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What people wore

Common clothing colors

Common women’s clothing colors were mostly dark, with black, gray, and brown making up 45 percent of garments, while red accounted for 21 percent.

Getting around

Long travel times across France

To cross France from Brest to Strasbourg, it took 20 to 30 days on foot or by a slow-moving carriage. Travelers using horse-drawn carriages that changed horses at relay stations could cover the same distance in half that time, though this was an exhausting effort.

At the table

Bread as the Daily Staple

Adult men were expected to consume between 4 and 5 livres of bread daily, making it the essential staple of their diet.

Music

Decorating for the Fête-Dieu festival

During the annual Fête-Dieu celebration in Paris, residents decorated the streets by hanging various types of tapestries from their houses, sometimes as high as the second floor.

Daily life

Simple peasant housing

Most peasant homes were single-room structures built of mud with thatched roofs, lacking ceilings and window glass.

What it cost

Wages and the high cost of bread

A typical manual laborer in the late 18th century earned between 20 and 30 sous per day. Bread was a staple that consumed about half of a family's income in normal times.