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THE LITTLE SECRETS OF LARGE TABLES LADEN WITH FOOD |
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THE LITTLE SECRETS OF LARGE TABLES LADEN WITH FOOD
Glimpses of the eating habits of the Carniolan nobility at the end of the 18th century
Probate inventory is a rich source of information about various aspects of human existence. Among others, it also offers information regarding the eating habits of Carniolan nobility. Indeed, the least abundant information in it is that about the dishes themselves. We are limited to the inventories of foods that were kept in the pantries, garners and cellars, and to those of animals in the stables. As for the beverages, there is plentiful information about wine, coffee, tea and chocolate. Unlike with the dishes, much more is known about the cutlery and the vessels used during meals. All Carniolan noblemen used all three types of cutlery at the end of the 18th century: the fork, the spoon and the knife. The cutlery was most often silver. Kitchenware was limited to serving spoons and ladles, while the absence of serving knives and forks indicates that meat-cutting took place in the kitchen, away from the eyes of the eaters. Tableware, often displayed in glass cabinets in the dining room, was made of porcelain (the more expensive sets), Holič faience or tin. The existence of plates, cutlery and napkins for personalized use reveals the desire on the part of this noble society for a more individualized manner of food consumption that considered common bowls no longer acceptable. An individual secured himself his own little space at the table, which belonged solely to him for the duration of the meal. The position at the table (in terms of distance from the host) was reflective of the esteem that that person enjoyed in contemporary society.
“LJUBLJANSKE SRAJCE”
How Slovenian and German newspapers viewed the tensions between Medvode farmers and the Ljubljana “liedertaflers”
In 1880, the Ljubljana choir party (Laibacher Liedertafel) organized an outing to the hill of Šmarna gora. The singers, the majority of whom were Ljubljana Germans, apparently behaved disrespectfully there; they hung out their sweaty shirts to dry on the bushes (the incident prompting offensive phrase “ljubljanska srajca” (literally, Ljubljana shirts) to develop later) and returned to the valley wearing only their coats. In addition, they had apparently smoked cigars in the church, played dancing songs on the organ and danced in front of the church. Upon their return, a minor clash broke out in Medvode in the evening between a farm boy and a group of six singers. The German newspapers, spearheaded by the Laibacher Zeitung and Laibacher Tagblatt, blamed Slovene politics for this attack and accused it of instigating the farmers against the German singers. The German newspapers also blamed the gendarmes for the Medvode incident for apparently having failed to intervene appropriately. Janez Jan, head of the Medvode gendarmes, was so upset by the accusations that he took his life three days after the incident. A several-month long spilling of ink and a “journalistic war” ensued between Slovenian and German papers about what had happened on Šmarna gora and in Medvode. In addition, the editor of Laibacher Zeitung, Leo Suppantschitsch, and the superintendent of the Laibacher Liedertafel, Eduard Wraweczke, filed lawsuits against Slovenec, Slovenski narod and Novice. In the end, an 18-year-old farm boy, Anton Košenina from Spodnja Senica, was found guilty of attacking the singers in Medvode and was sentenced to one year in prison for the crime.
»OČJO AL TRENO!«
Problems with bilingualism along the Trst-Poreč railway and other live national issues in Istria at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century
The article deals with the problem of national conflict in Istria at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. Special attention is paid to the complications following the erection of bilingual signs along the Poreč-Trst railway. At a time of severe national tension, the implementation of visible bilingualism was highly insulting to the national sentiment of the Italian population of Trieste and Istria. It led to a resolute response by Italian representatives at the municipal, regional and national levels; its common goal was to prevent a “desecration” of Italian names and of the Italian character of the towns. These events made visible the obvious power of politics and its ability to easily manipulate the common people and, depending on the current interests, trigger or suppress protests and violent clashes.
»LET THEM FETCH WATER AS THEY USED TO, WITH TUBS OR CARTS«
A history of the water supply in Ribniška dolina
The article describes the interaction between the inhabitants of the valley of Ribniška dolina and its water resources. It presents water supply development stages in the transitional karst area of the valley of Ribniška dolina after 1850, with an emphasis on the period at the end of the 19th and
the beginning of the 20th century. The examined archival materials offer insight into the course of construction of the water supply system, from the individual rainwater tanks and wells, the embryonic market town (Ribnica) and village waterworks (Kot – Jurjevica – Breže, Lipovšica – Zapotok – Vinice – Sušje – Slatnik), to the modern regional waterworks at Kočevje – Ribnica – Sodražica.
“WITH THE AIM OF PLEASING THEIR LEWDNESS…”
Sexual offences in the Celje area in the years 1927-1931
By incriminating deviations from “healthy” sexuality in the Penal Codes, judicial power protected the interests of public sexual morality and consequently began to consider such deviations as offences. Up to 1929, the provisions about physical integrity were regulated by the Austrian Penal Code; after that the unified Yugoslav Penal Code took over its role. However, only legal practice showed the real attitude of the judicature towards such crimes. The acquiescent position of the judiciary powers towards sexual offenders is manifested in the prosecution files, among them those of the Celje District Court from the years 1927 and 1931, which demonstrate how the legal provisions of the Austrian and Yugoslav Penal Code in the Celje area were applied in practice. On the basis of the surviving verdicts, the author shows the prejudices of contemporary society, the views on sexual education and sexuality per se, the main protagonists and their motives for the crimes they had perpetrated and the victims of sexual offences.