Adeline Landegen

Music

Zampognari bagpipers at Christmas

At Christmas, zampognari bagpipers from the Abruzzi mountains traveled to Naples to perform with a bagpipe and a small clarinet called a ciaramella. They went from house to house playing and singing for the Novena, the nine days before Christmas.

Daily life

Compulsory schooling and common truancy challenges

Schooling was compulsory for children aged 6 to 9, but truancy was common because parents often prioritized farm labor. In 1885, a teacher might struggle to manage a class, and when school facilities were rented, they often lacked basic furniture or toilets.

What it cost

Food costs for the poor in Naples

For one soldo, a poor person in Naples could buy a slice of pizza, a small cone of fried fish, or six small, slightly worm-eaten pears.

What people wore

Respectful dress for feast days

For working families, a clean white shirt or a well-preserved jacket kept by attentive wives was considered essential for church or feast days to show respect to God and demonstrate civility. Ordinary laborers often spent their weekdays in worn clothing, but would carefully maintain these finer garments specifically for such holy occasions.

Getting around

Railway challenges and social class differences

Train schedules were unreliable and inconsistent between cities, sometimes varying by over 10 minutes due to different local time standards. Trains also had distinct social classes, with third-class passengers often enduring crowded, basic, and sometimes unroofed carriages.

At the table

Street pizza for a soldo

In late 19th-century Naples, poor families often bought ready-to-eat slices of pizza from street vendors for one soldo, a small coin, frequently topping them with garlic, tomato, or salted anchovies.