Page 51 - Mellinato, Giulio, and Aleksander Panjek. Eds. 2022. Complex Gateways. Labour and Urban History of Maritime Port Cities: The Northern Adriaticin a Comparative Perspective. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
P. 51
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Porters in the Eighteenth-century Port City
of Trieste: A Special Group Within the Working
Population of a Free Market Economy
Aleksej Kalc
ZRC SAZU, Slovenian Migration Institute
University of Primorska, Faculty of Humanities
Porterage and porters
Porterage was one of the most popular occupations in the past. Before the
modernization and mechanization of the transport sector, all the opera-
tions related to loading, unloading, delivery, and all kinds of movement
of goods depended on animal and, largely, human physical strength. This
was especially the case in cities, where narrow street systems restrict-
ed access for draught animals and loads had to be delivered to the upper
floors of buildings. A good example is Genoa, which in the modern era
grew in height without significantly changing its medieval urban plan,
interspersed with a custom-made street network. Because of this, and be-
cause the narrow streets were also an extension of trade, craft, and oth-
er workspaces, the entry of carts into the city was even forbidden. Thus,
until urban restructuring, which began in the 1840s, freight and passen-
ger urban transport were almost exclusively under the control of the por-
ters (Piccinno 2005). With the spread of urbanization in the eighteenth
century, many towns and cities acquired a planned appearance, with a ra-
tional road and street network designed to ensure the smooth movement
of traffic. Porterage, however, retained its role, since the demand for por-
ters’ services increased with the quantities of exchanges and the move-
ment of goods. At the same time, the market for unskilled labour did not
lack for the urban and rural proletariat, which struggled to offer only its
physical strength. In this way, supply and demand grew with a strict par-
allelism. Porterage was, of course, always widespread in port cities, where
Mellinato, Giulio, Aleksander Panjek, eds. 2022. Complex Gateways. Labour and Urban History of Maritime
Port Cities: The Northern Adriatic in a Comparative Perspective.
Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem. https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-293-191-9.51-69
51
Porters in the Eighteenth-century Port City
of Trieste: A Special Group Within the Working
Population of a Free Market Economy
Aleksej Kalc
ZRC SAZU, Slovenian Migration Institute
University of Primorska, Faculty of Humanities
Porterage and porters
Porterage was one of the most popular occupations in the past. Before the
modernization and mechanization of the transport sector, all the opera-
tions related to loading, unloading, delivery, and all kinds of movement
of goods depended on animal and, largely, human physical strength. This
was especially the case in cities, where narrow street systems restrict-
ed access for draught animals and loads had to be delivered to the upper
floors of buildings. A good example is Genoa, which in the modern era
grew in height without significantly changing its medieval urban plan,
interspersed with a custom-made street network. Because of this, and be-
cause the narrow streets were also an extension of trade, craft, and oth-
er workspaces, the entry of carts into the city was even forbidden. Thus,
until urban restructuring, which began in the 1840s, freight and passen-
ger urban transport were almost exclusively under the control of the por-
ters (Piccinno 2005). With the spread of urbanization in the eighteenth
century, many towns and cities acquired a planned appearance, with a ra-
tional road and street network designed to ensure the smooth movement
of traffic. Porterage, however, retained its role, since the demand for por-
ters’ services increased with the quantities of exchanges and the move-
ment of goods. At the same time, the market for unskilled labour did not
lack for the urban and rural proletariat, which struggled to offer only its
physical strength. In this way, supply and demand grew with a strict par-
allelism. Porterage was, of course, always widespread in port cities, where
Mellinato, Giulio, Aleksander Panjek, eds. 2022. Complex Gateways. Labour and Urban History of Maritime
Port Cities: The Northern Adriatic in a Comparative Perspective.
Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem. https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-293-191-9.51-69
51
