In the news1927–1935
Economic crisis, 1927-1935
Following the Great Depression, the poorer classes in Italy suffered a fall in nominal wages of up to 70 percent between 1927 and 1935.
Born Rome, 6 Mar 1939
6 facts1 source
Living person. The family sees only the name, dates and photo; everything else stays private unless they choose to share it.
6 Mar 1939
Born in Rome
1973–1975
2 children are born
She has lived through 10 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Rome.
General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.
Who governed
Monarch of Italy, 951 · Kingdom of Italy
Monarch of Italy, 947 · Kingdom of Italy
Monarch of Italy, 1900–1946 · Kingdom of Italy
What people wore
Homemade Clothing and Tailoring Prevailed
Most Italians wore clothing made by home seamstresses or tailors because ready-to-wear garments were not yet common. Women often sewed, remade, or dyed garments at home as a productive leisure activity.
Getting around
Fiat 500 Topolino introduction in 1936
The Fiat 500, introduced in 1936 and known as the Topolino, cost 1,300 lire and became the car for the majority of Italians.
At the table
Chicory coffee during rationing
When coffee was rationed in 1939, laborers often drank a bitter chicory brew, sometimes corrected with grappa.
Around the world · 1929–1939The Great Depression. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 set off a world depression: banks failed, work vanished and coffee prices collapsed in Brazil.
In the news1927–1935
Following the Great Depression, the poorer classes in Italy suffered a fall in nominal wages of up to 70 percent between 1927 and 1935.
Music
Domestic dancing in working-class homes
Working-class families often hosted dances at home by moving furniture aside to make space, playing music on a gramophone or the radio.
Daily life
School uniforms and classroom equipment
Schoolchildren wore mandatory smocks—black for boys with blue bows and white for girls with pink bows—and used narrow wooden desks featuring glass inkwells. Students without satchels often bundled their books and notebooks using simple string or straps.