Lodovico di Borbone, Principe delle Due Sicilie

What people wore

Infant Swaddling and Dress

Infants were kept in a swaddling pillow for several months to ensure they would grow straight, a practice that prevented them from moving or kicking. As young children, boys were dressed in the same types of garments as girls.

Daily life

Mandatory schooling and seasonal attendance

Compulsory schooling for children aged 6 to 12 focused on religious instruction, often with schools in rural areas only operating for half the year because children were needed for pastoral labor. Classrooms were frequently overcrowded, leading some schools to split students into morning and afternoon groups to manage attendance.

Work

Artisans Working on Site (Stör)

Tailors practiced a system called Stör, where they traveled to farmhouses to craft clothing for the entire family over several days or weeks, receiving board as part of their compensation. This practice allowed small-scale artisans to work locally while avoiding the need for their own large workshop facilities.

Music

A musician's typical annual work schedule

A local musician named Stelzl kept a ledger showing he was hired to play for dances an average of 14 times per year.

At the table

Cheap Barley Coffee Substitute

Poor city dwellers bought a cheap, coffee-like breakfast drink made from roasted barley and syrup for 1 Kreuzer at wooden stalls.

Getting around

Slow post coach travel between towns

Travel by post coach was slow, with a journey from Linz to Steyr taking ten hours in 1829 for a distance of about 90 kilometers. Passengers paid one gulden and twelve kreuzers for the trip.

What it cost

Salaries in 1825

In 1825, a clerk with neat handwriting earned 200 gulden annually, while teachers at a secondary school in Graz received between 450 and 800 gulden.