Maria Teresa Henriques Gil

Music

Brass Bands at Catholic Liturgies

At the Pocariça Festival, local brass bands performed during religious liturgies in the 1950s, despite earlier church rules that prohibited such instruments in these settings.

At the table

Rise of urban snack bars and canteens

In cities, particularly from the 1950s onwards, snack bars became a common habit for workers and professionals, offering quick meals at modest prices. While some urban families maintained traditional home cooking, others increasingly relied on these new establishments or work canteens to save time.

Daily life

Improvised sugar pacifiers for infants

Mothers created improvised pacifiers for infants by tying sugar inside a small white cloth. These sugar dolls kept babies quiet while their older siblings and parents worked long hours in the fields.

What people wore

Fishermen's wool hats served as pockets

Fishermen carried tobacco, rolling papers, and matches inside their black woolen barretes, which featured a long end hanging over the shoulder.

Getting around

Driving speeds on old national roads

While early car travelers could reach speeds of over 120 km/h, average speeds on Portugal's narrow, winding national roads were often below 30 km/h, with Porto to Lisbon trips typically taking up to five hours.

What it cost

Wages for manual workers and maids

In the 1950s, a construction worker or a sardine cannery worker earned about 20 escudos a day, and a maid's monthly salary was between 200 and 400 escudos.