Maria do Carmo Leao Ponce Dentinho

Music

Youth and Rock and Roll

In the 1950s, urban youth began listening to explosive rock and roll, leading the secret police to post notices in cinemas warning that young people could be happy without being irreverent.

At the table

Rural diet based on carbohydrates and scarcity

In rural areas, families often shared a single large loaf of bread and ate a simple diet based on carbohydrates like potatoes and vegetables, with meat and fish being rare luxuries. Meat, such as pork, was conserved in salt or lard and consumed in very small quantities, sometimes described as a sardine divided among three people.

Daily life

Schooling conditions for rural children

Rural schools were often single rooms for four grades with around 40 students and no electricity or bathrooms. Children frequently walked kilometers barefoot to school, sometimes in cold and rain, and were expected to work in fields like adults.

What people wore

Fishermen's wool hats served as pockets

Fishermen carried tobacco, rolling papers, and matches inside their black woolen barretes, which featured a long end hanging over the shoulder.

Getting around

Driving speeds on old national roads

While early car travelers could reach speeds of over 120 km/h, average speeds on Portugal's narrow, winding national roads were often below 30 km/h, with Porto to Lisbon trips typically taking up to five hours.

What it cost

Wages for manual workers and maids

In the 1950s, a construction worker or a sardine cannery worker earned about 20 escudos a day, and a maid's monthly salary was between 200 and 400 escudos.