On this page, we will see what Fontanarossa looked like in the past:
Living conditions – Food – Being a schoolchild ninety years ago
The Houses
In many houses, there was no chimney; the fire was lit in the middle of a room known as the fugherà (fireplace), our present-day kitchen, whose typical timber-framed ceiling was made of small bays supported by smoke-blackened beams used as a drying rack, called grè. On this, chestnuts were usually placed to dry. The windows were small, while the roofs were made of straw or slabs of various thicknesses, shapes, and sizes (ciappe), and the glasses were replaced by cheesecloth. Luckily, as firewood was largely available, there were no major heating issues.
Clothing
Clothes were generally made of hemp, cotton or fustian, whereas woollen clothes were relatively rare. In winter, many wore clogs or rough shoes with patches.
In every house, there was always someone who had cobbler skills, ingeniously using an awl, preparing stitched twine for the seams and dry elder wood sticks for the soles. There were no coats or overcoats. Women used to dress in a simple outfit consisting of a wide skirt – called fadetta, a bodice – gippa, and a scarf or shawl on the head. For solemn occasions or when going to mass, they would cover their heads with a nice brightly coloured woollen scarf or a cloth featuring elaborate printed designs, echoing the style of the traditional Spanish mantilla
Food
The bread was mainly dark due to the usage of either the Farinetta (a type of buckwheat flour) or cereal residuals, blended with legume flours, such as fava beans and vetch. It was baked two or three times a year, especially for major events. Usually, depending on the number of family members, daily or every other day, a focaccia was made with a dough of wheat flour and cornmeal. This mixture was then baked in the hearth later in the evening and buried under the still-burning coals and ashes, remnants of the wood burned during the day. After a few hours, a flat loaf of dark colour, hard and not always fully cooked, impregnated with ash, would come out. It was then left to cool slightly, cleaned with a cloth, and locked away to avoid the risk of finding only crumbs the next day. Olive oil was rare, so walnut oil would normally replace it.
The daily foods were: polenta, soup often made with potatoes, sometimes homemade tagliatelle, cabbage leaves in winter, chard in summer, all seasoned with milk or lard.However, a special mention goes to chestnuts; at the end of the last century, Fontanarossa had about a thousand inhabitants, including the hamlets, and the land was not large enough to feed them all. Therefore, pastures were ploughed, and chestnut plantations were made wherever possible. Since then, this fruit has fed entire generations and has been the only resource for many families. The woods, even the farthest ones, were always kept clean.
Once gathered in cavagne, chestnuts were dried in gre, a practice that has nearly disappeared today. They were often stored in kitchen spaces to optimize wood use and save room. When dried, they were pounded in small quantities at a time in robust elongated hemp sacks with soaped ends. Strong young men would rhythmically beat these bags on shaped wooden logs, the so-called tacchi, until the chaffs separated from the fruits. The result was carefully picked by women during their long but enjoyable work shifts and put in large chests, the bancà, waiting to be consumed or for merchants to come and buy them. Ground chestnuts also made polenta, which became part of the weekly menu. Chestnuts could also be consumed dry or cooked in soup with milk.
Appetite, if not starvation, was a persistent challenge. Eggs were too valuable to eat because they were often traded for salt. On the other hand, meat was a rare luxury, therefore, it was consumed only a couple of times a year.
Being a schoolchild ninety years ago
Ninety years ago, school was mandatory only until the third grade. Once children received the certificate, their education was considered complete.
The school building, which was very different from what we would expect today, was the old house called Delle Anime (Of the Souls). Pupils would go in by walking up a stone staircase which was secured by a wooden handrail made of a pole nailed to two posts. On the landing, just past the only entrance door, a steep chestnut wood staircase led to the upper floor where a large room was the only classroom for all students from the three classes. Here, wooden benches filled the classroom, with a single teacher managing a group of 30 to 40 students, both boys and girls.
Like in all schools, there were capable or less capable students, conscious or lazy students, and those a bit behind in class.
Their clothes were quite simple, children did not have a uniform, but wore a cap, a jacket (gipun), and fustian trousers with patches on the knees and their behind. Their shoes were made of cowhide, featuring double soles strengthened with large nails, often repurposed from old footwear and stitched by hand using a pitch-coated string. They were polished with soot from the stove lid by spitting on the brush. Socks were made of wool spun by hand.
Girls were usually dressed in ankle-length skirts, and during winter, they kept warm with wool crocheted shawls.
The daily eating plan was as follows: in the morning, before school, a bowl of raw milk with bread or well-cooked dried chestnuts. At noon, polenta or soup. The seasoning was lard, milk, homemade cheese, and sometimes a dish resembling mashed potatoes mixed in a pot with milk together with a few pieces of leek (also known as fracassà in patate).
The schoolbag was made of fustian and contained arithmetics books, geography and history manuals along with two ten-cent notebooks, a pen, and a tin straw.
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