The street scene reflects the stage of the city’s technological development, and also its social stratification. Clothing was a very clear reflection of people’s class or social status. Working women wore a scarf on their head, while the gentry wore a hat. Workers’ clothes were looser, simpler and more practical than those of the gentry. White clothes were a sign of high status and wealth at a time when doing the laundry was a major operation. The house on the right (now Snellmaninkatu 17) is still to be finished: there is construction waste on the ground and scaffolding on the wall with a workman sitting on it.
