Keyston View Company- Fishwives of Lisbon,Portugal

Another gem from Luis´collection of old photographs of Portugal. This photograph shows what the English call fishwives and we call varinas.

É uma fantástica imagem em stereoscopy da Keystone View Company. Aqui deixou vos a descrição da imagem escrita em Inglês.

THE FISHER GIRLS OF LISBON

One of the prettiest sights in Lisbon is early morning down on the quays when the graceful, gaily-painted fishing-boats come in and land their cargoes of fish. The quays are wide, some of them sloping down to the water´s edge. Here the fish are landed and piled in heaps while a crowd of waiting women set to work to fill their large flat baskets. With their baskets gracefully balanced on their heads these women take off for the market near at hand or to sell their fish about town from door to door. These women are a colorful people and most picturesque. They have gaudy hadkerchiefs tied around their heads beneath small black felt hats which provide a rest for the burdens they will carry(and rodilhas too!). The sleeves of their cotton blouses are turned up above the elbows, and their bare feet show below very full, short, brightly colored petticoats. A law has been passed in Lisbon requiring these fisher girls to wear shoes. This does not seem to have caused thes women much concern, however, for they still go about unshod. The shoes are always carried somewhere about their person and should they meet a policeman are quickly donned.

Though quiet, gentle and shy, these Lisbon fisher girls indulge in a great deal of good-humored repartee and they have a fund of ready wit at their command. It is sometimes quite amusing to listen to the banter that passes between these busy workers on the quays and fishermen, who shout their remarks from the much encumbered decks of the boats.

Lisbon´s harbor is about ten miles from the sea from the city is situated on the Tagus River and not on the ocean.