Princess Louise of Belgium

Princess Louise Marie Amélie of Belgium was the eldest child and daughter of King Leopold II and Queen Marie Henriette of Belgium. She was a member of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a branch of the House of Wettin which ruled in the Kingdom of Saxony.

Black became the standard rural color

During the second half of the 19th century, black became the dominant color for everyday clothing in the Flemish countryside, replacing the colorful styles of previous eras. Typical daily attire for rural men included trousers, vests, smocks, and hats, while women wore skirts, aprons, blouses, and shawls.

The blue sarrau work blouse

Ordinary working-class and agricultural men commonly wore a sarrau, a loose, knee-length blue blouse made of linen or hemp, often over other garments. It served as a protective outer layer, sometimes worn with a black cotton cap and a red scarf with white polka dots.

Explosion of brass bands in Belgium

Between 1830 and 1860, brass bands (harmonies and fanfares) spread rapidly in villages, and a true explosion in their numbers occurred between 1860 and 1880, with 1,203 wind bands recorded by 1880.

Introduction of the accordion

Starting around 1850, the accordion was introduced, functioning as a small orchestra that allowed playing in multiple keys with the left hand handling the accompaniment.

A Long Journey to the Coast

To travel from Brussels to Ostend, one had to take a stagecoach to Ghent in the middle of the night, ride a canal boat to Bruges, and transfer to another canal boat to reach Ostend by evening.

Punctual Canal Boat Travel

Canal barges were slow, typically moving at 3 to 4 km per hour, but they were remarkably punctual, as skippers followed a strict schedule and did not wait for latecomers.

Children ruling the household for a day

On the children's festival day, Allerkinderendag, children were permitted to rule the household, tease servants, and even tell the cook what to prepare for dinner. They could also wear their parents' clothes and walk from door to door.

Crowded worker housing near Brussels

In some workers' homes near Brussels, a family of nine lived and slept in a small room barely larger than the space occupied by their two looms. They kept their food and live rabbits in a tiny adjacent space, where the family also slept on a mattress suspended above a loom.

Bread Spending Gap Between Classes

While laboring families spent roughly 30 percent of their total income on bread, wealthy families spent less than 2 percent.

Cheap Mussels for the Poor

In the 1800s, mussels were a very affordable food for the poor, costing as little as two and a half centimes for a hundred.

Typical daily wages for workers

Between 1830 and 1850, a textile worker typically earned about 1.5 francs per day, while their spouse often earned half that amount.

Child labor and changing industrial trades

Children as young as 6 to 8 years old worked underground in mines to transport coal through narrow passages, while in villages like Vottem, metal workers transitioned from making iron forks to gun making for better pay. A skilled fork maker might earn 7 to 8 francs a week, while industrial workers could earn 3 to 5 francs per day.

Grueling hours and the truck system

Workers, including young children, typically endured 12 to 14-hour workdays in factories and mines to supplement meager family incomes. Parents were often held captive by the truck system, where wages were partially paid in vouchers valid only at employer-owned shops.