century, a city militia guard had to save about 1 złoty polski to purchase missing parts of his uniform.