Balogh Zoltán (szerk.): Neograd 2018 - A Dornyay Béla Múzeum Évkönyve 41. (Salgótarján, 2018)

Molnár Ildikó: A szandai „divat” - A szandai viselet bemutatása egy család ruhatárán keresztül

ILDIKÓ MOLNÁR

„FASHION” OF SZANDA - PRESENTATION OF SZANDA’S WEAR, THROUGH A FAMILY’S CLOAKROOM

In the 19th century, several factors influenced the Hungarian economy and society, which radically transformed the traditional folk culture. The industrial revolution, the liberation of serfs, the engagement of the peasantry in commodity production, all of these changings contributed to the transformation of peasant-type society’s, and slowly it became a civil society. This process took place in the whole country over a few decades, but it was slower in the more clumsy settlements of Nógrád County, due to the lack of adequate infrastructure and lack of direct urban impacts.

The dress has become one of the most important illustrations of the peasantry’s wealth. After the economic growth and the growth of material goods, the enrichment and coloration of the outfit can be observed also in the village of Szanda, which lies in the middle of the Nógrád county, in the heart of Cserhát, at the foot of the Szanda hill, but administratively coincides with Szandaváralja.

At the end of the 18th century around the rural areas, new trends in fashion and cloth-making methods occurred. Natural materials of cloth creating and the peasant self-sufficiency attitude gave way to factory fabrics and „raw materials”. This kind of peasant characteristic in cloth making (for example: using satin woven-canvas) eclipsed (háttérbe szorult) between the two world wars, and almost lost its significance. The hemp cloth used for undergarments was replaced by semi-cotton and cotton material, and then the wool or chrysanthemum was purchased in the city, so the old “habits”, technics in clothing were quickly removed or became less common among villagers.

I’m trying to present the transformation of the Szanda’s fashion through the changes of a local family’s clothing. Over the last few years, I’ve bought legacy (sorting of clothes) of two generations from the family, which article is about. First of all, there were garments from the mother’s legacy: 34 pieces, then a part of the daughter’s (the seller’s) wardrobe, 53 pieces became part of our collection.

Thanks to the material I can easily reconstruct the changing of Szanda’s fashion from the second half of the 1930s to the present. I think this kind of changing - mentioned above - can be illustrated by the presentation of individual garments of the family.

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