Giulio Edoardo Jaeger

At the table

Staple Foods of Ordinary Russian Families

Ordinary families primarily ate rye bread and various porridges, with cabbage soup known as shchi being a staple dish served year-round. Meat was a rare luxury for the poor, typically reserved for major holidays like Christmas and Easter, while fish and vegetables were more accessible.

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.

Getting around

Travel times to Siberia varied wildly

In 1827, traveling by road from Moscow to Irkutsk took 23 days, which was considered extremely fast for that time. In mud-prone seasons, however, the same journey could take up to nine months.

Work

The rhythm of a working day

During busy periods like threshing, families began their workday at two in the morning and finished on the threshing floor by ten in the morning. For the rest of the day, men typically repaired equipment, hunted, or prepared materials like tar, while women spun flax and tended to cattle.

Music

Church ban on folk musical instruments

Russian Orthodoxy officially rejected folk instruments, and the church once famously burned five carriages filled with them in the 17th century. Consequently, no musical instruments were permitted in Orthodox church services during this period.

Daily life

Peasant cooking methods and meat consumption

In the first half of the 19th century, food was prepared in the Russian oven using clay pots, and occasionally metal cast iron pots, to preserve heat. Peasants typically ate meat only on rare occasions like Christmas or Easter due to poverty and religious fasts.