Countess Alexandra von Zarnekau

Countess Alexandra Constantinovna von Zarnekau was the eldest daughter of Duke Constantine Petrovich of Oldenburg and his Georgian wife, Agrippina Japaridze, titled Countess von Zarnekau and formerly married to a Georgian prince.

Men's Traditional Georgian Attire

Georgian men wore a tightly-fitting kaftan called an arkhaluk, often topped with a chokha, a wool coat featuring distinctive cartridge holders on the chest. While the arkhaluk served as daily work attire for many, the chokha was considered essential for festive occasions and public appearances.

Tushin Women's Silver Ornamentation

Tushin women's traditional shirts were often decorated with heavy silver ornaments, which included modern Russian coins soldered to rings and attached to silver chains. The front of these garments was sometimes accented with black wool inserts and bright, pear-shaped patterned cotton fabric from Russia.

Festival songs at Maslenitsa

During the Maslenitsa festival, Georgian girls sang songs with the refrain "kleriar-i" while swinging on swings set up under house eaves or balconies.

Street and home musicians

A traveling musician known as a minstrel would play an instrument resembling a bagpipe for a few coins (groshes) at people's homes. Meanwhile, streets and yards in Tiflis frequently became concert spaces, with people gathering on balconies or surrounding musicians to join the performance.

River rafts and rail return

Peasants often floated goods downstream to bazaars on small rafts and, after selling the timber from the rafts, returned home by train.

Travel times between major cities

A trip from Batum to Tiflis by train took 14 hours, while the arduous road journey from Tiflis to Vladikavkaz covered 126 miles in less than 20 hours.

Fetching water from the Mtkvari river

In Tiflis, the city did not have a piped water system, so residents relied on water carried by ox-carts, donkeys, and water-carriers from the Mtkvari River, wells, and streams.

Strict rules for schoolgirls in Tiflis

Schoolgirls in Tiflis wore standardized uniforms and were strictly prohibited from being out in public after 5 p.m. to ensure they focused on their studies.

Foraging supplemented limited food supplies

During times of food shortages, families supplemented their diet by gathering wild edible plants, roots, and young vine shoots from fields and meadows.

Peasant diet focused on corn and greens

The staple diet for ordinary peasants in the late 19th century consisted primarily of corn, millet-based gomi, greens, cheese, and seasonal fruits, with meat being a rare treat reserved for holidays.

Average daily worker wages in Tbilisi

In February 1914, a worker in Tbilisi earned an average daily wage of 2 rubles and 39 kopecks, with specific trades ranging from 80 kopecks for a day laborer to 3.5 rubles for a heater.

Cost of essential goods in Tbilisi

In Tbilisi, a worker could purchase one girvanka (409 grams) of various essential goods for a total of 1 ruble and 53.5 kopecks, such as bread for 4 kopecks and meat for 14 kopecks.

Child Labor in Shoe Factories

At the Adelkhanov Shoe Factory in Tiflis, young boys worked alongside adults, often performing manual tasks like fetching and carrying, in a harsh industrial environment. Authorities expressed significant concern regarding the impact of these factory conditions on the health and upbringing of the large number of minors employed there.

Human Carriers Replaced Furniture Vans

In Tiflis, furniture and goods were frequently transported by teams of 60 to 80 human carriers, as furniture vans were unknown. Even heavy items like pianos were moved piece by piece on the backs of these laborers.