Page 347 - Panjek, Aleksander, Jesper Larsson and Luca Mocarelli, eds. 2017. Integrated Peasant Economy in a Comparative Perspective: Alps, Scandinavia and Beyond. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 347
peasant “economic industriousness” in slovenian ethnology (19th–20th centuries)
70,000kg). An interesting way to harvest the ice was documented in the vil-
lages of Velike Loče, Male Loče, Slivje, Brezovica and Slope in the valley of
Materija, where water was released onto grasslands in valleys, so they cut
the ice from the frozen flooded area (Bugarič and Hrobat 1994a, b; Beling-
ar 2005, 343‒51; Klemenčič 1959, 135).
An ice store could be owned by two peasants, while some of them were
owned and constructed by whole village communities. For instance only
in the small village of Vrhpolje (by the main commercial road Rijeka–Tri-
este) as many as 23 ice stores were registered, of which 4 (each of them) were
owned by two villagers together (Belingar 2005, 365‒8; Bugarič and Hrobat
1994a, 26‒7). It’s quite clear that almost every peasant in this village per-
formed the ice-producing and trading activity and even the poorest joined
their forces to build a common ice store (Bugarič and Hrobat 1994a, 26‒7).
In the hamlets of Krvavi Potok 11 and in Kozina, 9 ice stores were regis-
tered; both villages are in close proximity to Trieste and on the main road
leading to it (Belingar 2005, 357‒8; Bugarič and Hrobat 1994a, 20‒2; 1994b).
According to informants, until 1930 there were only nine families in Koz-
ina and only one of them did not own an ice store (Bugarič and Hrobat
1994a, 20). In the nearby village of Rodik, 32 ponds for ice harvesting were
documented. The biggest ice store, 19 metres deep and 17 metres in diam-
eter with the central pillar 32 metres high, was located in Kačiče: it was
owned by a man called Mušič from Trieste who constructed it with the idea
of an ice “factory.” At the end of the 1930s in the whole Valley of Materija
(about 20 kilometres long) functioned more than 100 ice stores. With the
development of electrical refrigerators ice-trading began losing its profita-
bility and slowly died out. The last ice store functioned until 1961 in Krvavi
Potok (Bugarič and Hrobat 1994a, 24; 1994b; Belingar 2005, 351‒5).
Ice-making represented an income source for peasants. According to
my informants peasants doing ice-trade had a good income. With the earn-
ings they could build a new house, new well or a new front gate (Bugarič
and Hrobat 1994a, 9). Still in 2005 this kind of oral evidence confirmed that
ice paid well. When an owner of an ice store filled and closed it they would
have said: “we will not be wanting bread” (Belingar 2005, 350). One inform-
ant said that before WWI he earned 20 goldinars per cart of ice, whereas
in the hottest summers up to 25 to 30 goldinars (Belingar 2005, 351, n. 13). If
we compare with the available data, the average annual income of a regular
worker in the Idrija mine from 1891 was 212 goldinars (see Kavrečič in this
book). If we compare to a time probably more near to the memories of the
345
70,000kg). An interesting way to harvest the ice was documented in the vil-
lages of Velike Loče, Male Loče, Slivje, Brezovica and Slope in the valley of
Materija, where water was released onto grasslands in valleys, so they cut
the ice from the frozen flooded area (Bugarič and Hrobat 1994a, b; Beling-
ar 2005, 343‒51; Klemenčič 1959, 135).
An ice store could be owned by two peasants, while some of them were
owned and constructed by whole village communities. For instance only
in the small village of Vrhpolje (by the main commercial road Rijeka–Tri-
este) as many as 23 ice stores were registered, of which 4 (each of them) were
owned by two villagers together (Belingar 2005, 365‒8; Bugarič and Hrobat
1994a, 26‒7). It’s quite clear that almost every peasant in this village per-
formed the ice-producing and trading activity and even the poorest joined
their forces to build a common ice store (Bugarič and Hrobat 1994a, 26‒7).
In the hamlets of Krvavi Potok 11 and in Kozina, 9 ice stores were regis-
tered; both villages are in close proximity to Trieste and on the main road
leading to it (Belingar 2005, 357‒8; Bugarič and Hrobat 1994a, 20‒2; 1994b).
According to informants, until 1930 there were only nine families in Koz-
ina and only one of them did not own an ice store (Bugarič and Hrobat
1994a, 20). In the nearby village of Rodik, 32 ponds for ice harvesting were
documented. The biggest ice store, 19 metres deep and 17 metres in diam-
eter with the central pillar 32 metres high, was located in Kačiče: it was
owned by a man called Mušič from Trieste who constructed it with the idea
of an ice “factory.” At the end of the 1930s in the whole Valley of Materija
(about 20 kilometres long) functioned more than 100 ice stores. With the
development of electrical refrigerators ice-trading began losing its profita-
bility and slowly died out. The last ice store functioned until 1961 in Krvavi
Potok (Bugarič and Hrobat 1994a, 24; 1994b; Belingar 2005, 351‒5).
Ice-making represented an income source for peasants. According to
my informants peasants doing ice-trade had a good income. With the earn-
ings they could build a new house, new well or a new front gate (Bugarič
and Hrobat 1994a, 9). Still in 2005 this kind of oral evidence confirmed that
ice paid well. When an owner of an ice store filled and closed it they would
have said: “we will not be wanting bread” (Belingar 2005, 350). One inform-
ant said that before WWI he earned 20 goldinars per cart of ice, whereas
in the hottest summers up to 25 to 30 goldinars (Belingar 2005, 351, n. 13). If
we compare with the available data, the average annual income of a regular
worker in the Idrija mine from 1891 was 212 goldinars (see Kavrečič in this
book). If we compare to a time probably more near to the memories of the
345
