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Carmen Leonor Santaella Tellería

Born Caracas, 6 Jan 1952

3 facts1 source

Living person. The family sees only the name, dates and photo; everything else stays private unless they choose to share it.

Facts and their sources

  • Born6 Jan 1952, CaracasTaken as verified1 source

A life in time

  1. 6 Jan 1952

    Born in Caracas

  2. 21 Oct 1983

    A daughter is born

Family

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Partner

Children · 1

During her lifetime

She has lived through 8 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Caracas.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1950s · Carmen is born in Caracas

Around the world1955

The polio vaccine

Jonas Salk’s vaccine was declared safe; polio, which paralysed thousands of children a year, began to retreat.

At the table

Home delivery soda costs in 1958

In 1958, a crate of 24 sodas could be ordered for home delivery for 4.50 Bolívares, making each bottle cost less than 0.25 Bolívares.

What people wore

Alpargatas for daily wear and shoes for Sundays

Ordinary Venezuelans often wore alpargatas, which cost 1.25 to 1.50 bolívares, to save leather shoes for Sundays and holidays. To avoid soiling them on dirt streets, children sometimes took them off and tied them to their belts when it rained.

Getting around

Decline of rail and tram systems

By the early 1950s, Venezuela's rail network was in decline, and most urban tram systems had been replaced by gasoline-powered buses by 1947.

What it cost

Everyday food prices in 1958

In 1958, a kilogram of meat cost between 12 and 15 bolivars, while a kilogram of precooked flour cost 1 bolivar and an arepa cost 1 bolivar.

Music

Religious Festivals and Chimbangle Drums

In December, musicians celebrate Saint Benedict the Black by playing chimbangle drums and performing powerful dances, often traveling from house to house before finishing at the church.

Daily life

Coffee costs and low teacher wages

A cup of strong coffee cost one locha, which was about one-twelfth of a Bolivar, or approximately ninety cents at the time. Education was often neglected, with primary school teachers in Caracas earning only $96 a month and many children not attending school at all.