Archduchess Maria Clementina, Princess of Salerno

What people wore

Frequent Shoe Replacement for Servants

Servants required a high number of shoes, with farmhands receiving six pairs and maids five pairs annually, due to poor, muddy paths and harsh working conditions.

Getting around

Mail coach travel discomfort

Travel by mail coach was uncomfortable, with passengers complaining of seats as hard as stone, and typically involved covering only about 37 kilometers per day.

At the table

Potatoes become a staple food

During the second half of the eighteenth century, the potato became a vital staple food for lower social classes in the Habsburg monarchy because it was cheap, easy to grow, and yielded more than cereals.

Music

A musician's typical annual work schedule

A local musician named Stelzl kept a ledger showing he was hired to play for dances an average of 14 times per year.

Daily life

Water, cooking, and food preservation challenges

Because many city wells were contaminated, residents often purchased water from street water-men, while cooking was done over open hearths or brick stoves that often left indoor environments smoky. Families preserved food by salting, drying, or storing items in cool, dark cellars to survive without modern refrigeration.

What it cost

The high cost of footwear

Heavy taxes on leather made shoes very expensive, often forcing poor peasants to own only one pair for their entire lives or rely on wooden shoes. A pair of wooden shoes cost 9 sous 6 deniers in the countryside in 1790.