Home is the dwelling where a person resides, but in connotation it is much more. It is about what and how we do various activities, it is about family activities and interactions. It is about what we value. Homes form a basic and integral part of a culture. It is about how space (house) becomes a place (home). Space becomes place, according to geographer Yi Fu Tuan, when we endow with value. A Home is a recognition of the valued endowed in the space by the people that reside there. This post will be about some of the daily activities in 17th to 19th century Bohemia which will shed light on our Bohemian ancestors. This is the fourth in a series of posts on 17th to 19th century Bohemia. My first post was generally about serfs, or peasants in Bohemia and how my ancestors fit and worked within that system. The second post was about their farms and land they controlled, and the third post was about house numbering and construction. While the prior posts provided an indication of daily life, this post will flush out their daily activities more than what was accomplished in any of the prior posts. My Bohemian ancestors were all from small villages or towns (as I suspect so too were my wife's Bohemian ancestors) and all of mine from southwest Bohemia. They were farmers, and farming was the primary activity of most serfs.
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| 1844 Baptism/Birth Record in Bohemia of my Wife's 2nd Great Grandfather, Frantisek Vondracek He arrived in the US in 1864 with Parents and some of his Siblings Source: Trebon Archives |
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| Rosalie Belenka Duscheck (left) 2nd Great Grandmother Arrived in the US about 1855 Source: Family Archives |
As primarily farmers, our ancestors of that era would have grown and produced much of their own food. The diet was not unlike other Eastern European countries, with good amounts of dumplings, potatoes, and meats--in particular the organ meats such as kidney, liver, and brains. Little, if anything went to waste, and it is probably the reason why one does not really want to know what goes into the sausages (intestines as the casing) that they would have made. As noted in an earlier post, breakfast was mainly a porridge while stews and soups were common for the large late afternoon meal. Potatoes were also a common part of the diet, but they were not grown in Bohemia until their introduction from America which occurred in southern Bohemia about the 1770's. Other root crops, like potatoes, rutabagas and parsnips also likely played a large role in their diet. Potatoes would store well and were heavy in carbs. Potatoes grown on the farm would be supplemented by other crops common to the era, wheat, rye and barley. Gardens, as discussed in an earlier post had to be fenced to keep out rabbits, and fruit trees berry plants and other perennial plants were subject to deer grazing, particularly in the winter months as deer scavenged for food by the village. Of course, the prized meat was game: deer, elk, hare and perhaps a bear, but the lord hired persons to patrol their lands to assure no poaching occurred. Domains liked the animals for themselves, probably so they could hang the hide or use it as a rug. That does not mean a farmer perhaps did not catch a Peter Rabbit in, or outside, his garden to have for dinner some night.
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| My Wife's 2nd Great Grandparents Francis Vondracek with his wife, Anna Kabat Vondracek Source: Shirley Goff |
Each village usually had a pond, and also a stream nearby. The pond provided water for fire fighting and the domesticated ducks and geese would have gathered around the pond for the day. Keeping fires under control was of great importance and is probably why the code requirement for masonry came into being. A fire in the village may not only destroy homes, but also crops and forests. I doubt the pond was used as a source of potable water.
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| Dolni Chrastany Source: Stable Cadastre Survey 1837 |
Our ancestors would process most of their own food, or take, for example, wheat to the mill, one of which may have been near Ratiborova Lhota, since its German name means flour mill. Woodlots were important not just for lumber, but for sources of timber to use in crafting furniture, and making homemade equipment such as butter churns, grain and water troughs for the animals, bowls, grain bins, and spinning wheels. Often cookie molds and butter molds were out of wood or clay, with the favorite butter mold being the shape of a lamb, in reference to the Lamb of God. My great grandmother Amelia Duschack Hovel, who was born in the US, had a spinning wheel that is with a relative in Manly, IA. Wood was also used to make household sugar scoops, meat tenderizers among other items common today. Some utensils may have been made out of iron, copper or brass. One of my distant ancestors was a cobbler and he may well have made shoes out of wood. Wood clogs were not in use only in Amsterdam. Even the glass maker would use beech wood as a device to hold the molten glass. The flour mill and the machines requiring large gears would have the gears made of wood, think the flour mill. The flour provided carbs which was important to the diet due to the high amount of physical activity during the day.
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| House at 18 Dolni Chrastany, 1993 Photo by M.B. Hovel |
Carbs is also a reason why beer was important, with their heavy work loads in the fields, people needed a carb load for energy. I would not be surprised that our ancestors made their own beer, but I doubt they used the equipment and flavoring methods we use today. Once a village reached ten homes it was required to have a tavern. They knew the importance of what we in the planning world call a third place. They liked to socialize as many did in the pre-pandemic world of today. One of the largest adjustments for farmers from Bohemia who emigrated to the United States was the isolation felt due to differences in settlement patterns. In the US, farm residences were each on their own plot, of say 160 acres and the nearest home could be at least a quarter or half mile distant. This is one of the reasons that so many Bohemian associations were created in the US. However, there was also the issue of acculturation and I suspect that may have played a larger role. Many would have arrived not knowing English or the WASP cultural customs common to the United States. In fact, Eastern Europeans were subjected to prejudice from the predominant WASP culture, and it was a double whammy if you were Catholic. The varied associations allowed them to retain part of their heritage in a foreign land, and ease assimilation. Think about how few likely knew English. My cousin says that my grandmother's mother never spoke English, but Czech, while her husband only spoke German. Hence the need for associations to help retain culture and to begin the process of assimilation.
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| My Great Grandmother, Teresia Kamen Pitzenberger with my Dad Arrived in the US in 1872 at age 24. She traveled alone to the US. She spoke mainly Czech Source: Madalyn Conklin |
The tavern, in the old country, was not just for drinking and socializing. In the morning, particularly when robota (which gives us the English word robot) was due, the men would gather at the tavern to get their assignments for the day from the director of the domain. Or, day laborers would find a sedlack for whom they could work for the day. Day laborers had a more difficult life. After my 3rd great grandmother Teresia (Frantisek's wife, mother of Josef) died in September 1819, Frantisek would remarry Katherina Borovka, whose father, Mathias, was a day laborer. Mathias and his wife Maria would move into the Hawel house at 18 Dolni Chrastany, and live with the family.
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| Albert (Vojtech) Vondracek b. 1813 Father of Frantisek (Francis), arrived in the US in 1864 My wife's 3rd Great Grandfather Source: Shirley Goff |
Also important was prayer and faith. While not every village had their own church, they all had a chapel, the size of which depended upon the size of the village. While most attended Sunday Mass at the main church, for Dolni Chrastany, it was in Netolice, the chapel was used for weekday mass and of course baptisms. The church bell, our ancestors version of twitter, would announce births, deaths and fires. Shortly after a baby was born the father would take the infant to find the local priest to have the baby baptized. Who knows, they may even have visited the local tavern. In the parish records the date recorded is usually the date of baptism, which most often comports to the day of birth. Sometimes two dates are provided in the records, the first the birth date and the second the baptismal date. The infant was often baptized the day it was born. The small chapel in Dolni Chrastany, where perhaps my great grandfather and his father were baptized, still stands today. Most notable in a house of that era is what historian and genealogist Eliska Schoenfeld says was called "God's Corner." She says that "God’s Corner was very important. Usually located above the kitchen table it included a crucifix plus glass paintings with religious pictures purchased at pilgrimages. Everyone tried to go on a nearby pilgrimage once a year with certain sites hoped for once in a lifetime."
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| Martin Hovel prayer book, in German |
In the more temperate months men would work the fields. Women would often use the pleasant weather to work outside weaving or embroidering table cloths and napkins, and even clothes. During the summer, the dinner table would be decorated with wild flowers. Flowers would be dried in the summer and fall and used for wall hangings in the winter. Trunks, doors and chests of drawers (dressers, as a possible example) would be painted, usually white, with flowers painted on the white back ground. So, too would some of the canisters also be painted. Furniture was usually made of thick logs, and with a heart carved in the back rest. Carvings were added to doors and window areas creating what we today recognize as gingerbread. Perhaps it is the house from where Goldilocks originated. Our ancestors were required to be crafty and resilient.
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| Katherine Borowka Hawel (Frantisek's second wife) Death Record Step mother to my 2nd Great Grandfather Joseph Hawel (b 1808), this record indicates her father, Mathias, was a innmann, day laborer Source: Trebon Archives |
A woman would make and craft her own wedding dress, often spending years on the project and likely hoped she had not gained too much weight. Like the table cloths it was often embroidered linen and it is a dress she would wear to weddings, major church functions and the dress in which she would be buried. Today we can often tell an American by how they are dressed. Our wardrobes vary little from that of another person in the Midwest or other parts of the US. Schoenfeld, however says that in Bohemia "Men and women loved handsomely embroidered clothes, often with hearts and flowers. Each village had its own style and colors of clothing." Instead of flowers we see the name, or logo, of company imprinted on clothes--Underarmour, Nike, Carhart, to list just three. Our colors relate to our sports teams, UW is red, Michigan is blue, as two examples. In a sense team wear designates a tribe that we are apart, whereas my ancestors clothes distinguished them by the village, their tribe, from which they came. The flowers were a way to light up their world.
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| Land Register Record of Jakub Hawel Ratiborova Lhota, 1603 Source: Trebon Archives |
A woman would make her dresses, but they made plenty of clothes and other items for the household. A prized item was pottery, and some may have made pottery themselves or purchased. A special white clay was found in parts of Southern Bohemia and families would mine the clay to make pottery and decorate the pottery with different glazes.
Showing why they had so many children, the bed the parents shared was more narrow than today's twin bed. To stay in bed there was a good deal of cuddling. A big difference from our king and queen sized beds of today. The cradle was by the parents bed, placing both generally in the kitchen, or the living room. When out of the cradle the children would sleep on the floor in a loft, the living room (depending upon the house) or even on the kitchen floor depending upon the weather. Having young children in the same room with the parents did not overcome the human nature implicit in the narrowness of the bed.
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| Great Grandparents, Martin Hovel, and Amelia Duscheck Martin arrived in the US with his Parents and Siblings in July 1868 Source: Family archives |
While 21st century United States is today far distant in time, place, privileges, and technology from 17th century Bohemia, that does not mean that they did not enjoy life. Life is what you make of it, and our ancestors, even given their station as serfs, would overcome the dangers and drudgery of the circumstances in which they lived. They had disappointments to be sure, but they used resiliency and creativity to better their lives. Their house became a home by the values they imparted which in part came from the activities of their daily lives. The next post in my series on the life of our ancestors will focus on a few activities that they probably enjoyed and which assisted in making the dum even more of a domov.
https://sites.google.com/site/johnaricecv/bohemia-and-minas-gerais
https://www.everyculture.com/Cr-Ga/Czech-Republic.html, the below is from this link
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