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From the réis economy to the mandatory hat fashion, discover how Brazilians lived in an agrarian nation with an 80% illiteracy rate and Rio de Janeiro as its capital.
O Brazil 100 years ago was a country of profound contrasts, a nation with about 30 million inhabitants that attempted to balance the modernity of growing cities with a predominantly agrarian structure. In the 1920s, while the first cars were being assembled in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro was thriving as the federal capital, the reality for the majority of the population was marked by challenges unimaginable today. currency was the réis, and the purchasing power was drastically different: with two thousand réis, you could buy just one chicken, as the portal points out Unknown Facts.
This scenario of intense social, political, and cultural transformation shaped a very particular daily life. Inequality was not only economic, but also intellectual, with illiteracy rates that were close to 80% of the population. Living in Brazil 100 years ago it meant belonging to a world where access to education was a privilege for the few, politics was a cauldron of military revolts and cultural life exploded in new fashions, music and the fervor of a sport that was beginning to become a national passion: football.
economy and society: the educational abyss of the 20s
The social structure of Brazil 100 years ago was visibly fractured, and education was the main barometer of this inequality. According to data from the time, compiled by sources such as the IBGE in historical analyses, about 80% of Brazilians were illiterateThe difficulty went beyond reading: many couldn't even write their own names, and basic mathematical operations were a complex challenge. There was no organized and centralized public education system like the one the Ministry of Education (MEC) administers today, which perpetuated a cycle of exclusion.
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This lack of access to formal knowledge deepened economic disparities, as highlighted by Unknown Facts. While the society columns of elite magazines featured photos of stylish people in exclusive clubs, other publications, such as the magazine Mask, showed the harsh reality of distributing toys to needy children. The country was, in practice, divided between a small literate elite and a huge mass of the population with limited access to opportunities, living off an economy based on coffee export and in a still incipient domestic market.
Urban Life: Rio as Capital and the Rise of São Paulo
Unlike today, the capital of Brazil was the Rio de Janeiro, the true center of the country's political, economic, and cultural decisions. The city was home to imposing buildings such as the Monroe Palace, which housed the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies before being demolished in 1976. Life in Rio was vibrant, with its beaches, theaters and an intense social calendar that even included visits from European royalty, such as that of King Albert I of Belgium, who shocked society by disregarding protocols and taking a dip in the sea in Copacabana.
Meanwhile, São Paulo was already emerging as the metropolis of the future. Coffee farming was still the driving force behind São Paulo's economy, but industrialization was gaining momentum. It was in the 1920s that the first car factories began assembling vehicles in Brazil, attracting curious onlookers to see the production line up close. São Paulo's urban landscape was made up of small markets and open-air markets, such as those located under the Santa Efigênia Viaduct, reflecting a rapid growth that would gradually transform the city into the country's economic engine.
Culture, fashion and leisure: from perfume to football
The daily life of Brazil 100 years ago was rich in cultural manifestations. Carnival, for example, was filled with marches and legalized and widespread use of perfume spray, a popular intoxicant during festivities. The song that dominated the year 1921 was "Protocol," inspired precisely by the Belgian king's informal visit. Cinema was also gaining ground, with specialized magazines bringing international stars, such as actress Bebe Daniels, into the popular imagination.
In the field of fashion, customs were rigid, but already showed signs of change. wearing a hat was practically mandatory for both men and women who wanted to move around in public with elegance. However, the extremely tight corsets of the 19th century were beginning to be abandoned, and dresses, although still long, already dared to show a little more leg. Interestingly, as reported by Unknown Facts, conservative magazines of the time, such as Mask, were already complaining that fashion was becoming “sloppy.” Football, in turn, was already a craze. In 1922, Corinthians was the São Paulo champion, and América was the Rio champion., surpassing giants like Flamengo and Fluminense.
Politics and conflicts: military revolts and banditry in the backlands
The political landscape in the early 1920s was unstable. The country was under the presidency of Epitácio Pessoa, but the period was marked by several military revolts that reflected the dissatisfaction of sectors of the army with the power of the oligarchies. In 1922, Arthur Bernardes, from Minas Gerais, was elected president, inheriting a climate of tension that would culminate, years later, in Revolution of 1930, led by Getúlio VargasThis unrest in the centers of power contrasted sharply with another reality of conflict in the country.
In the northeastern backlands, the phenomenon of cangaço gained strength. Groups of cangaceiros carried out looting and confronted large landowners and the flying police. Their actions, sometimes seen as acts of banditry and, at other times, as a form of primitive social justice, spread fear and admiration. It was in this context that a young man named Virgulino Ferreira da Silva began to gain notoriety, becoming, a few years later, the legendary and feared Lampião, leader of the most famous band of cangaceiros in the history of Brazil.
What surprised you most in your life? Brazil 100 years agoDo you believe that, despite all the technologies and advances, some of the inequalities of that time still persist in our society today?
Share your thoughts in the comments, we want to hear your perspective on this incredible century-long journey.
Impressively, Brazil, with 30 million inhabitants in 1920, was a true human desert, inhabited on a narrow coastal strip.
Even today, with 210 million, throughout the interior of the mainland country we notice the lack of occupation of the territory.
We are still a country of the future.
Bangladesh has more people than Brazil and is smaller than Rio de Janeiro. The current trend is for Brazil's population to stabilize at 210 million by 2050 and then begin to decline, ending the century at 180 million.
Country of the future? Only if it's the **** of **** who live at our expense, like the nine-fingered drunk and his "supreme" friends. This land doesn't give anyone a future.
Yeah, it was **** and pâté's fault in 1920, you idiot. And the future is now. Do something worthwhile or go back to Mulei's Argentina.