Countess Mathilde of Bergolo

At the table

Street food sold for under five centavos

Workers and passersby could buy fried fish from street vendors for slightly less than five centavos.

What people wore

Standard urban clothing by 1885

By 1885, the typical urban look for men included a bowler hat, a suit, and black shoes, while women wore fitted dresses with a bustle and short boots.

Getting around

Ox-carts were extremely slow transport

Ox-drawn carts were much slower than stagecoaches, moving at only 3–4 km/h while loaded. A 400 km trip from Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata could take over 8 to 10 days by cart, compared to 5 or 6 days by stagecoach.

What it cost

Monthly pay for rural laborers

Rural field workers earned between $15 and $45 per month, with food and housing included.

Music

Payador songs in urban public venues

Urban payadores performed their songs in cafes, circuses, and street festivals, publishing lyrics in 32-page booklets available at newsstands starting around 1885.

Daily life

Disciplining the ideal housewife

Household manuals and school curricula taught girls that home management required constant vigilance, including daily cleaning of floors, furniture, and oil lamps, as well as the strict control of servants. Efficient housewives were advised to manage their own budget using their own scales and measures to avoid overpaying for food.