Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples

Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, Prince of Naples, was a son of Umberto II, the last King of Italy, and Marie-José of Belgium. Vittorio Emanuele also used the title Duke of Savoy and claimed the headship of the House of Savoy. These claims were disputed by supporters of his third cousin, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, and later by Amedeo's son, Aimone.

Homemade Clothing and Tailoring Prevailed

Most Italians wore clothing made by home seamstresses or tailors because ready-to-wear garments were not yet common. Women often sewed, remade, or dyed garments at home as a productive leisure activity.

Rural Women Wore Regional Costumes

Rural housewives were sometimes permitted to wear traditional regional costumes during parades as an alternative to the official uniform. The regime promoted this to emphasize national tradition rather than personal style.

Radio opera in rural homes

Rural families listened to opera broadcasts on the radio at home, treating the experience as a theatrical event.

State-sponsored folk music festivals

The Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro (OND) organized massive folk music and dance surveys and festivals across Italian provinces.

Fiat 500 Topolino introduction in 1936

The Fiat 500, introduced in 1936 and known as the Topolino, cost 1,300 lire and became the car for the majority of Italians.

Carriage travel San Marino to Rimini

Traveling 25 km between San Marino and Rimini by horse-drawn carriage took three hours in summer, increasing to four or five hours in winter when horses were replaced by mules or oxen.

Cramped sleeping and cold winters

Sleeping arrangements were often cramped, with some families sharing a single bed among many people or using mattresses filled with cornhusks or sheep wool that felt as hard as a rock. In cold weather, they relied on warmers, such as the prete or trabiccolo, to heat their beds.

Limited access to basic utilities

Many homes lacked electricity or running water; families often used lanterns with oil wicks for light and fetched water from public town fountains.

Chicory coffee during rationing

When coffee was rationed in 1939, laborers often drank a bitter chicory brew, sometimes corrected with grappa.

Meatless days as patriotic duty

To promote autarky, the regime mandated meatless Wednesdays and closed butcher shops on Tuesdays, framing these restrictions as a patriotic duty for consumers.

Food and clothing prices in 1940

In 1940, a kilogram of bread cost 1.60 lire, while a kilogram of beef cost 7 lire and a pair of shoes cost at least 30 lire.

Escalating costs of footwear during war

The cost of men's shoes in Turin increased from about 156 lire in 1941 to over 3,000 lire by 1945.