3-053-844 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Types of Viennese life, 1873. 'Commissionaires; Kellner; Policemen in full & undress uniform; Coachman in gala livery; Tramway Driver & Conductor; Fiacker-Kutscher; Street Sweepers; Bohemian Nursemaid; Monks; Woman of the lower orders; Postman & Driver of Mailcart; Night Porter..the Bohemian nursemaid, who, short of stature and of full figure, invariably exhibits herself in high riding-boots, and displays a strong partiality for gay colours in her attire...Other strange-looking individuals are the Slovaks...One specialty of theirs is the cleaning of the streets, a task which they accomplish...in a provoking leisurely fashion, each appearing to vie with the other as to who shall perform the least amount of labour in the longest space of time..The Vienna policeman...looks uncommonly smart in his green and claret coloured uniform..A distinctive Viennese type is the small waiter, usually an urchin of ten or twelve, in a long-tail coat, who exhibits an amount of proficiency in balancing many mugs of beer, and managing to entwine his fingers round all the handles, that would do credit to a professional juggler..The Hausmeister, or porter, who lets you in...after St. Stephen's has tolled ten, [when] all the doors of private houses are double-locked. From "Illustrated London News", 1873.