Everyday life of NAOTMAA - your quick questions

[grandduchess_42]

i read a book that the GDs and the tsaravtich had a allowence. is this true?

[Laura Mabee]

I think so,I know that Bob has links as to what they spent what I thought as their "allowance" on for:
Maria - in 1910-
and
Alexei -in 1910-

[Baby_Tsarevich]

Thanx for posting that Laura Mabee!

~Anya~

[Forum Admin]

Spridovitch also recounts how it delighted the Grand Duchesses when they were visting Cowes England to be able to go into the shops and buy little trinkets with their own money and to take a ferry boat and pay for it themselves.

[Tsarfan]

I think so,I know that Bob has links as to what they spent what I thought as their "allowance" on for:
Maria - in 1910-
and
Alexei -in 1910-

The link on Maria's expenses for 1910 contains a very interesting item.  She was taking German lessons, and apparently quite a few of them.

On another thread, we had quite a discussion going trying to figure out how much German the children spoke and when they acquired it.

It would seem the common perception that the children were not arduously schooled in German may be wrong.

[Prince_Christopher]

I don't think their allowances were very much.  I've read that the Grand Duchesses spent theirs mostly on perfume and notepaper, and often pooled their money to buy gifts for other people.

[grandduchess_42]

yeah thanks for the links. i read that nastya had like 20 rubies. and i was like "WHOA" and she didn't think that was alot.

yeah i read that she bought maria a gift for her birthday or somthing. she bought her perfume.

[clockworkgirl21]

Did they have to do chores to get this money? Or did they just have it given to them?

[Forum Admin]

In the Imperial era, proper young ladies like the GDs would not have "done chores" to earn money.

[clockworkgirl21]

Hmm. I didn't think they would have. But then they had no reason to complain that they didn't get enough.  

[Shvibzik]

yeah thanks for the links. i read that nastya had like 20 rubies. and i was like "WHOA" and she didn't think that was alot.

yeah i read that she bought maria a gift for her birthday or somthing. she bought her perfume.

Do you mean "rubles"?  I don't think they were given rubies for their allowences.

I don't remember the equivelent of a ruble to UK currency or US currency, and I don't have any books with me, but I'm sure someone else does.

[Forum Admin]

The exact measure of money then vs now is not quite as easy as you might think. Now, most of the equivalents I have seen, and the ones I use most, indicate that 20 rubles in 1910 era would be the same as 200 US$ today. It may actually be a bit higher than that, given purchasing power and the shifting costs between goods and labor.  Back then, labor was very cheap, and the goods were more expensive. Today, labor is very expensive comparatively and goods are less so. However, it should give you some idea.

For comparison sake, a room in the Hotel Europa, the best in Petersburg could be had for 1.50 rubles a night for the cheapest room, and dinner in the hotel restaurant was 2 rubles. (I daresay dinner at the Hotel Europa today will cost more than $20!) You could hire a carriage for an entire day for 10 rubles, and a carriage from a hotel to the theater and back including a stop for dinner at a restaurant was 3 rubles. So, 20 rubles had pretty decent purchasing power for "an allowance"

[Sarushka]

According to Count Alexander Grabbe in The Private World of the Last Tsar, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna received $9 a month as her allowance.

[JD]

What happened when a member of the family went out in public? I remember reading a newspaper article on this site that talked about Nicholas going for daily, unaccompanied carriage rides.  This seems totally implausible - does anyone know if it's true? I've also wondered about what happened when one of the IF felt like going to the hermitage, something that apparently happened - would the entire building have to be cleared? What with all the assassination attempts taking place around that era, and the Romanov's being probably the most hated family on earth, it's always seemed a miracle to me they got through unscathed 35-some years. I've always been interested in their security system, but last I knew there weren't any books on the subject.

[Forum Admin]

JD

There is no "specific" book on the subject, however Spiridovitch, the head of the Personal Secret Security Police for the IF wrote his memoirs and shed much detailed light on the subject. Published only in Russian and French, never translated into English and published.  I have translated much of it myself from the French. The details are being saved for Bob's book on daily life in the AP. After that, I may finish the translation and annotate it, and submit it for publication. I've been toying with the idea as it would be a valuable resource to English speakers.

Basically, the IF was NEVER unattended outside the palace grounds.  The "unattended" carriage rides would have in the Palace Park, and even then dozens of agents were posted all around at all times.

Outside of the Imperial Palaces, there would be both uniformed and plain clothes officers all around any location where the IF would be.  They would be under the eyes of Spiridovitch and his staff at all times, in addition to members of the local police force and the Cossack guards.

Before entering any building other than an Imperial residence, the entire place would be searched in advance by Spirdovitch's men and then guards posted to make sure no one entered.