Principessa Maria Cristina di Savoia-Carignano (?)

At the table

Staple meals for working families

Working-class families often ate pasta, specifically a cheap, mixed-quality version called monnezzaglia, or relied on tavern food like the hearty minestra maritata soup made with meat and vegetables.

What people wore

Traditional women's accessories

Women often wore lace-trimmed aprons and high-heeled pointed shoes, typically in pink or light blue, fastened with silver buckles. Their hair was usually braided and collected at the nape of the neck, often decorated with ribbons and pins.

Getting around

The Lettiga: A Mule-Drawn Carriage

The lettiga, a national carriage suspended between two mules, was a common way to travel through regions lacking roads suitable for wheeled vehicles. It was notoriously fatiguing and slow, moving at an average speed of about three miles per hour.

What it cost

Food prices for daily necessities

Bread cost 6 grana per rotolo (approx. 890 grams), while beef cost 16 grana and a liter of wine was 3 grana. Pasta was a staple, with machine-made pasta costing 7 grana and finer varieties reaching 8 grana per rotolo.

Music

Music during religious festival processions

Religious processions often featured musicians, including porters who danced while carrying heavy barrels of wine on their shoulders to the sound of a distant orchestra.

Daily life

Limited water and sanitation infrastructure

Public infrastructure for water was inadequate, leading households to rely on cisterns or local wells, with communities strictly distinguishing between water used for drinking and water used for animals or washing. In towns without sewer systems, private homes generally had no toilets.