Stefan Virgil Issarescu

What people wore

Traditional slum fashion in Bucharest

Men in old Bucharest slums wore sheepskin fur hats all year, trousers tucked into high-heeled boots with rubber elastic, and wrapped themselves five times with red or green wool belts.

Getting around

Bucharest–Vârciorova: eight hours by rail

In the 1900s, a train covered about 382 km from Bucharest to Vârciorova (at the Austro-Hungarian border) in roughly eight hours.

At the table

Mămăligă was the essential daily food

Corn-based mămăligă was the foundation of the peasant diet, often consumed daily and sometimes multiple times a day.

Music

Wedding gift customs on pretzels

At wedding feasts, it was custom to place a pretzel strewn with salt before the best man, upon which guests placed their cash gifts for the newlyweds.

Daily life

Rural resistance to education

Rural children were often kept from primary school to help with labor, as peasant families saw little immediate benefit to formal education. Many parents harbored a deep fear of the school, influenced by the traditional belief that the rod is torn from paradise.

What it cost

Worker daily wages in the early 1900s

In the early 1900s, a day laborer typically earned 2 lei per day, while a skilled worker earned between 3 and 4 lei.