Maria Teresa Isabel de Braganca van Uden

Music

Brass Bands at Catholic Liturgies

At the Pocariça Festival, local brass bands performed during religious liturgies in the 1950s, despite earlier church rules that prohibited such instruments in these settings.

Daily life

Basic rural home infrastructure and daily tasks

Most rural homes lacked electricity and running water, forcing women to carry water from public fountains in jars balanced on their heads. At night, houses were lit by oil lamps or the fireplace, as electricity was rare in villages until late in the period.

What it cost

Cost of a pair of shoes

A pair of custom-made shoes from a shoemaker in Portimão cost 8 dollars and 50 cents, while factory-made shoes were about 10 dollars.

What people wore

Children carried shoes to school

Children often went to school barefoot, carrying their shoes in their hands to ensure they would not wear out.

Getting around

Traveling from remote villages to the train

People in isolated regions like Vilarinho da Castanheira often traveled on foot or by donkey to reach train stations, a trip that could take three hours if everything went well.

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.