Between notebooks and photographs: the Confeitaria Nogueira documentary collection as a source for the history of work and social life in Pelotas (1941-1978)
This article analyzes a documentary collection consisting of employee notebooks and photographs from a traditional Pelotas confectionery, now preserved at the Museu do Doce (Sweet Museum) of the Federal University of Pelotas. The objective is to discuss the potential of this collection as a source for the history of work, urban sociability, and local memory, without repeating the same approach used in studies focused solely on the internal organization of the establishment. By treating written and visual records as complementary supports, the text proposes a cross-reading capable of highlighting the distribution of functions, forms of remuneration, evidence of gender segmentation, different areas of activity, and the presence of the confectionery as a place of social interaction. A joint reading of the database derived from the notebooks allows us to identify 290 records referring to the years 1941, 1944, 1946, 1948, 1952, 1956, and 1959, with data on age, gender, activity, remuneration, form of payment, and location. The photographs, in turn, broaden the analysis by making visible the environments, scenes, and modes of public presentation of the establishment. It is argued that the relevance of the collection lies precisely in the possibility of bringing the administrative dimension of work closer to the symbolic and visual dimension of memory, allowing for a methodological reflection on the uses, potentialities, and limits of this type of documentation.
Between notebooks and photographs: the Confeitaria Nogueira documentary collection as a source for the history of work and social life in Pelotas (1941-1978)
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.8208622610031
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Palavras-chave: historical sources; work; photography; bakeries; Pelotas.
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Keywords: historical sources; work; photography; bakeries; Pelotas.
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Abstract:
This article analyzes a documentary collection consisting of employee notebooks and photographs from a traditional Pelotas confectionery, now preserved at the Museu do Doce (Sweet Museum) of the Federal University of Pelotas. The objective is to discuss the potential of this collection as a source for the history of work, urban sociability, and local memory, without repeating the same approach used in studies focused solely on the internal organization of the establishment. By treating written and visual records as complementary supports, the text proposes a cross-reading capable of highlighting the distribution of functions, forms of remuneration, evidence of gender segmentation, different areas of activity, and the presence of the confectionery as a place of social interaction. A joint reading of the database derived from the notebooks allows us to identify 290 records referring to the years 1941, 1944, 1946, 1948, 1952, 1956, and 1959, with data on age, gender, activity, remuneration, form of payment, and location. The photographs, in turn, broaden the analysis by making visible the environments, scenes, and modes of public presentation of the establishment. It is argued that the relevance of the collection lies precisely in the possibility of bringing the administrative dimension of work closer to the symbolic and visual dimension of memory, allowing for a methodological reflection on the uses, potentialities, and limits of this type of documentation.
- Júlio Roberto Dahmer Spohr
