Varvara Yakovleva

Getting around

Essential road gear and carriages

Travelers commonly used specialized chests called pogrebetz, which featured internal partitions to hold essential items like tea-pots, glass carafes with rum, and milk jugs for long journeys. Many peasants used simple, horse-drawn carts known as telegi, which were frequently built without iron tires, making them highly susceptible to damage on rough roads.

At the table

Meat as a rare luxury

Meat was a luxury for many families, typically consumed only on major religious holidays like Christmas and Easter.

What people wore

Protective patches in peasant shirts

Peasant women stitched scarlet calico patches into the armpits of their linen shirts, serving as both decoration and an amulet to protect the body from unclean forces.

Music

Large communal round dances called khorovod

Ordinary people held khorovods, which were large communal round dances that could involve up to one hundred participants. These dances were often accompanied by a cappella singing, though in some southern regions, they featured instruments like small reed pipes called zhaleika, pan-flutes known as kugikly, and horns called rozhok.

Daily life

Lighting in the home

Peasant huts were illuminated by a torch inserted into the stove's crack or by simple oil lamps with wicks. In better-off homes, candles were used when oil lamps were unavailable.