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Video: How the ladies of the 19th century transported luggage and what was in their suitcases, baskets, cardboard boxes
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
That lady from Marshak's poem, who checked in numerous valuables dear to her heart, traveled a long time ago, but the romance and charm of the railways have probably remained unchanged since then. As for the story about the practical aspects of the trip, the ladies of the 19th century had something to share with the present ones - and no wonder, because in the time that has passed since the launch of the railway communication in Russia, a lot has changed.
Is the railway a luxury or a convenient way to travel?
Since the lady “checked in luggage,” we are most likely talking about the first or second class of carriages, because passengers of the third class and below were forced to carry their luggage with them, placing it on the shelves. Different levels of comfort when traveling by train have arisen since the very appearance of railway communication in Russia - this tradition came from England.
The first railway connected St. Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo, as well as Pavlovsk, once an imperial residence and a favorite “dacha” direction for the Russian nobility. The first steam locomotive, pulling the carriages behind it, passed along these tracks back in 1837, and among the first passengers was the Emperor Nicholas I. It is worth it, by the way. note that the shares of the company that financed the construction of this railway belonged to the grandson of Catherine II - Alexei Bobrinsky. The new way of traveling was perceived as truly luxurious, indicating that the future has already arrived, and for a long time everyone involved in the operation of trains and stations maintained a very high, truly royal level of service.
However, other passengers who did not belong to the royal or any noble family began to travel to Tsarskoe Selo and Pavlovsk. The fare, depending on the class, cost from 40 kopecks - “without a roof and springs” - up to 2.5 rubles - in the most comfortable “Berlin” class carriages. For the money that was the cost of the cheapest ticket, you could buy several kilograms of meat, eggs and bread. In 1851, the construction of the railway lines connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg was completed, and the cost of tickets from one capital to another ranged from 7 up to 19 rubles (prices of the third and first classes), but it was possible to get there in a box car - for 3-4 rubles.
The first trains aroused understandable fear - there were rumors that from high - up to forty miles per hour! - the speed of a person is threatened by the development of a brain disease. And yet, the convenience and much shorter, in comparison with horse-drawn carriages and stagecoaches, the time of moving from one point of the country to another, soon won the love of the railroad both noble passengers and simpler customers. After the abolition of serfdom in 1861, there was a real boom in level crossings - and a boom in the construction of new railways. In the 1870s, they stretched across the country. The railways were forced to give in to the influx of "ordinary" passengers: they began to be allowed even in the waiting rooms for the first and second classes, and no wonder: carrying a large number of lower-class passengers turned out to be quite profitable.
The carriages in which the passengers were accommodated were painted in one of four colors: blue for first-class passengers, yellow for second-class passengers, green for those traveling in third, the simplest carriages for fourth-class were gray. And the receipt that the famous lady received was calculated on the basis of the cost of 3 kopecks for each item handed over to the baggage car.
The growing popularity of trains, or "cars," as they were then called, led to much more frequent travel in the Russian Empire and abroad and significantly influenced various aspects of the life of women in the 19th century, in particular, fashion. Fluffy skirts were uncomfortable to wear in train compartments, and the styles of the dresses underwent changes. And most importantly, there is a new convenient way to transport your belongings - packing them in a suitcase.
Baggage
Previously, during trips, things were placed in chests, which were placed in horse carriages. Any move was an important, serious event, it took weeks to prepare for it, and they began to pack in advance. They took a lot of things with them - after all, on the way they had to spend several days, stopping to rest at an inn - if they were traveling with their own carriage, or from station to station, where it was possible to change horses and overcome up to 100 - 150 versts a day. On the way it was boring and muddy - the roads between cities were even then rather "vile", often it was necessary to go on a swamp paved with logs. But heavy wooden chests did an excellent job of transporting luggage from point "A" to point "B".
But now the time has come for fast and convenient trains for the traveler, and the "luggage industry" began to develop rapidly. The fame of the inventor of the first suitcase - with a flat hard surface - belongs to Louis Vuitton. This item began to gain popularity - thanks to their shape, suitcases could be stacked one on top of the other without prejudice to the contents. Passengers and passengers who needed to transport a large amount of clothes and shoes used trunks - chests that could be placed vertically, and then they replaced wardrobes.
After the Civil War in the United States, traveling bags came into use all over the world - at first they were made from carpet. Then these bags began to be made of leather. Travel bags became not just a travel bag, as the original name suggests (sac voyage - "travel bag"), they were used by doctors and teachers. "Cardboard" is an important component of any luggage of the 19th century, transported in cardboard boxes hats and caps. In addition, every traveler in first and second class must have a travel bag with him. It was intended for small items needed during the trip (nesessaire and means "necessary" in French). Consisting of different compartments and compartments, it contained a lot of everything - combs, mirrors, powder compacts, perfume and medicine bottles, lipsticks, handkerchiefs, cuffs, collars and sewing accessories. First appeared in the 18th century, the travel bag eventually became a real work of art, the masters competed among themselves in the ability to combine and organize its contents - it sometimes numbered in hundreds of different objects.
On the trip, they took travel secretaries, where they carried devices for writing and where secret compartments for important papers were often provided.
Luxury service and air charges
The best example of railway service in pre-revolutionary times was the Siberian Express St. Petersburg - Irkutsk, direct sleeper cars, which meant that passengers traveled a long journey without any changes. This train consisted only of first and second class carriages. It was equipped with its own power plant, for the first time in Russia there was a restaurant car, as well as a library, a living room with a piano and even a gym at the passengers' service. Travelers were provided with bed linen, tea, table lamps, and, on request, hot baths. The Siberian Express has become a symbol and embodiment of luxury and romantic chic.
Of course, none of the trains of the Russian Empire could compare with the imperial one in terms of comfort and luxury. The carriages, of which there were as many as fifteen, were provided with a silent ventilation and heating system, air conditioning, fireplaces were located, the interior impressed with the quality of finishing and interior decoration comparable to the palace.
Representatives of the nobility and merchants, high officials usually traveled in first-class carriages. Since 1891, a rule appeared according to which compartments appeared in third-class carriages only for women - in cases where the train had to spend the night.
The railway department was seriously struggling with the problem of ventilation in carriages of the third and fourth classes: there were too many passengers in the carriage to provide the optimal amount of air for a person. Hustle, stuffiness, tobacco smoke were indispensable components of the trip in the "cheap" carriage. In fact, wealthy passengers paid for the air - clean and affordable in sufficient quantity. One thing is for sure - traveling by rail immersed and immerses travelers in a special world, a world of random encounters, monotonous landscapes outside the window, the sound of wheels, and longing for the old and anticipation of the new. …
And about the history of the women's bag, not as part of luggage, but as an accessory for life - here.
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