The clothes of poor inhabitants of Łódź during the Great War (1914–1918)

Abstract

Among the problems faced by poor inhabitants of Łódź during the First World War worthy of note are difficulties in providing oneself and one’s family with sufficient clothing. With the community rowing poorer, more popularity was gained by firms selling second-hand clothes or specializing in alterations. The city also had a number of organizations which collected garments and redistributed them among those in need. In 1914 some of such collected clothes were given to the wounded soldiers in the city hospitals. Lack of proper clothing also affected various municipal services, which were not always able to provide their functionaries with uniforms. People who could not afford to buy footwear even resorted to stealing or robbing the dead.