Marie Antoinette

What people wore

Cleanliness as a mark of respectability

By the mid-eighteenth century, even people in lower wealth tiers in Vienna typically owned enough shirts and shifts to change them at least twice a week. Clean white linen was considered the standard for judging personal morality and respectability.

Getting around

Coach vs. rail time (Vienna–Graz)

When rail travel was available, a journey from Vienna to Graz took nine hours, while a post coach took twenty-nine hours on the same route.

At the table

Potatoes become a staple food

During the second half of the eighteenth century, the potato became a vital staple food for lower social classes in the Habsburg monarchy because it was cheap, easy to grow, and yielded more than cereals.

Music

The Rise of Domestic Music-Making

As the Court moved away from grand operas, domestic music-making became a popular private pastime, with families and royals often playing instruments like the clavier, viola, and violoncello.

Daily life

Shared urban living in cramped quarters

For ordinary residents, homes were often cramped rented rooms in multi-story buildings where daily tasks like cooking, sleeping, and working were all performed in the same limited space. Families relied on neighborhood wells and fountains for water and had to manage heating through tiled stoves that required constant attention.

What it cost

Jewelry cost 307 gulden in 1755

A gold smith received 307 gulden for jewelry for a wedding in 1755, demonstrating the high cost of luxury items in the mid-18th century.