Os circuitos comerciais das empresas do ramo de tecidos, roupas e armarinhos do Rio de Janeiro: o estudo de dois casos

Abstract

The basic aim of the text is to analyse the gross, recail and import commerce of textile, fashion and haberdashery, one of che most important branches of trade in Rio de Janeiro, towards the end of the XIXth century, uncil che depression and crisis of rhe second decade of che XXth century, period of economic and immigration expansion, particularly from the Portuguese who controlled the market. The main historical source used was the unprinted correspondence of a Portuguese merchant which describes with a keen sense of observation and elegant style, thc social surroundings of the period, che working conditions in Portugal and Brazil and the European circuic of imporced goods which included che outscanding capitalistic cencers: Paris, London, Berlin, Prague, Budapesc, Vienna. This and other subsidiary sources, give original data abouc che formation of fashion in Rio de Janeiro, resulcing of adaptations of the imported models to the local taste and climate.