Princess Olga Paley

Princess Olga Valerianovna Paley was the morganatic second wife of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia.

Peasant Footwear and Versatile Fur Coats

Peasants frequently wore bast shoes made from tree bark, but wealthier individuals wore leather boots for important occasions. In winter, both rich and poor favored sheepskin coats, which were often worn year-round and served multiple roles, including as bedding.

Uniform Men's Shirts and Diverse Women's Finery

Men's clothing remained relatively uniform, featuring a signature shirt with a side-fastening collar worn untucked and belted. In contrast, women's festive attire was highly diverse, often intricately decorated with embroidery, lace, ribbons, and precious metal threads.

Improvised percussion for fast dances

During fast dances called pliaska, performers sometimes used improvised percussion instruments like wooden spoons, a metal pot, or even a scythe.

Khorovod communal round dance

The khorovod was a popular communal round dance where up to a hundred people moved in a circle, often in a sunwise direction.

Railways revolutionized long-distance travel speed

The railway between St. Petersburg and Moscow, opened in 1851, reduced travel time between the two cities from four days by carriage to 22 hours by train.

Cost of Post-Horse Travel

Travelers using post-horses paid 8 to 10 kopecks per horse per verst, making a 450-verst trip from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod cost over 100 rubles. A journey using one's own horses for a similar distance was significantly cheaper, costing only 20 to 25 rubles.

Peasant Log Cabins and Shared Living Spaces

Peasants lived in timber log cabins, often consisting of a single living room with a large brick stove used for heating, sleeping, and cooking. Due to extreme cold, families shared these small, smoke-filled rooms with their livestock during the winter months.

Weekly Steam Baths and Water Access

The home had no plumbing or running water; families relied on pails of water and prioritized a weekly steam bath, often held in the stove itself or a dedicated bath-house. If a steam bath was unavailable, peasants would crawl into the heated oven to bathe.

Everyday drinks and tea culture

Common drinks included kvass made from rye bread or beets, and hot beverages like sbiten, which was sweetened with honey and mixed with spices. Tea drinking also began to spread during this period, though owning a samovar was often a sign of a wealthy household.

Flavoring food during Lenten fasts

To add flavor to Lenten dishes, peasants used hemp or linseed oil, and hemp seeds were used to make a milk-like substance for flavoring soup. Mushrooms were also an essential part of the diet during fasts, with families consuming them in various forms including salted, dried, and fried.

Worker maintenance costs

Around this time, maintaining a worker in the capital provinces required about 100 rubles annually, with basic daily food costs for bread, meat, and a side dish totaling 26.5 kopecks.

Annual worker earnings in 1860

In 1860, a skilled worker in the Russian Empire typically earned between 150 and 300 rubles per year.

Common jobs in the Russian Empire

Most people were peasants who farmed crops like rye, oats, and millet, while also engaging in crafts such as weaving, pottery, and logging to supplement their income. Temporary migration to cities for jobs as construction workers, cabmen, or factory workers was also very common.

Daily life and long working hours

Workdays were dictated by seasons and the head of the family, often starting as early as 2:00 a.m. during peak times like threshing. Labor was physically intense and typically lasted from dawn until dusk, often involving 12 to 14 hours of work.